m390 defeated by two paper?

[Oklahoma Outlaw]

I don't what is 'al dente', but I get it, I wouldn't say all of them, but lemon do occur even on the best manufacture. But a quick search over the internet and I found that lionsteel m390 has higher rate(compared to other m390/20cv knife of course) of defect, and tend to be softer than expected.

I’d send it back if it’s not too late.

 

[353]

I don't what is 'al dente', but I get it, I wouldn't say all of them, but lemon do occur even on the best manufacture. But a quick search over the internet and I found that lionsteel m390 has higher rate(compared to other m390/20cv knife of course) of defect, and tend to be softer than expected.

Al dente means that tou cook the pasta just right, not too long so that you get the right texture to the bite.

Angle issues aside, I see three possibilities:

1. You got a counterfeit in some kind of junk steel. Just to rule this one out, did you buy it from a reputable dealer?

2. It could be a lemon. However rare, it can happen. Before entertaining this possibility...

3. How much steel have you removed in sharpening? Sometimes, the steel along a factory edge can be burnt or fatigued. This is part of why factory edges are rarely a good indicator of how well a given steel will perform. You might just have a particularly bad example of this effect.

There is a fourth option here, Lionsteels user reports of bad edge performance and tests showing very low HRC.

I’m not saying all of them have the issue, but from my gathered info there seems to BE an issue.

 

[TheFun957]

Angle issues aside, I see three possibilities:

1. You got a counterfeit in some kind of junk steel. Just to rule this one out, did you buy it from a reputable dealer?

2. It could be a lemon. However rare, it can happen. Before entertaining this possibility...

3. How much steel have you removed in sharpening? Sometimes, the steel along a factory edge can be burnt or fatigued. This is part of why factory edges are rarely a good indicator of how well a given steel will perform. You might just have a particularly bad example of this effect.

I think number 1 possibility does not exist, almost over 50% of my knife come from him, including all of my becker, zt, cold steel, leatherman and some other outdoor tools, which has withstand years of rough use in harsh environment, he is also officially authorized dealer of Spyderco.

About 3, as far as I do, reprofile 2 times with the course diamond, and some sharpening around with different tool, no luck. I message the dealer and he ask me some question, and also tell me to send it back and he will have the professional sharpener have a check, will also replace me with a new one if its manufacture defect.

As for number 2, I guess we will know once he checked the item.

 

[Oklahoma Outlaw]

I think number 1 possibility does not exist, almost over 50% of my knife come from him, including all of my becker, zt, cold steel, leatherman and some other outdoor tools, which has withstand years of rough use in harsh environment, he is also officially authorized dealer of Spyderco.

About 3, as far as I do, reprofile 2 times with the course diamond, and some sharpening around with different tool, no luck. I message the dealer and he ask me some question, and also tell me to send it back and he will have the professional sharpener have a check, will also replace me with a new one if its manufacture defect.

As for number 2, I guess we will know once he checked the item.

I hope they make it right for you.

 

[POCEH KOCEB]

To me it is more of a sharpening angle issue. With the suggested 20 or 30-35 degree inclusive bevel this blade shouldnt have isdues cutting paper even with 55-56 hrc IMO

 

[EatingSarma]

Just got M5 in Sleipner. Gonna test it tommorrow.

 

[Natlek]

Umm .. cardboard is extremely abrasive. Lots of Silica, Sand, and other impurities. Cardboard dulls any knife blade quickly.

Can you define quickly ? In meters if possible ? I fell twice into the trap of bladeforum so u cut some cardboard with my knives , a thing I would never think of doing. My son laughed at me . I even went to the nearest store to get more cardboard .And I give up after about 80 meters ,knife still cut clean phone book paper and shave hair from hand ? M35 steel if that maters........

 

[TheFun957]

To me it is more of a sharpening angle issue. With the suggested 20 or 30-35 degree inclusive bevel this blade shouldnt have isdues cutting paper even with 55-56 hrc IMO

I didn't neglect the chance of the angle, in fact I do hope its my fault, if the manufacture could have such defect in their most popular product, I don't think I can trust their product anymore.

 

[dano]

Maybe the "Super" steel isn't living up to the hype, or you have a burr of some type that breaks off during the first after-sharpening cuts.

 

[TheFun957]

Just got M5 in Sleipner. Gonna test it tommorrow.

I have heard good things about their sleipner, my friend who happen to bring a M7 which is same steel and let me tried it for a while, feels good in hand and do the work easily, just not my liking type through.

 

[Chronovore]

Can you define quickly ? In meters if possible ? I fell twice into the trap of bladeforum so u cut some cardboard with my knives , a thing I would never think of doing. My son laughed at me . I even went to the nearest store to get more cardboard .And I give up after about 80 meters ,knife still cut clean phone book paper and shave hair from hand ? M35 steel if that maters........

Cardboard and paper can wear at an edge. Dirty cardboard can be especially bad since dirt can mean grit. At least with clean cardboard, it's a common medium for edge testing. Once you've gotten past the factory edge, 8Cr13Mov at 15 dps should get at least 7 or 8 meters of "fine edge" and another 25 or so on the "working edge". So if you aren't doing better with M390, that's a problem!

Looking at this spreadsheet of results (measured in feet) you can see that M390 has a pretty wide range. It can vary a lot depending on the company. I see that earlier comments are confirmed here. Some of the worst numbers for M390 line up with Lionsteel...

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[TheFun957]

Cardboard and paper can wear at an edge. Dirty cardboard can be especially bad since dirt can mean grit. At least with clean cardboard, it's a common medium for edge testing. Once you've gotten past the factory edge, 8Cr13Mov at 15 dps should get at least 7 or 8 meters of "fine edge" and another 25 or so on the "working edge". So if you aren't doing better with M390, that's a problem!

Looking at this spreadsheet of results (measured in feet) you can see that M390 has a pretty wide range. It can vary a lot depending on the company. I see that earlier comments are confirmed here. Some of the worst numbers for M390 line up with Lionsteel...

Google Sheets: Sign-in

Access Google Sheets with a personal Google account or Google Workspace account (for business use).

docs.google.com

From this chart I would say Lionsteel m390 is so unstable, it can go as high as 114, and some as low as 36 and 28, as I expected ZT 20cv is not the best but certaily in the standard of production m390/20cv.

28ft (or 36) for m390 is just not acceptable, even a simple stainless like 8cr13 beat it.

Anyway, thanks for the chart, very useful as reference.

 

[TheFun957]

The item has reached the dealer. While he didn't able to test if its faulty, he agreed for me to choose something as replacement, but I need to pay very little fee to refurbish the M4, I choose a Fallkniven R2 Scout as replacement (need to add some money), which is Elmax with cyro treated (correct me if I am wrong) at 61-62 HRC.

The only thing I loss is the custom kydex for the m4 that I ordered from armatus carry, 100USD total including shipping. Knowing there are instability in the heat treatment, guess I will be avoiding Lionsteel in the future (especially their m390).