Knife specifications: ”POSEIDON”
Steel: Bohler-Uddeholm S390 Knife Steel
Hardness: 65-68 HRC
Blade length (mm): 111 / 4,37 Inch
Blade thickness (mm): 3 / 0,11 Inch
Blade width (mm): 31 / 1,22 Inch
Handle: stabilised Karelian birch
Overall length (mm): 236 / 9,29 Inch
Knife type: hunting, outdoor
Package: knife, leather sheath
S390(Bohler-Uddeholm) – Bohler-Uddeholm PM steel. High speed, red hot hardness tool steel. Good toughness and wear resistance. Roughly equivalent of AISI T15 high speed tool steel. I’ll soon move this alloy into its own group, since S390 Microclean isn’t all that close to neither AISI T15 steel nor AISI M3:1Co, to warrant being in the same group.
Meanwhile, Switzerland has just published a video (23.09.19) with S390 Microclean test results, in which a thin knife with a 0,02″ behind-the-edge thickness managed to cut through a steel nail and a brass pipe without any edge damage. The test knife was a very impressive 68 HRC. Overall, based on the published data and tests, S390 Microclean steel can be very effective, and, based on the heat treatment protocol used, I think it can work excellently both in high-performance slicers and in larger, harder-use knives. It is also worth noting that the carbide size is in the range of 3 µm to 5 µm, which is quite good compared with many other alloy steels.
