My first new hinderer I just got last week was looking so forward to getting one for the longest. I’ve had a zt0566 0550 0562 0562cf 0560 but got my first hinderer m390 spanto no choil with blue anodizing. To my surprise, straight out of the box it wouldn’t slice through newspaper. I thought eh printer paper no problem. I had trouble with that. I had to push cut it. So I took my strop and hit it a few times on each side. Still nothing. The edge is polished and looks decent but it isn’t sharp. Any thoughts or opinions. This is my first actual hinderer and I get the spanto is a thick hunk of metal but my 0550 and when I had my 0560 in elmax it would get a razor edge. I feel really let down and am considering returning to dlt.
Sadly, lots of knives aren't particularly sharp out of the box...and, oddly, cost doesn't seem ti be a factor in that equation. My 20CV (3.5") XM18 wasn't what I consider sharp; nor was my CRK insingo Inkosi. It's a knife - if you use it, you will have to sharpen it at some point... and, if you aren't going to use it, does it really matter?
My M390 XM-18 No Choil Wharncliffe came pretty sharp. I'm pleased with it anyways. Of course, Ill be sending it to be sharpened by Jason B at Traditional Sharpening and it will come back a laser like all the rest and from there on out - for a long time anyways, will be very easy to touch up on the SharpMaker. Thats what you can do as well OP, if you want to. - Actually, every Hinderer I've owned has been decently sharp outta the box. Sorry to hear that yours was not OP.
I think it's a hit or miss affair. I've had six XM-18's altogether, but now just four. The two skinnys I purchased last year were acceptably sharp; not razor sharp OOTB like a Spyderco, but not bad either. A few passes on a Sharpmaker fine ceramic rod and/or a strop was needed to coax out the best. However the XM-18s I purchased in the years prior (regular XM-18 3.5" spearpoints and a wharnie) OOTB required more time and effort on the Sharpmaker, starting with a medium ceramic rod then moving to fine before I was satisfied (my wharnie was sharper than my spearpoints to start with).
I got a no-choil skinny slicer in M390 with a very obtuse edge, it could cut printer paper in a draw cut, not a push cut. I worked on it for a while with my sharpmaker because I knew I wanted to keep it. I've had a couple other Hinderers come from the ranch with obtuse edges (>20 dps), but none as obtuse as that one. Whether you send it back or sharpen it depends on a few things. How do you like the rest of the knife? I'm a fan of Hinderer, so I lean towards keeping it. How are your sharpening skills? I have a Sharpmaker and can do a pretty good job sharpening with it, at least for my needs, some steels, like M390 might take longer, but the Sharpmaker is pretty foolproof.
Honestly I went and bought a 3” swedge spear and it’s m390 and sharp as I can ask for. It’s just a bit of a let down I’ve had two crk knives they were both sharp. I had high hopes. But now the true question is should i return it for store credit at dlt and get another 3.5 or 3”??? I like them both for different reasons
Define sharp? Most of the knives I buy are sharp ... they will cut things ... but they can vastly be improved upon in that department. I have sharpened all my Hinderers unless I am not sure if it's a keeper for me or not. But the edges aren't up to what I like out of the box ... but most knives aren't. Spyderco is probably the most consistent for good out of the box edges from production knives. Most others I have experience with are hit and miss and I expect to have to sharpen then as soon as I get them. I've even bought custom knives ... a few came very sharp a couple others needed a touch up. Only 3 brands of knives that I have never had to touch up or even think about it are ... 1. my CPKs ... all of them have been great straight out of the mailbox ... ready for whatever task was thrown at them. well over 10 examples so I think they it's safe to assume all come this way. 2. my Bradford knives ... only own 3 but they came very sharp ready to go. 2. my LT Wrights ... have all been very good edges out of the box.
I think that once you learn to properly sharpen a knife, no out of the box knife will be sharp enough and you will either touch it up or do a full grit sharpening after you take it out of the box and decide you are going to keep it. My CRK came razor sharp out of the box and didn’t need any touch up and stayed sharp My XM-18 came dull My Spyderco’s have all come with decent edges and the angle I want, straight out of the box, but I touch them up before using them My ESEEs came sharp and perfect for their large blade cutting tasks (which isn’t cutting newspaper) My LT Wright came sharp and perfect for bushcraft tasks (which isn’t cutting newspaper) My GECs all came dull, but took an edge with a small amount of work My benchmades have been hit or miss, including inconsistent grind angles, but my most recent purchase was a Bugout and it came with a decent edge, good grind
I've noticed several of my new Hinderers came with multiple edge facets rather than one nice constant width grind on each side of the edge. Sure it's cosmetic, but come on and make one nice grind pass and don't sell a high end knife with poor initial edge grind.
You ll have to sharpen the knife eventually. Might as well start now. I used to sharpen every knife I bought to improve the factory edge. Now a good working edge is fine with me.
I can sharpen a knife. And pretty decent at it. I have dmt diamond stones xcourse course fine xtrafine Arkansas stones a spyderco ceramic bench stone and a worksharp with the belts. It’s almost like the edge was rolled and didn’t have a burr. Dlt was courteous enough to let me return it I just thought it was something I’d ask about. I’ve. Been a member for a few years this is my first post I’ve made. I don’t know how to post pics from my iPhone yet but I’ll try to get some up see what y’all think.
From what I understand about M390 is that it doesn’t form a burr like other steels. Yes, it will roll slightly without feeling that burr. It’s important to keep track of what you’re doing when you sharpen it. BTW, I’ve got an earlier spanto in S35VN, wasn’t happy with it at all. Sent it to Big Chris, he did a regrind to make it a slicer. It cuts well now.
