Benchmade steel

[nick_30]

An aside from the two steels in question, if you want the king of stainless "working sharp", get a PM2 in S110V from Spyderco for 70% the price of Benchmade's S30V.

How would you rate s110v to sharpen. Compared to say m4?
I mean I have sharpen every kinda steel but 90 and 110v. All of them have been pretty easy with the exception of m4 which was the toughest of the bunch at 62-64hrc

 

[Cypress]

How would you rate s110v to sharpen. Compared to say m4?
I mean I have sharpen every kinda steel but 90 and 110v. All of them have been pretty easy with the exception of m4 which was the toughest of the bunch at 62-64hrc

I'd say 110V is a little more difficult to deal with than M4. The carbides in 110V won't be altered by anything but diamond, so stones will only bring it so far. M4 will take a finer edge and hold that level of sharpness longer before dulling out. 110V won't get as sharp (unless you reeeaaaally work at it with diamonds), but it'll only dull to a point and stay there for a long time. It is my belief that 110V will dull just sitting in your pocket. I keep both steels at 15º per side.

 

[nick_30]

Huh, I thought maybe I was the only one that thought thier blades were getting duller just sitting in a pocket over time. So 110v is like a souped up s30 then?

 

[Samurai6]

Interesting thread...to me steel performance is pretty cut and dried. You look at the spec sheets. D2 is more wear resistant, and tougher than 154CM. Neither is a partical metalurgy steel. Given the composition and proper heat treament, D2 should be finer grained, and should take the finer edge. S30V specifications exceed either one in both toughness and wear resistance. Those are the specs, based on optimal heat treatment and standardized testing. All other variations in performance should be a matter of edge geometry, i.e. how you sharpen, and use, which has MUCH more impact on edge performance than pretty much everything else.

Benchmade has done a lot of their own testing also, and S30V has now virtually replaced 154CM as their default steel on everything from the Presidio II to the Bushcrafter. I used to figure I'd like D2 on a knife I planned to use harder, 154CM on a knife I thought would need corrosion resistance. Based on current steels, I go for M4 for toughness, S30V for stainless...if I can't get M390.

S30V is a little peculiar though. There is the well documented tendency to form a wire edge under high-speed sharpening. There is also the relatively lower density of the steel, which makes it more vulnerable to impact deformation. Stay away from marble counter tops... I was leary of S30V for a long time, but now I am convinced it is great for folders and smaller blades. I don't abuse my edges at this point in my life, so S30V works well for me. If I had a hard working knife out of S30V, I'd sharpen closer to 40 degrees included, rather than my usual 31-32 degrees. I'm a "working edge" guy, like a toothy edge that bites and lasts. Don't really have any trouble sharpening anything...the more wear resistant the steel, the sharper your diamond stones need to be is all.

I have absolutely no complaints about 154CM, though, never have. I would never pass on a new model I liked because it had 154CM steel. In fact, I recently purchased a custom configurator Barrage in 154CM because I wanted a Dark Earth coated blade. It cuts fine, lasts a long time. The Arvensis combat knife is 154CM, and I think that was a great choice for that big blade - tough, stainless, and easy to sharpen in the field.

I'm rambling...anyway, 154CM and D2 are both great, but availability is going away, Benchmade-wise.

 

[Cypress]

Huh, I thought maybe I was the only one that thought thier blades were getting duller just sitting in a pocket over time. So 110v is like a souped up s30 then?

Pretty much. The carbides that form the edge on these steels can fall out of the matrix fairly readily, which is why (I assume) they dull while doing seemingly nothing.

 

[Cypress]

...Bushcrafter...

There was a good bit of "but why???" when Benchmade announced that they were releasing a goofy-handled Bushcrafter in S30V. At least it won't rust here in the wet Pacific Northwest! I keep the edge on mine convexed, which makes it a good slicer but still tough. A normal V-edge is odd to work with on a knife designed for bushcrafting. I also took a Dremel to that silly handle

 

[Samurai6]

The Bushcrafter handle IS fat, isn't it?
Supposed to lower grip fatigue, I think...but yeah, too fat for me.

I tell ya, though, watching the Benchmade lab "test" video on the Bushcrafter will make a S30V believer out of you...at least for the Bushcrafter.

 

[Earl1]

I love it

Benchmade 154cm is da. Bomb, I'll take it over s30v any time

I love it too. I think it is a great steel and benchmade does it right. It is definitely my favorite knife steel for a modern folder. Traditional cv case steel my fav. But man the edgeholding of the 154cm is great.and it takes a hairpopping edge

 

[Don M]

here's Benchmades s30v and Bucks Bos HT s30v.
may be some additional variables due to different grinds, but they are fairly close. Paul Bos is known to have a really good heat treatment with the use of cryo.

both are no slouches.

Testing one of each manufacturer tells you how those two specific samples compare but not whether one heat treat is better than the other. Both companies have developed their own HT protocol with a target hardness range. What is not known is if one of the knives in this test is at the high end of the target range and the other at the low end, both in the middle, both high, or both low.

Test many samples from both companies and you will be able to say if on average one produces better results than the other. Paul Bos has a justified reputation for his ability to get a lot out of steel, but I would guess that Benchmade didn't settle on a HT recipe haphazardly.