M390 Stainless Steel


All the M390 we sell is blanchard ground. Learn Why…










Alloy – Condition Thick Len Wid Price Qty Stock

M390 Stainless Steel, Flat Ground

.078 in 22.7 in 1.5 in $112.90
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BSM390-0078-227015G 1

M390 Stainless Steel, Flat Ground

.078 in 23.5 in 1.5 in $116.90
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+
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BSM390-0078-235015G 1

M390 Stainless Steel, Flat Ground

.078 in 22.7 in 1.9 in $143.00
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BSM390-0078-227019G 1

M390 Stainless Steel, Flat Ground

.079 in 22.7 in 1.9 in $144.30
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BSM390-0079-227019G 1

M390 Stainless Steel, Flat Ground

.078 in 11.6 in 2.4 in $92.30
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BSM390-0078-116024G 1


InformationM390 Stainless Steel Information and Composition

Condition:
Our M390 has been properly annealed and is in the soft condition. You do not have to do any non-standard wasteful processes before heat treating. The steel must be heat treated to get to a hardened state. Follow the heat treat recipe and the steel will harden.

Ratings:
  8 = Maximum Toughness
61 = Maximum Edge Holding

The rating scale is 0-100, 0 being minimum and 100 being maximum. The ratings are the maximum potential of the alloy. I do not recommend heat treating to the maximum value. Choose a heat treat recipe that results in the attributes you want.

Thank you to Dr Larrin Thomas for all the testing he performed and information he has provided. Buy his book Knife Engineering to learn more about knifemaking.

Alloy Comparison Table:

Description:
M390 has very good edge holding and poor toughness. M390 Made using Bohler's third generation powder metallurgy process. It can be finished to a mirror polish with some effort. This alloy has become the high end factory knife steel.

Flat Ground:
Any alloy that has “Flat Ground” in the description has been Blanchard ground. Our tolerances for flat grinding are +-.001” across 12”. You can identify Blanchard grinding by circular grind marks. Do not be mislead by other descriptions. Others try to pass off less accurate types of grinding with lower tolerances as flat grinding. This is why we call out our tolerances. All the M390 we sell is blanchard ground. Learn Why...

Information Sources:
There are many sources of information regarding knifemaking. Some sources, like Dr. Larrin Thomas of Knife Steel Nerds, are excellent. Other sources are not as credible. It is important to vet the your information sources. Be careful of anyone who says the way to heat treat 1095 or O1 is to heat to non-magnetic and quench in used motor oil. Anyone who publishes this type of information is not credible. When possible, we use information from manufacturers and industry experts.

AI Information:
The latest trend of bad information is from Artificial Intelligence (AI). Multiple companies have AI programs. AI collects and compiles information. The problem is, AI is does not know if the information is accurate or garbage. When asked, AI regurgitates and merges good and bad data. Beware of AI data when researching materials. If you read material information that sounds like it was written by a poetry graduate student, compares materials that are not similar, contains blatantly false information, etc, it was probably AI generated. At AKS, we never use AI to generate material information.

Data Sheet:
Bohler M390 Data Sheet


Heat TreatM390 Heat Treat Information:

Preheat: Heat to 1,400-1,450°F. Equalize temperature.

Austenitize: It is critical to not exceed the maximum austenitize temperature. If you overshoot the maximum temperature by a small amount, toughness will go down dramatically.

Heat rapidly to 2,050-2,150°F. Soak for 30 minutes. Lower austenitizing temperatures maximize impact toughness. Higher austenitizing temperatures maximize edge holding.

Quench: Plate or air quench to 125°F.

Temper: Temper immediately after cryo or quench if cryo is not performed. Temper for 2 hours.

Cryogenic Treating: Cryo is recommended for austenitizing temperatures at or above 2,100°F. Cool to -100 °F, remove from cryo and allow blade to warm to room temperature in cool air.

Use the graph below to select your temperatures:


CertsM390 Certs

Chemical Composition Certification*

  1. Click on the button below to get the chemical composition of the steel you purchased.
  2. You will be required to enter the three character code written in red letters on your steel.
  3. If you do not see red letters on the steel, your specific chemical composition is not in the system.

Lookup Cert
 
* This material is NOT certified for medical or aerospace applications.
  .

BSM390 BSM390-0040 BSM390-0060 BSM390-0080 BSM390-0100 BSM390-0120 BSM390-0140 BSM390-0160 BSM390-0180 BSM390-0200 BSM390-0220 BSM390-0240 BSM390-0260
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M390 Stainless Steel
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