K490???

[Konala33]

I recently bought the Lion Steel T6 in K490. Anybody have any insight on K490? As good or better than 390? Gimmick? Thanks in advance!!

 

[Wandering_About]

It has a quite different composition than K390. Bohler's brochure claims K490 as being ballpark of M4 for wear resistance with better toughness, but that's manufacturer marketing info so take it with a salt to taste.

 

[Fixall]

It's Bohler's response to 4V from Crucible and Vanadis 4E from Uddeholm. It should be great steel.

Personally I'm finding K390 to be pretty hard to beat though. It holds an edge for so long, while still have good stability.

Here you go. This is a comparison of the compositions of 4v, k390, k490, and 4e. k390 is quite a bit different.

 

[cmfkdragoon]

DBK did a bit on the T6 in K490:

 

[ferider]

I've been playing with the idea of trying the T6/K490. What's interesting to me is the Tungsten and Chrome. Harder and more stainless than K390, puts K490 closer to Cruwear, for instance.

K390 has been very corrosion prone for me.

 

[Hashishiin]

It's ANOTHER HUNDRED steel points added! Who can resist?!

No... this is no "10 MORE VN's!" here. I really enjoy the performance of K390. Managing to restore the edge on this "super hard to sharpen" steel is not hard. I am just wondering how a serrated knife will hold up over time without sharpening it properly like you do a P/E. This is why I have been reluctant to vinegar-patina a serrated Police 4. The corrosion is minimal and the patina is heavy.

I've been playing with the idea of trying the T6/K490. What's interesting to me is the Tungsten and Chrome. Harder and more stainless than K390, puts K490 closer to Cruwear, for instance.

K390 has been very corrosion prone for me.

It has indeed stretched the limits of what I would define as patina. I have a big black streak across my Dragonfly, and it looks cool, but I just don't want it to pit. I think I am pretty safe for rust as I developed a nice, even patina, and before, every fruit changed the face of the knife, now, it stays pretty solid. But you don't even want to touch one if you plan to return it, the stock-photos are patinaed, you can see it!

Cruwear is one of my favorites for sharpenability and feels close to a stainless (or at least it you do not have to worry about it as you do other steels) so K490 being similar, but harder, is cool in my book!

 

[Bob Denman]

I'm still really liking my M390 blades...
But I'm waiting to see what M398 is like...

 

[Hashishiin]

I'm still really liking my M390 blades...
But I'm waiting to see what M398 is like...

From what I hear, it's going to be the opposite of this stuff, just about! In terms of traits.

EDIT: People are talking about how great the K490 is, and I just realized that my calling M398 "the opposite" could be interpreted as me saying the steel is very bad. Just in case anybody read it like that, I meant that the M398 would focus on extreme edge retention while being more brittle than ZDP-189 and having edge on par with S125V I have read.

 

[Konala33]

Holy shite, I wasn't even sure if anyone was gonna respond to my post!! Thanks to all that did. So far I have only done some food prep and made a bit of kindling with the T6 with no edge change whatsoever, as to be expected. If I get a chance to abuse it a bit I will post results!!! Thanks again all!!

 

[Konala33]

It's Bohler's response to 4V from Crucible and Vanadis 4E from Uddeholm. It should be great steel.

Personally I'm finding K390 to be pretty hard to beat though. It holds an edge for so long, while still have good stability.

Here you go. This is a comparison of the compositions of 4v, k390, k490, and 4e. k390 is quite a bit different.

Thank you for that!! Very informative.

 

[5DoorEstate]

Holy shite, I wasn't even sure if anyone was gonna respond to my post!! Thanks to all that did. So far I have only done some food prep and made a bit of kindling with the T6 with no edge change whatsoever, as to be expected. If I get a chance to abuse it a bit I will post results!!! Thanks again all!!

This sort of question is chum in the BF waters. I enjoy learning stuff from the steel nerds here.

I’m admittedly shocked you haven’t gotten a few “MORE MARKETING GIMMICKS! By God the 1095 on my Buck cuts just as good as anything especially with the edge I can put on it. Free hand on stones.”

 

[Konala33]

I got the T6 primarily because of the blade shape. Pretty unique look and the one piece micarta handles are dope.Top quality kydex as well. They only offer it in k490 so I didn't have a choice in steel but figured hey if its 75% as good as 390 it'll be worth it. Time will tell though. I'll be interested to see if its a pain in the ass to sharpen. Hopefully not!

 

[irsh]

I recently bought the Lion Steel T6 in K490. Anybody have any insight on K490? As good or better than 390? Gimmick? Thanks in advance!!

Did you get the satin or "old black" finish? That's a good-looking, beefy blade. Because I needed another one on my want list.

 

[Konala33]

I got the satin. I'm not a big fan of coatings. I know they make sense for some steels but if I can avoid them I do. I don't mind DLC coatings though. Food safe and they look pretty sick.