M390 and CTS-204P get freakishly sharp!

Singularity35, I'm in Tucumcari, New Mexico, so it would take me till noon to pull that pic up. WOW, we get spoiled to what our phones can do on Wi-Fi and 4G. I'm in a TINY town on the Texas border, and I'm lucky to have service, much less 4G Internet. :-) I will check that pic/ video out in Amarillo.

That said, what is your experience with M390 vs say M4 and S90V?? I'm curious if you are getting the same results as me? I freely admit, I'm a M4 fanboy, but this M390 and CTS204P seem super neat. What are your thoughts?
 
singularity35 said:
Thanks, but to be fair, I'm really light on the pressure when I go.for novelty edges so the brown rods might not be acting like brown rods with that light a stroke.
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You are getting that edge with medium rods?! 20 degree or 15 degree? Also, do you start with the edges of the rods and then go to the flats or is all work on the flats?
 
Vegas Blade said:
Singularity35, I'm in Tucumcari, New Mexico, so it would take me till noon to pull that pic up. WOW, we get spoiled to what our phones can do on Wi-Fi and 4G. I'm in a TINY town on the Texas border, and I'm lucky to have service, much less 4G Internet. :-) I will check that pic/ video out in Amarillo.

That said, what is your experience with M390 vs say M4 and S90V?? I'm curious if you are getting the same results as me? I freely admit, I'm a M4 fanboy, but this M390 and CTS204P seem super neat. What are your thoughts?
Click to expand...

M390 is for me a stainless M4. It can take thin bevels too. I do think m390 is wasted with bevelmore obtuse than 30° inclusive. At that or thinner bevel angles, M390 becomes a pretty aggressive feeling steel. Its similar to s90v in that even when it feels dull, it still.cuts better than it feels it should. I like M4 a lot too but its just nice to have a lot of choices. Aren't we lucky to be alive during these days? Good time to be a knife nut and a steel junkie, I say. :)
 
singularity35 said:
M390 is for me a stainless M4. It can take thin bevels too. I do think m390 is wasted with bevelmore obtuse than 30° inclusive. At that or thinner bevel angles, M390 becomes a pretty aggressive feeling steel. Its similar to s90v in that even when it feels dull, it still.cuts better than it feels it should. I like M4 a lot too but its just nice to have a lot of choices. Aren't we lucky to be alive during these days? Good time to be a knife nut and a steel junkie, I say. :)
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Major :thumbup: to this
 
Syncharmony said:
You are getting that edge with medium rods?! 20 degree or 15 degree? Also, do you start with the edges of the rods and then go to the flats or is all work on the flats?
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Yes, brown rods used to micro bevel at around 36° inclusive using sharpmaker with a rubber band on the rods. I'm at the 40° setting but with the rubber bands on the rods to "squeeze" them together to reduce the angle. The back bevel is just under 30° maybe 26-28°. The edges are already pretty clean and apexed coming off the Edge Pro where I finish with the EP tapes that I like to load with DMT paste. I just microbevel to get a toothy edge. I use the flats because I want to.exert only the lightest possible pressure.
 
I have found M390 to be a lot easier to sharpen than CTS-204P. Now this may just be my feeble old mind playing tricks on me but it seemed like I had to spend a good deal more time on the stones re-profiling CTS-204P. Even though they have essentially the same chemistry, I wonder if there are subtle differences in the manufacturing process that come through in the end use properties of the steel. Maybe it's just a different heat treat, or maybe I'm just crazy.
 
Senor, isn't the 204P a point or two harder? I seem to have seen this somewhere but my old man's memory may be wrong again. :)
 
I have noticed M390 taking a sharper a edge than 20cp, S90v, S110v.

But in my experience M4 and Superblue is even sharper.
 
I love this!! I think it's so great to get so many people involved in this conversation. :-) I am really digging these "super steels" and what they are capable of. They became a ton more fun when my Spyderco Diamond rods came in. Hahaha. The diamonds are a game changer on steel like we are playing with at 62-64 RC.

As I sit here with my Millie M4 in my front pocket and my Southard in my back. :-)

I am constantly surprised what these steels are capable of. I mean 300 slices on 3/8 manilla rope and still slice paper?? Wow.
 
singularity35 said:
Yes, brown rods used to micro bevel at around 36° inclusive using sharpmaker with a rubber band on the rods. I'm at the 40° setting but with the rubber bands on the rods to "squeeze" them together to reduce the angle. The back bevel is just under 30° maybe 26-28°. The edges are already pretty clean and apexed coming off the Edge Pro where I finish with the EP tapes that I like to load with DMT paste. I just microbevel to get a toothy edge. I use the flats because I want to.exert only the lightest possible pressure.
Click to expand...

Interesting idea. Where do you put the rubber bands? At the top? I think I might try this as I've always felt I could get a little better edge with a mb slightly less obtuse than 40.
 
Hi I'm new to bladeforums, i like reading the stuff people have to say. Interesting that you would say that about your green para2.
[Edited for sales content]
thanks
 
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