I have both m390 and 20cv from benchmade. They are very similar. They are so similar that you may actually have more of a difference from two copies of the same steel. I would let the choice come down to the knife itself if they contain one of these two steels.

I personally like ceramic for touch-ups and diamond for actual sharpening sessions when a simple touch-up won't get you back to sharp. Japanese water stones sure look nice but you can get your knife sharp enough to easily shave off arm hairs from a $7 silica carbide stone. I think a common misconception of the novice knife sharpener is to believe that the lack of satisfactory results is a consequence of the equipment when in fact it is most often a lack of developed technique. Japanese water stones seem like a lifestyle choice to me. I get the feeling they would probably give great satisfaction of ownership. I have great satisfaction of ownership with my dmt and spyderco ceramic stones because they work so well for my uses.

I think i started using the stone free hand to touch up my knives where the angles were somewhere in between the two sharpmaker set angles. I don't like my knives as low as 15 degrees per side but i don't like them as high as 20 degrees per side. I free hand my knives on dmt stones or spyderco whetstones. I touch them up with the white spyderco rod. It is just convenient for me.

Jon R thank ya that makes since

I have a Benchmade 710-D2 that I sharpen to a razor edge on a Spyderco ceramic rods.

Also, that paper towel test was mindblowing

The brown stone sharpens faster, the white stone refines the edge. Right now i am preferring the edge i get form the brown one. The white rod is ideal for doing daily to weekly touch-ups of your blade. Just don't use too much pressure. Check out spyderco's website or bladeforums.com.

great, thank you

154 is good if you're used to sharpening a lot. Good butcher steel

sounded EXACTLY the same

I sent mine in for a new blade and Benchmade mistakenly sent back the knife with the wrong steel. They said they would swap it back to s90v anytime that I wanted to send it back in.

Jon R that’s amazing. I’m not sure if that’s an upgrade or a down grade. I’m think as a reward from a job promotion I’m going to buy the anthem and the 4-max. Why buy one ridiculous knife when you can buy two. I’ll have to tell my wife first because otherwise she’ll call me at work saying wtf is this and wtf is that. I bought her a first knife in the Rike Hummingbird...it’s pretty sweet. Unfortunately, the pivot is loose and I’m sending it back for a replacement. Thanks for responding.

Probably got a 940-1501 and swapped the blade. 20cv/m390/ct204p are pretty much the same and far better than s90v.

I stop sharpening once the blade will push cut phone book paper. I don't see much benefit of going further for EDC use. The extra time spent doesn't pay off for me. Plus, you do a couple of cuts through paper and the fancy edge is gone, even with "premium" steels. Moreover, there is plenty of debate on the merits of "toothy edge" vs "refined edge". Plenty of people to vouch for both sides of the debate. I like my edges somewhere in the middle; about 600-1200 grit.

JonR have you ever sharpened a knife hair whittling sharp ?

ambulldog111 neither one of those blades has a geometry thin enough to make them sail through paper quietly. They are sharp as hell though. Can you cut paper towel that easy?

@@joshjensen8143 Not really, paper cut tests only really shows the condition of the apex not the BTE thickness or geometry, even the Valet he had that wasn't even able to reliably cut through the phone book paper (as he demonstrated) went through the paper towel he was using. Some paper towels just cut really easily. Trying to whittle hair is going to tell you more about your apex than paper towels or toilet paper, there is just too much variation in the construction of the latter.

Yes, I would like to know that too.

eXpeDiEnt89 You can custom build one on the Benchmade website.

@@ryangraham8596 you cant customize a 940-1

Tony Tyler not true. Cheap steels can hold a stick to the usability and longevity of high end. And typically if you buy a knife with shit steel the action will be shit to and that can be dangerous.

Yeah, a high end knife steel is no substitute for sharpening. I strongly believe that you get what you pay for when it comes to knives, or anything in life. With that said, I absolutely love the Kershaw Leek. It had amazing edge retention in my "cut tests". It has excellent blade geometry which makes it a great slicer. Pretty much any American made knife is a safe bet. My favorite steels as of today are, sandvik 14c28n as found on kershaws, s30v from spyderco, s90v from benchmade, and m390 from benchmade. My favorite at the moment is Spyderco's s30v. It holds a great edge, doesn't easily roll or chip, and with proper technique, resharpens in a breeze.

Yeah, the leek I once had was amazing. Now I got a BM 551 Grip in M390. Cannot wait till it gets dull so I can shapen it beyond factory!

No! M390 is a 3rd Gen PM Steel. CPM 20CV is 2rd Gen Steel. Böhler has the more modern manufacturing process .. M390 has a finer microstructure and is the Clean Steel (Microclean).

@NetHead87 I got a Paramilitary 2 in that steel, no problem with my Gatco sharpening system (I don't have a Lansky). You will only need some few minutes more than with CPM S30V, exactly as happens with my several Spyderco ZDP-189 blades. Hand free sharpening? Not for me, I'm not constant keeping the correct angle, I need some help with guided rods.

@NetHead87 By the way, I recently purchased a grey frn Manix 2 in Maxamet steel but haven't sharpened it yet, not enough used.

@@bossmodus5020 M390 does not have a finer micro-structure. There have been photographed under the microscope and the micro-structure between M390 and 20CV is indistinguishable. Check out knifesteelnerds.

What the differences between m390 and k390 ?

Uh-No! the 90v has twice the vanadium, and with less Cr, more carbides in solution. Much higher edge retention.

That is a good observation. I made this video in response to many claiming that a person must have diamond stones to sharpen higher alloy content steels. Does one need diamond or silica carbide to sharpen s90v or m390? No. Does it speed up the process? Yes. I would argue that ceramics are more than capable for high alloy steels if you regularly maintain your blades and don't let them get too dull. If an individual tends to let their knife get very dull between sharpening sessions, i would say diamond would be the better choice. If your knife is very dull, it will take quite some time on ceramic to bring back the edge. Plus, as you said, they may have to be cleaned one or more times during your sharpening session due to "clogging" before you get your edge. As far as damaging the stones go, i have used my white spyderco ceramics to touch up s90v and m390 for years and they are still going strong. However, my brown ceramics have worn out on the corners after about 2 or so years. Thanks for the comment. I think it is very useful for people to know these things when deciding on a sharpening setup.

Jon R also, you don’t need to form a burr on the following steels per the manufacturers recommendation... Cpm20cv Cts204p Elmax M390 M690 Chasing a bird with the steel will just result in a wire edge.

true that. A course edge, lightly stropped in some steels is amazing! However, of course he couldn't get the s90v popping sharp. the carbides are harder than the ceramic and the diamond stone was a 600 grit Hello! Now hit that s90v with an 1800 or 2200 diamond and diamond stropping emulsion and it will completely blown away 20v, M390 or almost any other steel. The edge will last a LOT longer than the M390 type steels as well I have both and thee is NO comparison!!! Only 125v and 15v will do more, but much higher brittleness. For what it is worth, the DMT 1200 grit diamond stone is actually 1800 grit, where as most other 1000 and 1200 grit diamond stones are as marked or much courser. GRRRR!!! A well broken in dmt 1200 grit marked stone is closer to 2200 grit Love it! KnifeMaker