14c28n vs m390

R

Reaper007013

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I've never posted on this forum so bear with me.
I'm an eccentric knife collector. I have more knives than you can shake a stick. Ranging from knives that'll run you $10 all the way into the thousand's of dollars. With as many varying knife alloys. Over and over again I have sharpened both m390 and 14c28n with the same edge geometry, and 14c28n comes out with a sharper edge to it. It's the clear winner, and I mean it is as sharp as any scalpel. It just won't keep its' edge as long as the m390. What are your thoughts and opinions on this?
 
If you like keeping your knives extremely sharp, you might be interested to learn that a few people have run tests and come to the conclusion that all steels lose their razor sharp edge at pretty much the same rate. Super steels just take much longer to go from moderately sharp to dull. So for your preferences, 14c28n might just be better in every way. I'm a fan of m390 for pocket knives but won't mind 14c28n either. For kitchen knives, on the other hand, 14c28n is currently my favorite, since my sharpness standards for those are higher.
 
Tsujigiri said:
If you like keeping your knives extremely sharp, you might be interested to learn that a few people have run tests and come to the conclusion that all steels lose their razor sharp edge at pretty much the same rate. Super steels just take much longer to go from moderately sharp to dull. So for your preferences, 14c28n might just be better in every way. I'm a fan of m390 for pocket knives but won't mind 14c28n either. For kitchen knives, on the other hand, 14c28n is currently my favorite, since my sharpness standards for those are higher.
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I have to say I agree with you. The one I like the best right now is VANAX. It's taken sharpness to a level getting close to obsidian. It's a Quiet Carry.
 
Most likely you’re misinterpreting sharpening difficult for sharpenability. 14c28n is very easy to sharpen, so with the same or less effort it takes a better edge. I have seen this with sharpening M390 and S90V vs. Elmax and S35VN. My knives in Elmax seem to take a much sharper edge than those in M390, but it’s just so much easier to sharpen and so your strokes do a lot more.
 
I find it fascinating that 14C28N is mined, making it largely a pure steel, which also begs the question, if ever there happens to become a shortage in Sandvik steels; can't mine them, find them, or whatever.
I wonder if knives made in them will be a lot more expensive, only logical to assume so, right now, definitely not the case
 
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For me 14c28n is a better balanced steel. With it's ease of sharpening and edge in toughness and very similar corrosion resistance, my personal preference would be 14c28n over M390 for most uses.

After trying many blades in M390 it just wasn't great for my uses. Yes, it holds it's edge well, but I've had lots of micro chipping with M390. And I don't mind touching a blade up a little more frequently.
 
ShaiHulud said:
I find it fascinating that 14C28N is mined, making it largely a pure steel, which also begs the question, if ever there happens to become a shortage in Sandvik steels; can't mine them, find them, or whatever.
I wonder if knives made in them will be a lot more extensive, only logical to assume so, right now, definitely not the case
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Where did you hear this? Steel is an alloy, and is not a naturally occurring metal.
 
ShaiHulud said:
I find it fascinating that 14C28N is mined, making it largely a pure steel, which also begs the question, if ever there happens to become a shortage in Sandvik steels; can't mine them, find them, or whatever.
I wonder if knives made in them will be a lot more extensive, only logical to assume so, right now, definitely not the case
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Maybe I'm dumb or I'm misreading, but you're saying Sandvik steels are mined and will be more extensive if there's a shortage??
 
ShaiHulud said:
I was mistaken then
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No big deal, we all have things we need to learn.

To the OP, I have no problem getting M390 and higher carbide steels just as sharp as 14C28N, it just takes a little more effort. 14C28N, with a good heat treat and geometry, makes a great EDC steel, so if it works for you, by all means use it. Everything is a tradeoff. 14C28N might not have the abrasion resistance of the higher carbide steels, but it sharpens easily and is tough and has good corrosion resistance.
 
So 14C28N is a darling steel in being user-friendly. It is fine-grained and very tough, to the point of being one of the toughest stainless blade steels. It's also very stainless.

Sure, M390 is more stainless and can hold a working edge for a lot longer. However, it is more challenging or at least more time-consuming to sharpen and doesn't strop up as readily. It is a lot less tough and we do see a lot of talk about chipping. Other issues that can be at play here are both heat treatment and heat issues in forming the factory edge. A factory edge can be more chippy and it can take time to get past the latter effect. However, the core issue of heat treatment is a tricky one.

Another thing that makes 14C28N a darling is that it seems easy to get a good heat treatment and it performs fairly well at a decent range of hardness. For instance, while I do notice better performance from 14C28N around 60HRC in some knives, it isn't exactly terrible or radically subpar in cheaper knives that might only be 57HRC. That's not true for M390. There was a lot of controversy a few years ago regarding production knives in M390 from a variety of countries, especially China and Italy. Many companies had target hardness in the 58-60 range where M390 won't offer the edge retention its reputation implies in the first place. Even then, it still wasn't performing anywhere near as well as hoped. So M390 seems to be not only more challenging to "get right" but should have been run harder in the first place, and many production knives are still being made that way.
 
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