Para 2 M390 vs. Para 2 20CP?

singularity35

singularity35

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Mar 1, 2010
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I'd like to hear your opinions and experiences. So far I haven't used my Blue Para a lot but it seems to sharpen up much easier than 20CP. It's just kinda hard for me to grasp that a steel so easy to touch up or sharpen can hold that working edge as well as the more wear resistant 20CP.
 
I have both and I found that the 20CP will hold on to a great working (toothy) edge for a long time while the M390 (Mule not PM2) has that razor edge but feels (lack of a better word) blunted after alot of use. I also experienced some chipping on the M390 cutting some cardboard. I have not experienced that with 20CP. I should add both are sharpened to a 25deg inclusive edge.

I found both easy to sharpen and touch up but I cheat and use diamond PSA films.
 
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I've never noted chipping on M390 unless the edge made contact with dirt. I've cut 1/2" thick cardboard with M390 at Rc 62 and observed nothing more than slight rolling.
 
interesting topic. to my knowledge m390 should out-perform 20cp but i can't say that with 100% certainty. i own the para 2 in m390 and the 20 cp but have yet to conduct a true comparison. sounds like a job for jdavis or or jankerson...
 
It may have been the type/condition of the cardboard but I used the 20CP on the same box with no issues. Maybe just a fluke as I haven't done any true testing

Noctis3880 said:
I've never noted chipping on M390 unless the edge made contact with dirt. I've cut 1/2" thick cardboard with M390 at Rc 62 and observed nothing more than slight rolling.
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four_shore said:
interesting topic. to my knowledge m390 should out-perform 20cp but i can't say that with 100% certainty. i own the para 2 in m390 and the 20 cp but have yet to conduct a true comparison. sounds like a job for jdavis or or jankerson...
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In production blades I couldn't tell the difference in my testing for edge retention.
 
never tried any of the carpenter steels, but i had a benchmade with M390 and it was crazy sharp, sharpest production ive ever had, never sharpened it tho
 
JNewell said:
And even if we could, it would be (pardon the pun!) splitting hairs. We don't know how good we've got it today! :)
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Yeah really. :)

Think about the next level up in performance, S110V, 10V/K294, K390.

And there is a big gap between the 2 levels.
 
When I think about questions like Chuck's, I remind myself to think about what a revelation it was to go to steels like ATS-34 back in the 1990s, which is *still* in my opinion a pretty darned fine choice if it's hardened and ground well. Heck yeah, I like my S90V and S110V and M390 and all the rest, but they're gilding the gilding on the lily. ;)

Ankerson said:
Yeah really. :)

Think about the next level up in performance, S110V, 10V/K294, K390.

And there is a big gap between the 2 levels.
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capid1 said:
It may have been the type/condition of the cardboard but I used the 20CP on the same box with no issues. Maybe just a fluke as I haven't done any true testing
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Perhaps you mistook rolling for chipping? With chipping I can usually see the bit missing from the side, and I feel a bump when sliding my nail along the edge itself. I also let out a string of expletives as I am forced to remove a lot of material to sharpen it out. This is especially bad on S90V, CTS-20CP, and S110V as they are more prone to chipping and take a long while to sharpen out.
 
Its CTS-20CP stainless? I am thinking of getting an M390 PM2 to put my (now being designed) custom handles and make a nice patina on it.
 
You actually can. I have seen it done many times. I plan to see if I can send it to Jericoh Blade Works up in Georgia to give it a custom patina. They put a nice patina on all their knives. (They even put it on one of their Elmax Seer MKV knives which is stainless)
 
Noctis3880 said:
Perhaps you mistook rolling for chipping? With chipping I can usually see the bit missing from the side, and I feel a bump when sliding my nail along the edge itself. I also let out a string of expletives as I am forced to remove a lot of material to sharpen it out. This is especially bad on S90V, CTS-20CP, and S110V as they are more prone to chipping and take a long while to sharpen out.
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I honestly thought it was rolling at first but under a 15x loupe I saw that it was chipping. After seeing that I put a 40deg microbevel and haven't had any issues since. It was pretty rough cardboard that was beat the heck up so I surmised it may have been the contaminants that did the damage versus nature of the steel.
 
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