Are We Witnessing The Death Knell of K390 In Production Folders?

[jwbnyc]

I’m just curious as to what people are thinking. There is some still available, but there has been considerable retrenching.

[kobold]

Interesting, IIRC it's the steel that is supposed to make M4 obsolete.

[Brock O Lee]

I would say no. Only the death knell for unpopular Wharncliffe blade shapes and serrated edges in K390.

[Manixguy@1994]

Seems like just Wharnies took the hit ? I have been curious though myself . New catalog and Reveal may have some answers. Hate to speculate, like the the steel . MG2

[jwbnyc]

I would say no. Only the death knell for unpopular Wharncliffe blade shapes and serrated edges in K390.

I hope that’s all it is. Not too happy about that myself. Would hate to see the rest go away.

[Araignee]

New catalog and Reveal may have some answers.

When's the next reveal ? At the end of the month IIRC ?

[Wartstein]

I would say no. Only the death knell for unpopular Wharncliffe blade shapes and serrated edges in K390.

ONLY?!

[Manixguy@1994]

New catalog and Reveal may have some answers.

When's the next reveal ? At the end of the month IIRC ?

Honestly have no idea , we are nearing a Reveal and catalog this year May have some interesting new knives with all the discontinued models . Definitely excited . MG2

[JSumm]

I would say no. Only the death knell for unpopular Wharncliffe blade shapes and serrated edges in K390.

This. Spyderco has something special in the Japanese K390 models. I wish we would see it spread, but I don't think it is going anywhere soon. Unless it is in the shape of a wharncliffe.

[TkoK83Spy]

Anybody in the line of work, such as a warehouse environment, really need to give one of those wharnies a try before it's too late. I bet K390, with a coarse finish and being a wharnie would perform extremely well!

[zuludelta]

Anybody in the line of work, such as a warehouse environment, really need to give one of those wharnies a try before it's too late. I bet K390, with a coarse finish and being a wharnie would perform extremely well!

I used to use stainless steel folders exclusively for work. They just make things so much simpler: no worrying about accidentally cutting into caustic/corrosive material and ruining my knife, no immediate need to clean & oil my knife after a particularly exhausting shift at the warehouse, no worrying about my sweat rusting the blade while it's in my pocket during hot & humid summer days, etc. But K390's combination of edge stability & edge retention in a knife with the Delica 4's slicey geometry was so superior to anything I had used before that I had to incorporate it into my work knife rotation despite being a non-stainless tool steel. It's just that good.

[zuludelta]

I’m just curious as to what people are thinking. There is some still available, but there has been considerable retrenching.

I hope Spyderco keeps K390 as a regular, "high-performance, AFI-focused" production option for some of their "evergreen" models (like how S110V & Maxamet are for many of their Golden folders). I prefer K390 over M4 or Cru-Wear for a high-performance, non-stainless tool steel in a folding knife. Cru-Wear is great & is a favourite of mine, but when talking about the tasks one is most likely to do with a folder, I think K390's vastly superior edge retention at the cost of lower toughness (although AFAIK it is still tougher than any stainless particle metallurgy steel with the exception of MagnaCut) offers more practical advantages.

At the same time, I understand why Spyderco is radically scaling back its K390 offerings. Non-stainless steels are just harder to sell to the average knife user, and while K390 isn't as hard to sharpen as some people make it out to be, getting it at least factory-sharp still requires a level of skill & equipment that typical users may not be willing to invest in.

[jwbnyc]

I must admit, it shook me that the Delica and Endura models in K390 were cut back. Those are bread and butter knives, big sellers, one would think. If those aren’t selling in K390, what is?

[ekastanis]

The discontinuation of serrated K390 models isn’t surprising to me. This is the result of 2000 strokes against a Congress Moldmaster 80 grit triangle in a Sharpmaker. I’d hate to try it with K390



Otherwise, it’s great

[Manifestgtr]

I suppose, in my collection, it doesn’t matter that much since I have every k390 model I wanted.

But it would be an unbelievable shame to ever see the k390 Delica, P4 and ESPECIALLY stretch go away. The k390 stretch is one of those knives that’s almost indescribably perfect to me. The only backlock that “beats” it in my stable is the cruwear stretch xl and that’s just because it’s the k390 stretch beefed up to tank-like proportions and offered in my personal favorite steel. But it flips around again because I would carry the k390 more often since it’s lighter, less valuable, etc.

The notion of those knives ever going away doesn’t affect me in the sense that I need more for myself…it’s the thought of people missing out on the opportunity to get great knives with arguably the best user/consumer tool steel that spyderco has ever offered. Cruwear and LC200N might always top my personal list for their sheer, frightening ability to take an obscene edge but at the end of the day, k390 is objectively equal to them in my mind. Rock solid edge stability, front end retention and surprisingly pleasant corrosion resistance/patina, etc. If I had my way, it would EXPAND to models like the shaman, manix and millie.

[Skywalker]

I hope Spyderco keeps K390 as a regular, "high-performance, AFI-focused" production option for some of their "evergreen" models (like how S110V & Maxamet are for many of their Golden folders). I prefer K390 over M4 or Cru-Wear for a high-performance, non-stainless tool steel in a folding knife. Cru-Wear is great & is a favourite of mine, but when talking about the tasks one is most likely to do with a folder, I think K390's vastly superior edge retention at the cost of lower toughness (although AFAIK it is still tougher than any stainless particle metallurgy steel with the exception of MagnaCut) offers more practical advantages.

This captures my feelings on K390 as well. Fantastic stuff and I'm thrilled to have it as the Seki City models' performance steel.

I don't think I have any ZDP-189 anymore - tried it in a Delica, Endura, Ladybug, Caly 3 and 3.5. Didn't like that it was a "stainless" that could rust and I found it frustrating to sharpen. And I really liked the rest of the design on those Calys!

I've been much, much happier with K390 both in terms of edge retention and ease of sharpening to bring that edge out. It holds an aggressive edge for a long time and still touches up well on ceramics. Currently have an Endura, Urban, Stretch, and recently a wharnie Delica from the discontinued sales.

The wharncliffes don't do a ton for me (though I've been trying it out in the Delica) and I don't usually care for serrated edges, so I'm not hugely concerned by the discontinuations. Might pick up one more wharncliffe to try out at the lower pricing but otherwise I'll still be focused on the continued regular production models for future purchase.

[Araignee]

The discontinuation of serrated K390 models isn’t surprising to me. This is the result of 2000 strokes against a Congress Moldmaster 80 grit triangle in a Sharpmaker. I’d hate to try it with K390

What is the issue here ? There's still some unremoved sharpie line, so you mean you had difficulties sharpening the outer edges of the serrations ? Asking this as a sharpening noob.

[aicolainen]

I would say no. Only the death knell for unpopular Wharncliffe blade shapes and serrated edges in K390.

ONLY?!

ONLY?!

I've bought so many knives on a whim, just to try out and get a feel of them, but somehow I've been able to hold off on the k390 Delica PE WC... doesn't compute, and I'll probably regret it.
Didn't strikethrough your highlighting of "serrated edges" because those doesn't matter, but only to differentiate between old and new highlights. Personally I'm not as much into SE these days (which I believe is the only serrated edge type offered in k390) after discovering CE, and while I'm a bit saddened to see so many CEs on the chopping block I wouldn't have felt that way for k390 CE - which I anticipate to simply be above my level of sharpening skills.

[Traditional.Sharpening]

The discontinuation of serrated K390 models isn’t surprising to me. This is the result of 2000 strokes against a Congress Moldmaster 80 grit triangle in a Sharpmaker. I’d hate to try it with K390



Otherwise, it’s great

A little more information would help understand better what you are alluding to here. What were you trying to accomplish exactly? Do you feel that 2000 strokes was excessive or are you simply saying that number would have been astronomically higher using K390??? If you are using K390 for the same sharpening then it would simply be best to use diamond to cut with.

[vilePossum]

One should differentiate between what is perceived as general sales.
K390 has never been a big thing in production folders, even less so than M4. Basically spyderco is the only company that uses it on a regular basis...
Not even lionsteel who knows the steel uses it except for sprint like runs.
Plus for the majority of people s35vn is still a top steel.
I would dare say as much that sales percentage wise nobody cares about it.

But yeah in regard to the discontinued list I think it is rather the combination of a rare steel with uncommon and not big sales producing blade shapes.