Benchmade Steels

[as08da09d14kljad089]

I am deciding what steel i should get on my knife. It is a small folder. 3-4 inch blade. I am deciding between s30v and m390. Which will be better for edge retention and sharpening?

 

[Petunia D. Feeble]

Well, those are oppositional traits so it's hard to say. What's good for edge holding is bad for ease of sharpening and vice versa.

They'll both be good, but if the price isn't too hard to swallow I'd get the M390.

 

[Area FiftyOne]

S30V is fairly easy to sharpen. M390 REQUIRES diamond media to sharpen it. They are both good steels. M390 will hold a better edge than S30V. It all depends on what you want......easer sharpening/stropping or better edge holding.

 

[Petunia D. Feeble]

S30V is fairly easy to sharpen. M390 REQUIRES diamond media to sharpen it. They are both good steels. M390 will hold a better edge than S30V. It all depends on what you want......easer sharpening/stropping or better edge holding.

M390 does not require diamond stones to sharpen. They will make the job faster though.

 

[Mo2]

m390 is better for edge retention and ease of sharpening in my opinion. benchmade steel is very good. there quality control and fit and finish is bad. they have since talked to the assembly line, but that wont help knafs already in boxes on the shelf's.

i find s30v takes a lot longer than m390 even with diamonds, in fact i dont even need diamonds to sharpen m390 but s30v i must use diamonds or it takes forever.

in any case, m390 = easier to sharpen and holds a much longer edge than s30v and its not as chippy (depending on HT and blade and edge geometry) than s30v. i do have m390 from benchmade.

s30v is still a great steel, but requires more time to sharpen, even with diamonds imho. really depends on the heat treat. i dont have a benchmade in s30v but other brands.

 

[number9]

My mini-Ritter in 390 really seems to hold an edge, and cut, better than most. But, curiously, I was speaking to Brad, of Bradford, at the Blade show. He said that one of friends found S30V outperformed 390 when used for dressing game. Opposite from what I would have expected. I haven't been disappointed with any of my S30V knives.

 

[dalefuller]

If it's available on the knife I want, I'll take M390 over just about any other stainless. It's been very good to me in the knives I've used. I've had it from Benchmade, Bradford, Spyderco, and ZT (IIRC) and it has performed very well in terms of edge holding and corrosion resistance. I also find it easier to maintain than S30V, CPM-154, or D2 / CPM-D2.

I really like the steel, esp. for the kinds of jobs a 3" - 4" folder should be tackling. That's EDC range for me so the knife has to handle a fairly wide range of cutting jobs... none too demanding or specialized... and do it in different environments. M390's done that well in my world.

 

[joe yhcarh]

if you are talking diamond rotary tool dry or wet, it doesnt work too well on steel but a product by NORTON called "Norzon"
basically Cubic boron nitride or any manufacturer of"cbn"wheel must be used wet, just eats steel like it was bread.

 

[Petunia D. Feeble]

if you are talking diamond rotary tool dry or wet, it doesnt work too well on steel but a product by NORTON called "Norzon"
basically Cubic boron nitride or any manufacturer of"cbn"wheel must be used wet, just eats steel like it was bread.

No, we're talking about the great variety of diamond sharpening stones available.

CBN wheels do work well, but require a lot of skill to use effectively and will still require some finishing work of some sort to deburr and refine.

I generally stick to hand sharpening. Power tools make me nervous.