Been out of the knife world for a while...question on S30V

SkagSig40

SkagSig40

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Feb 1, 2001
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I have been gone from the knife world for a while now. I'm getting back into it and was wondering how S30V has proved itself over the last 6 or 7 years since it hit the market. I just bought a Strider SnG withan S30V blade. Thanks!
 
I heard its more brittle than glass and will break if you get a mirror finish and show it to someone ugly.
Personely i have never had any problems with it id say its the best stainless except 12c27 which is just a personell prefrence because i can get it razor sharp but it doesnt hold a edge anything like S30v.
IMO its a tough steel as tough as any stainless ive used but you will hear it chips is brittle etc but that is meant to be because of heat treat problems when the steel first came out which have been sorted now.
Also some people say after they sharpen it they dont have any more trouble with chipping micro chipping etc.Ive never had it chip except micro chipping and i use my blades quite hard.
I posted a thread about S30v chipping and asking for pics and there was only one or two that turned up so that says a lot IMO although someone claimed to have 10 of his knives in s30v chip and took offence at being asked for one pic.
My question to him was why buy 10 knives in this steel if you think its so brittle and have found it so.He didint reply to that.
 
These_Nutz said:
I heard its more brittle than glass and will break if you get a mirror finish and show it to someone ugly.
Personely i have never had any problems with it id say its the best stainless except 12c27 which is just a personell prefrence because i can get it razor sharp but it doesnt hold a edge anything like S30v.
IMO its a tough steel as tough as any stainless ive used but you will hear it chips is brittle etc but that is meant to be because of heat treat problems when the steel first came out which have been sorted now.
Also some people say after they sharpen it they dont have any more trouble with chipping micro chipping etc.Ive never had it chip except micro chipping and i use my blades quite hard.
I posted a thread about S30v chipping and asking for pics and there was only one or two that turned up so that says a lot IMO although someone claimed to have 10 of his knives in s30v chip and took offence at being asked for one pic.
My question to him was why buy 10 knives in this steel if you think its so brittle and have found it so.He didint reply to that.
Click to expand...
There was 1 pic of a s30v ukpk sharpened to 10 degrees per side and had chipping, but it was hammered into a victorinox blade and other blades aswell. The other pic was a knife that was snapped in like 3 places, it looked like a folding prybar lol. The last one was a knife next to a packet of potato chips lol.

The micro chipping problem has something to do with the heat treat, after a couple of sharpenings the edge will do it's work.
 
I have a Strider SnG, a Sebenza and a Spyderco Native, all in S30V. Never had any problems with any of them.
 
16 knives so far in S30V from 4 different manufacturers and I've yet to have a problem, even with an NIB blade that still has the factory edge. It's my fav steel for an EDC folder, at least for my kind of cutting.
 
I agree with These Nutz...a lot of talk about S30V chipping but none of mine have and I really have not seen anyone else's chip. I think it is an urban legend of the knife world. Plus I must agree with anyone named "These Nutz".
 
They're stainless and stay sharper than 'sharp-enough' for a wicked long time. If you go crazy with thinning out the edge, add a microbevel or else you'll join me in whining about micro-chipping; otherwise, you should be very pleased with the steel.
 
Basically what thombrogan said.I only had one chip on me & it was a micro-chip,which was easily sharpened out.It's a good steel,a little overpriced IMO.

I still prefer 154CM,ATS-34 & VG-10 over S30V as far as stainless goes.

I've had no experience with S60V or S90V,so I can't comment on them.


...in the end,I guess it all depends on the heat treat
 
There are alot of stories about chipping on S30V, but I' ve never had any problems with it, great steel. Actually it' s my favorite stainless steel:thumbup:
 
Thanks for all the good info guys!
I was wondering how my new Strider SnG in S30V will hold up....seems to be very hard steel and was hoping it would not chip out.
 
SkagSig40 said:
Thanks for all the good info guys!
I was wondering how my new Strider SnG in S30V will hold up....seems to be very hard steel and was hoping it would not chip out.
Click to expand...

You won't have any problems.Striders are built like tanks.
 
Those are solid reasons in my book. I only wish it were a book I wrote and not one I'm using as a notepad.
 
I have a Spyderco Endura with S30-V and a Delica-4 with VG-10, I prefer the VG-10 variation better because of the flexability and the superior edge retention capabilities.
S30-V is going to be a tad bit more because it can take a salt water bath for a month and not rust. Its all up to what your looking for..
 
Both S30V and VG-10 will rust in a salt-water bath and S30V has a bit more wear-resistance than VG-10 (not the same as edge-retention, but very close in similar grade steels). Were you meaning H1? That's the practically rustproof steel Spyderco uses.
 
I've never had any chipping problems with S30V. I've had edge-holding issues, though. None of my S30V knives would hold an edge worth a @#$@$. I had one heat treated up to 62.5 HRC, and that helped a lot, but it still wasn't impressive at all. I'm done with this steel.
 
I remember reading a long time ago that S30V was close to A2 in toughness. Wouldn't that be tougher then VG10?
 
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