01 vs S30V steel

J

JackBoots

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With the creation of S30V steel, I wonder if Mad Dog knives are going to be able to compete with the many knives switching to S30V ?

Why would someone pay a premium price for a MD in 01, when they can buy a knife with S30V ?

Seems like MD has a dilemma :)

Cordially,

JB :)
 
O1 is a great steel, i have a custom 4" FB made from O1 and this steel performs very well, it has good edgeholding and is very easy to sharpen, its also tough as nails. It will take a VERY sharp edge if you polish it up nice to 9000+ grit and IMO is one of the better tool steels. That said i also have a custom 11" Blade bowie made from S30V, this is also a very good steel with some of the best edgeholding i have ever seen, its stainless, and it is very tough as well, i would say not as tough as a good carbon tool steel but you do give up some toughness when you go stainless from what i have noticed. However i have bend tested the bowie to about 50-60 degrees and it did not take a bend or show any signs of weakness. It all comes down to the knife design and what you need it to do and if it will be around water alot or saltwater, given a choice between O1 and S30V i would pick O1 unless there was a reason it NEEDED to be stainless(like my Bowie, it may see use around saltwater). O1 is easy to keep sharp and is a good all around steel. Most of my collection is carbon tool steels, mainly L6 and O1, modern stainless steels are good and have better edgeholding but they are also a pain to sharpen. I would not hesitate to buy a knife that has O1 steel. However it should be alot cheaper than the same knife or a similer knife that is using S30V, as S30V is a lot more expensive
 
This actually got a fair amount of discussion on the Tactical Forums General Knife Discussions forum.

Ostensibly, S30V looks like a wonder steel based on the marketing, a stainless version of S3V. As rust resistant as 440C, tougher than A1, better edge holding than D-2. I am personally very excited about it myself, though more so about S3V.

But S30V's superiority to differentially heat treated low-alloy tool steel, except in the area of corrosion resistance, is TBD. Uniformly heat treated S30V at 59RcH might offer better edge wear than an O-1 blade with a 63rcH edge and a 56RcH spine, but only an incremental amount would be my guess. The question is whether this incremental increase in performance is worth the more complicated heat treatment required. With O-1, you harden it, draw back the spine with a torch, normalize, throw on some hard chrome and some Marine Tuff Cloth, and you are done. You have a blade the in most respects is just as good as one you could make out of S30V. S30V will have to demonstrate that it is worth the expense of higher temp ovens and more critical temperature controls.

I really would like to see a CPM S3V ATAK though, just to compare to a standard one for R&D. That would be interesting.
 
My question would be why would you make a blade out of 01 when there are steels like 52100 and a2 out there, or even d2? These are 3 of my favorites. Time will tell on my S30v blade but so far it is looking to be also a great steel. 01 is good stuff but not my first choice in a blade.
 
The question is whether this incremental increase in performance is worth the more complicated heat treatment required.
Click to expand...

The heat treat is actually fairly forgiving with S30-V. Even if one dosent have a computer contolled furnace, if you have good temp control you will get a good heat treat. Or send it to Paul Bos and you get it right the first time! Actually, you could say to get the best performance from O-1 the heat treat is actually more sofisticated.

For the record, I love O-1, it is what I have my students use in my knifemaking class because it is a decent steel that can be easily worked. I also still love good ol workhorse D-2, and Crucibles Ardi 150 is the nicest D-2 there is.
 
Hello Rob,

How would you rate O1 compared to S30V in a finished knife ? What advantages and disadvantages would each have ?

Originally posted by Rob Simonich
The heat treat is actually fairly forgiving with S30-V. Even if one dosent have a computer contolled furnace, if you have good temp control you will get a good heat treat. Or send it to Paul Bos and you get it right the first time! Actually, you could say to get the best performance from O-1 the heat treat is actually more sofisticated.

For the record, I love O-1, it is what I have my students use in my knifemaking class because it is a decent steel that can be easily worked. I also still love good ol workhorse D-2, and Crucibles Ardi 150 is the nicest D-2 there is.
Click to expand...
 
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