Benchmade 3v

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Mo2

Mo2

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Via
https://www.instagram.com/p/BxavzvyAO5S/?igshid=cw9y8x1wjryy
Aka https://www.youtube.com/user/Alumapro23


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Well well. I got all geared up for the long haul. Got a nearly polished edge on this Bailout. Added a super padded grip because it's super uncomfortable for a lot of cutting. 150 cuts. One hundred and fifty before it would no longer slice paper. I'm really not joking the test is done. I haven't had anything this low yet soooo not much to compare to.
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Via @pm2og https://www.instagram.com/p/Bxbflt5AzrH/?igshid=1cc8kig1t1v7q

Toughness testing....




https://www.instagram.com/p/BxcprwXgLCX/?igshid=t1iyt61pm4xg





https://www.instagram.com/p/Bxctz2XA1G5/?igshid=k361cir8tepf


Via https://www.youtube.com/user/shawnhouston
Aka @DeadboxHero

“3V is the strongest steel we’ve ever built into a knife. So much so that our side load break strength tester failed to break it; it bent to 90 degrees without breaking. We’ve never seen that happen before."
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Via Benchmade


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Via Benchmade catalog
O'realy


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Via Crucible


Pretty damn disappointing. seems like it's for Insta pictures, tacticools, pry bar for non knife people and steel trends. Change my mind.

Benchmade pride themselves that this steel will bend 90deg and that's why it's 55-56hrc. Why is that a pocket knife feature? Some toughness is great, but... Low edge retention, chipping and bendy. You are a consumer, stop bending over on this stuff cause you like the look or its fine for your uses.

Carrothers 3v about 3 years ago at 60.5hrc and iirc it's been improved since then. Via @Nathan the Machinist
 
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benchmade really could have just decided to maximize the best attribute of 3v, toughness... while also making it really easy to sharpen on river stones and coffee mugs etc?

with the lower hardness, they are certainly achieving those benefits...

(but I'll agree with you, I'd rather have cpk's d3v any day : ) or shannonlabs or a few other bf makers)
 
dirc said:
benchmade really could have just decided to maximize the best attribute of 3v, toughness... while also making it really easy to sharpen on river stones and coffee mugs etc?

with the lower hardness, they are certainly achieving those benefits...

(but I'll agree with you, I'd rather have cpk's d3v any day : ) or shannonlabs or a few other bf makers)
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If you read the spec sheet, at the appropriate hardness of 60HRC, that is exactly what this steel was meant to be. No reason to go lower. It’s supposed to be one of the most impact resistant steels by its design and intended heat treatment protocol.

This is only part of the large picture that a lot of us have been pushing forward. Okay, they want to maximize toughness in this steel. What about all the other knives that have been tested in other steels, from a variety of companies, that aren’t up to spec? They want their m390/20cv at maxed out toughness too? I think the answer is, companies have been doing what they want and selling us what they think we should have, even if it goes against the very specific steel manufacturer protocol.

This is why we’ve seen the complaints we have through the years. This steel is chippy...this steel is hard to sharpen...this steel won’t hold an edge....it’s the heat treatment or should I say, lack thereof.
 
H0kieengineer said:
You tested through the coating, which results in a lower measured hardness. Remove the coating and test in bare steel. The hardness will probably measure in the 58-60 range.
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Wasn't him. But I agree, the coating might make a difference.
 
b00n said:
Wasn't him. But I agree, the coating might make a difference.
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My poor reading then.

Even with the higher result, it probably isn’t the best HT. Too often the “super” steels are run at 58-60 HRC, which means the don’t perform any better than S35VN. Don’t get me wrong, S35VN is a great steel, but running M390/20CV/CTS 204P at the same hardness is wasting the premium steel’s capabilities.
 
I hear bronze is super tough! Maybe they should start making blades from that again. :rolleyes:

I wasn't a buyer to begin with. This knife made zero sense. 3v in that platform, even with a proper HT, was absurd and the aluminum pommel annoyed me. Like a non-functional hood scoop on a pseudo-sports car for secretaries.
 
The knife overall is a miss for me. Even with a higher heat treat it wouldn't get my money.
 
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H0kieengineer said:
You tested through the coating, which results in a lower measured hardness. Remove the coating and test in bare steel. The hardness will probably measure in the 58-60 range.
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Lol they rate the steel at 55-58hrc and it's just Cerakote. It's not going to change the number, where do you get that info. Seriously?

Then also explain the cut tests. Lol keep making things up.
 
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ScooterG said:
Wish he would’ve tested the pukko instead.
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Its not going to change the outcome. Nor the facts and the performance. With time a puukko may also be tested.

At least it makes more sense in a puukko batoning wood. But I've never seen a puukko that low in 3v.
 
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Mo2 said:
Its not going to change the outcome. Nor the facts and the performance. With time a puukko may also be tested.

At least it makes more sense in a puukko batoning wood. But I've never seen a puukko that low in 3v.
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True...hoping the puukko is running closer to 58.
 
Here's what I gathered from this...3V taken to 62 HRC is 8 ft-lbs tougher in impact toughness than M4. M4 is tough enough for almost anyone's daily uses anyhow. So what is BM doing running this 3V that soft in a LIGHTWEIGHT platform. This steel is meant to take lateral force well but the pivot on the 537 sure isn't. That thing will pop WAY before 3V will suffer a catastrophic failure, even at 60 HRC. I kinda feel like BM thinks we're stupid by running a new steel that people have been asking for, this soft.
 
Mo2 said:
Lol they rate the steel at 55-58hrc and it's just Cerakote. It's not going to change the number, where do you get that info. Seriously?

Then also explain the cut tests. Lol keep making things up.
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I get my information from working in a metallurgical testing lab as a trained metallurgist in the steel industry, so there’s that. Any surface coating can effect a Rockwell test since the indented is small.
 
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