Thoughts on K390 Emdela

[Scottpomeroy]

Good day all
I have worked this knife hard for the last seven days. I'm absolutely very happy with the Endela design. My two favorites after about four years of searching for the one have led me to the Endela and the M4 Tenacious. Still not sure which one i like better. It's currently a tie. I do have an observation about K390 I would like to share. This is my first and only K390 blade. There are lots of folks in the forums and you tube videos and so on that rave about this steel holding a shaving sharp edge for days, weeks, even months. Yep, months. After cutting large amounts of cardboard. Any knife guy knows this is not possible. My endela lost its shaving sharp edge relatively quickly. I put my own edge on with my diamond plate and It has held an excellent working edge maintained with only stropping. I am pushing it as far as I can to see how long I can go before I actually sharpen it again. I am very happy with this steel but it does not match some of the hype out there. Overall a really excellent knife. The size, weight, blade shape and especially the ergonomics have me hooked. It does what it was designed to do which is perform. Not sure if there is anything else.out there that can top my two faves, but as the story goes I will probably keep half an eye on the lookout. Thank you for all your great feedback.

[Michael Janich]

Dear Scottpomeroy:

Thank you for sharing your experiences with K390. One thing to bear in mind is the difference between a factory edge and a hand-sharpened edge. There are various theories for why a factory edge is not as long lasting, but the bottom line is you can often get more long-term performance out of a particular blade and steel when you take the time to sharpen it well yourself. It seems as though your experience reflects that.

I hope your knives continue to serve you well.

Stay safe,

Mike

[ejames13]

In my experience, any knife in any steel (including K390) loses its shaving sharp edge relatively quickly when cutting highly abrasive material like cardboard, especially if it's dirty. I've seen claims that guys can cut through hundreds of feet of cardboard with some steels and still shave without so much as a touch up or strop. I don't believe it. Or maybe I'm just not good at sharpening.

[TkoK83Spy]

In my experience, any knife in any steel (including K390) loses its shaving sharp edge relatively quickly when cutting highly abrasive material like cardboard, especially if it's dirty. I've seen claims that guys can cut through hundreds of feet of cardboard with some steels and still shave without so much as a touch up or strop. I don't believe it. Or maybe I'm just not good at sharpening.

I created this thread years ago when I was working in the warehouse. Nothing super technical, but I think some decent info regarding materials cut and how the edges held up during/after use.

viewtopic.php?t=86207

[RustyIron]

There are lots of folks in the forums and you tube videos and so on that rave about this steel holding a shaving sharp edge for days, weeks, even months.

Yeah, some people lean towards the hyperbolic. Do they truly believe their outrageous claims? Do they think the rest of us are so gullible that we believe them? Or is their judgement clouded by unbridled enthusiasm?

P.S.
My shaving sharp razor blades last three to six days, depending on my memory, cheapness, or tolerance for discomfort. If only I could find some razor blades made of K390, so I'd only have to change them every few months.

[Maximumbob54]

I definitely won't say shaving sharp but my Delica in K390 has kept a working sharp edge since I bought it with only stropping to keep it going. Admittedly I only use it on the usual daily light duty tasks, so it hasn't broken down hundreds of cardboard boxes. But it's still going strong with the occasional delivery boxes and packages, cut many apples at lunch, cut the zip ties, and other normal daily tasks. And for it being a non stainless steel it's had zero rust so far while showing off some wild colors. There's for sure hyperbole saying it stays shaving sharp but I don't for a minute say I'm exaggerating saying it has stayed working sharp. And that's the factory edge. I can't wait until it eventually gets a real sharpening.

[rwasham]

I don't have any K390....might have to change that soon just to try it out. Most of my knives require at least a strop once a week to keep them shaving...a more intensive sharpening every other month if I've put them through the ringer. I rotate knives fairly regularly, so I can definitely notice variations, but even the "super" steels are not quite as "super" as some claim.

[Catchadroppimgknife]

The Endela is such a great design in itself. Fits my hand well, excellent blade size and shape. K390 is just icing on the cake

And I really like a steel that takes a more aggressive edge. It just feels sharp.

Now let’s see how the Endela Micro-melt PD#1 works in the natural world. So far it’s been excellent

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[ejames13]

In my experience, any knife in any steel (including K390) loses its shaving sharp edge relatively quickly when cutting highly abrasive material like cardboard, especially if it's dirty. I've seen claims that guys can cut through hundreds of feet of cardboard with some steels and still shave without so much as a touch up or strop. I don't believe it. Or maybe I'm just not good at sharpening.

I created this thread years ago when I was working in the warehouse. Nothing super technical, but I think some decent info regarding materials cut and how the edges held up during/after use.

viewtopic.php?t=86207

Thanks for linking. Read through the whole thread. I guess "shaving sharp" needs to be a little more quantified technically. Thickness of the hair I'm sure makes a difference, among other things.

I cut through some relatively clean cardboard using my new SPY27 Military 2 on the factory edge. That edge wasn't completely clean as I could see some residual burr under a microscope before doing the test. After 30 feet it was barely catching hair on the back of my head and would not scrape shave arm hair.

For comparison, I performed the same test on my CPM-20CV Delica wharncliffe with my own 13dps edge + 20dps micro. Shapton Glass 500 --> SG 2k --> Sharpmaker browns --> 1 micron diamond on leather --> clean leather. Edge was very clean with no burr remaining under microscope. After 60 feet of the same cardboard it was still catching hair on the back of my head but would not scrape shave arm hair.

More than anything, reading through your thread inspired me to inspect my edges more closely and ensure I'm burr-free for maximum edge durability.

[Sharp Guy]

I've been carrying and using my K390 Endela a lot lately. I switch off between the Endela and K390 Delica Wharncliffe since I can't decide which one I like better