BG42 vs. S30V

Joined
Jun 25, 2002
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I am getting some conflicting information.

Which of the two steels:
(1) offer better edge retention
(2) has better corrosion resistance
(3) has better wear resistance
(4) has better lateral strength
(5) gets sharper

Thanks in advance.
 
I'm no expert, but I think they are close in most of those areas and it depends on the degree of hardness that the knife maker decides on. From what I've been hearing, at equal hardness, S30V should have a slight advantage in edge retention, toughness, and rust resistance. I don't know about lateral strength, although I would think that would increase as toughness increases (and brittleness dereases). Which one gets sharper? I have no idea, but I know that BG42 can get extremely sharp.
 
S30V is basically powdered BG42.
There are a few advantages to powder metal.
It is a little better at most ‘knife’ oriented tasks.
That being said, MOST people cant tell the difference between 154CM, ATS34, BG42 and S30V.


Mick
 
I've been real satisfied with knives made of BG-42. For a stainless steel it's one of my favorites. I think the jury may be out on S30V for a while. There's no testing like real world use.

I was never comfortable about the strength of powdered metals in cases of bending or impact. Maybe it's beacuse I'm more of a carbon steel kind of guy and try to use stainless steel only when the anticipated tasks call for the corrision resistance. I don't know if you can get as much Rc out of powdered metals, especially S30V, as you can with BG-42 before the steel goes brittle.
 
Its all a matter of personal 'mind games'


I can take almost any one of my knives and cut the same for each of them yet I am biased towards some of them.
My favorite knives can do no wrong in these tests and they get rated higher simply cause they are my favoruite. I mean when testing my ats-55 knife versuses my ats-34 knife, i find the ats -55 is better.Many will dis-agree but this is what i find to be the case due to my experience.

What I am trying to get at is, its all personal beleif, conviction and experience all play into what metal performs better for each of us.

Hope that made sense
 
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