I agree with you, regarding the one post wonder. However, CRK hardens their knives to 58-59 RC, while Benchmade specs 58-60 RC. Unless it's public information that CRK doesn't treat their blades to the stated spec, only the highest hardness Benchmade blades will perform differently. Seems fairly apples to apples to me. :thumbup:
CRK's S30 and S35 steels are widely known to be relatively soft...it's a major reason so many people prefer the BG42 models and why some people even get the Seb blade treated by a third party. Even with the tougher S35VN (which some custom makers are hardening to 60-61 and finding it to be very tough for a stainless and reasonably easy to upkeep), CRK is still not hardening any higher...which I never understood because if one is going to pay for an expensive steel capable of high-performance, why not milk as much performance possible?
Sorry for the lack of pictures ... I'm without a camera at the moment. I use a sharpmaker on my knives. This is the first time this particular issue has happened to me. I did sharpen it at 30 deg. on the stones that came with it, which might be too accute without completely reprofiling the blade? Anyway, upon closer inspection it may have chipped rather than rolled... I can definetely feel it with my nail. I can get the blade sharp and it slices right through paper, but when it gets to the affected area you can feel it hang up.
It's not a huge deal as I bought the knife to beat on. I was just surprised it happened and wondered if anyone else had experienced something similar.
Which sharpener did you use?
S30V can sometimes chip, and although it's not common, it does happen. Depending on the condition of the edge from the factory, that could have increased the chance of it happening in certain usage situations, or even something that happened in transit or if a seller had it in a case in which it can make contact with other knife blades. Some freak thing like a hidden cardboard stable on a box could have even. So it's hard to say what.
Keeping the knife razor sharp on an angle confirmed as consistent and stropping can help slow/lessen the process in which edges become deformed/damaged...I think stropping makes a huge difference in both prolonging sharpness and lessening edge damage. And especially with S30V, I think stropping helps S30 hold its razor edge for much longer than just sharpening alone.
For actual treatment of this chip, a pic would be most helpful. More likely than not, sharpening using the same procedure/angle as if the chip was not there will sharpen the chip out as you remove metal.
Angle-wise, you'll probably find that there is a lot of personal preference between those who think using the factory angle is ideal versus completely reprofiling...there are pros and cons to each.
