Benchmade 3v

Jumping in on the trend to be seen and profit I guess

 

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)

 

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.

 

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.

 

Wasn't him. But I agree, the coating might make a difference.

 

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.

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.

 

Wish he would’ve tested the pukko instead.

 

Thanks you saved me 140.00

 

True...hoping the puukko is running closer to 58.

 

The original post here is a really well done compilation, @Mo2

Thank you.

 

So who gave Knifecenter the specs (58-60 HRC) that they show on the Bailout page? Appears to be a lie from Benchmade if I'm seeing everything correctly.

 

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.

 

Popcorn activated.

 

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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.