Artisan Cutlery Archaeo M390 Folding Knife Reviews | Drop

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Artisan Cutlery Archaeo M390 Folding Knife

FULL DISCUSSION

Kavik

5531

Feb 22, 2019

Verified Buyer

4 stars is a little too high, but 3 would be way too low...needs a couple design changes to become a 5 star piece This is now my new "sharpest out of the box edge". Very impressively done. Catches hairs well above the skin along the whole length of the blade. Despite the thin handle, it's rather comfortable to hold. And for the size, it carries like a much smaller knife in the pocket. Grinding and milling all look great, the CF inlay is gorgeous and sits ALMOST perfectly flush with the handle. Not quite perfect, but damn close. Action is incredibly smooth. Deploys well whether using the flipper as a light switch or a push button. Middle finger flips just as well. Thumb CAN work, but I find it too awkward to keep my fingers off the lockbar for that grip. Drops shut like a dream. Hardware is all top notch as well. Everything except the pivot screw had pretty strong loctite on it, but I didn't have a single screw even think about stripping on me. A very nice surprise from a company I wasn't really sold on before.

And i absolutely love how they handled attaching the CF with hidden screws and threaded inserts from the back. No external screws ruining the looks, and no epoxy that might fail down the road, or hinder those of us who might want to re-anodize at some point. Same for the pocket clip's hidden screws. Even the lanyard option with the rod insert in the spine, instead of a hole drilled through...every bit of the design work is just so sleek. The issues i have with it though: 1) The designer described the detent as being very strong, unable to whip it open without using the flipper without an unreasonable amount of effort.....well, i can whip mine open with just wrist action, no arm movement... Not great 😒 limits legal carry in many places. I believe the reason for this is the incredible amount of sideways flex in the lockbar. Not sure if from the shape, the length of the cutout, or the material... But I can expose the tip quite a bit before the detent releases:

(^detent still engaged at that point, more detail can be found in my post in the comments) I believe if this was remedied, it wouldn't fail the centrifugal/gravity assist opening test, as the detent ball and hole engage very solidly. 2) QC missed this mess on the flipper tab

Not exactly sure what it is. Looks like old black corrosion...on a new, stainless blade? Luckily it's raised instead of pitted, but I'm still going to need to finish scraping it off then polish out the mark that's left 3) something isn't quite lining up between the blade and the handle, it's as if the blade is twisted just a hair at the pivot. So minute that I can't quite say what it is yet, but there's something. If I center the tip when closed, the middle of the blade sits closer to the show side. If i center the blade, the tip is off a hair. I'll have to try swapping around the bearings and races to see if it makes a difference, but I haven't had time to tear it down again yet. 4)the recess for the lockbar release is way too small. Both in length and in width difference between the front and rear handles. If the cutout in the front side were a little lower it would be much easier to get a thumb in there. You've only got about an 1/8" at most to catch on. And it's all within about a half inch of the base of the blade. Which leads me to the final design issue... 5) this freaking guy:

With how close you have to be to release the lockbar, that hook on the back of the flipper catches my thumb every damn time. But check that CF pattern in the last pic though 😍 Gorgeous. Only other change I would make, and this isn't a negative, but if it were up to me: I'd like to see the cutout in the blade tweaked just a little bit. Have the lower line running more parallel to the handle when in the closed position, and elongate it just a bit, then give it more chamferring around the hole. I think that would fit better visually, and make the middle finger flick easier. Something like this (if you'll excuse the sloppy finger painting over a crappy cell phone pic)

Overall, I really like it. But I do feel it could use a little fine tuning, given the price.

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Jim74

Mar 13, 2019

KavikIf you look close Kavik, the show side scale is thicker than the other to accommodate the carbon fiber inlay. Your blade IS centered, it's just closer to the show side because of the scale thickness.

Mar 13, 2019

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Kavik

5531

Mar 13, 2019

Jim74Sorry, but not sure that's making sense to me? Assuming: the scales are flat on the inside, not bowed or warped; the pivot is perfectly perpendicular to the scales; washers and bearings are of equal thickness and perfectly flat; and the backspacer is square with a thickness equal to that of the blade and washers at the other end...there's no reason handle thickness should matter in the slightest. I'm comparing the side of the blade to the inside of each scale, not the outside. I haven't had the knife apart again since writing that review, to verify any of the things mentioned above. But what i can say, looking at it right now, is that if i center the tip when closed, the rest of the blade is closer to the inside of the cf side of the handle further up the blade. Also, at this point it's too loose and there is side to side wobble when open. If I tighten it till there is no wobble, then most of the blade looks good, but the tip is off center to the lock side quite a bit. And actually, in writing all this out, I'm thinking it might even be simpler than all that. May just be a slightly uneven grind causing the spacing to differ along the distal taper. I'll have to play with it again once I replace my calipers, and some time when it's not almost 2am on a work night lol Either way, it's minor nit-picky stuff. Nothing that has had any effect on using the knife

Mar 13, 2019

Jim74

Mar 13, 2019

KavikI'm sooo sorry Kavik, I'm a third shifter, so by nature my circadian clock is off. I'm sorry to hear your knife isn't operating in general. I cannot fling mine open under any circumstance. Plus that flipper tab blemish would be enough for me to contact Russ at Artisan for a replacement. I truly think you may have gotten a lemon 🍋. Mine is perfect in every way, I actually think it was a steal for the price. Please call 📱 Russ, and let us know about your experience! Customer service is so very important in ANY company!

Mar 13, 2019

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Kavik

5531

Mar 14, 2019

Jim74Lol my clock isn't well suited for daytime jobs either. I miss working third shift sometimes You said "let us know", are you with Artisan? Just curious. It's been crazy hectic these past couple of months, so I haven't done anything that I planned yet as far as fixing up the blemish or anodizing to a different color....i may take you up on that suggestion and contact him

(Edited)

Mar 14, 2019

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Barrettboy

Mar 27, 2019

KavikYeah, I have a real problem with the detent. You're right, the lock-bar flexes a millimetre sideways before the detent disengages. It's impossible to open it with my thumb or middle finger. There's kind of a "ping!" when the detent breaks. Looking at it, I'm wondering if the ball could be pushed into the lock bar just a fraction more, or the lock bar pushed back a bit, or if the detent hole actually needs to be chamfered slightly (it really feels like it's catching on a sharp edge or something). Waaaay too hard imo. Part of me wants to return it, but I couldn't be arsed going through the effort. But I'd certainly agree with you, this is one of the sharpest out of the box knives I've ever had. And it fits very well in the hand.

Mar 27, 2019

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Kavik

5531

Mar 27, 2019

BarrettboyInteresting concepts....make it weaker to make it stronger... Because mine can be whipped out (and I can finger flick it very nicely), I never would've considered thinking about the detent as being too strong instead of too weak. Seems counterintuitive...but maybe? If the ball engaged less, it might break loose before flexing the ball so much....and you think maybe without the flex it might be less prone to centrifugal forces (whipping/shaking open)? The problem though is that pressing the ball deeper isn't something i could do accurately. And easing the edges of the the hole is a very permanent change. If it makes it floppier instead of better, there's no going back. I wonder if this could be tested (reversably) by partially filling the detent hole with something that would stop the ball from fully seating? Hard wax, or nail polish, or something that could be melted or cleaned out after testing. Then if it works, figure out how to go from there

Mar 27, 2019

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megadl

Apr 25, 2019

KavikHi, what kind of loctite is on the screws and how did you manage to remove them? Thanks in advance.

Apr 25, 2019

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Kavik

5531

Apr 25, 2019

megadlIt's been so long, I really couldn't tell you what kind was on it. But I didn't do anything special, just a good quality bit and pressure. The screws all held up perfectly to the stress

(Edited)

Apr 25, 2019

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megadl

Apr 25, 2019

KavikAlright. Thank you for the reply.

Apr 25, 2019

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Kavik

5531

Apr 26, 2019

megadlNo problem 👍 In general, heat can help with stubborn loctite (particularly the red stuff, which is designed to require heat to break loose). You could try that if you're really struggling, but I'm sure I didn't need that on mine. Just a hair dryer on high, or a heat gun on low

Apr 26, 2019

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