Buck: Their heat treat with S30V or S35VN? Also... the 119 or 120 for that matter?

Hashishiin said:
I ordered a S30V Delica for a hundred dollars and thought "That's ridiculous, I should return that. I have a Dragonfly in K390. I have a CF Chaparral. I have a Cricket. What do I need that for?" and started thinking about fixed blades. The only decent fixed blade I have is an Ontario SP-1, but I am going on a camping trip soon and thought it's a good occasion to upgrade. But, I am thinking of either a custom 119, or a 120. I can get the 119 in Bos heat treated S30V, the 120 in S35VN. I know S35 is a tough steel, heard good things about it for fixed blades, but I just don't really know anything about S30V. Haven't used it a lot, only recently got my first knife in the steel...
I know I can't go wrong... but where does each shine, and does one have the edge up on the other in some circumstances? Do I need the extra length of the 120, I wonder? I doubt it.
Any experiences using and sharpening S30V from Buck? I imagine I'm going to be sharpening this fixed blade in the near future, whatever the steel. I can also get Cocobolo and D2... but I am reluctant to mess with D2 for some reason.
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I have several Buck knives with S30V blades. Excellent blades.
As a side note: S30V performs best when sharpened with diamond or boron nitride media no matter who made the blade. You want the sharpening media to be harder than the Vanadium carbides in the steel.
 
Hashishiin Hashishiin ,Thanks for sharing your thoughts and I am curious to see how your learning goes starting with the standard 420HC, I am thinking of the same process. I have enjoyed my 112 Slim in 420HC as my EDC lately, I want to pair it with my basic 102 to see how well the combo does in general use. I have the 119, but I have been drawn to the 105 because it looks more of a handy size, have to get it eventually. still acquiring knives, but a good point I think you made earlier was use what you have first. Do you have a Mora too? I also have the 117 in 5160, and I like the smaller size too but still have to experiment to see if the 4 to 5 inch range if it (and the 105) are more handy.
 
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That Compadre is a cool knife. And .... there is a BOS 3V version 😍

i-VNmDpPM-X3.jpg
 
I tend to go with the premium steels in my edc type folders ie; 110 and large vantage pro and then the 420hc in the larger fixed blades. Reason is I use my folders for 90 percent of cutting tasks so I want them to have great edge retention. The 10 percent of use with my fixed blade knives is minimal and the 420hc being very tough they perform great and the lower amount of use the edge holds plenty long enough. I do have the 102 and 105 pro models in s35vn to try out and hopefully this summer I can know how they hold up to camping and fishing.
 
Oh I forgot to mention that in my experience the s30v and s35vn is very close in performance in actual field use. I will say that s35vn seems to take a finer edge and a little easier to sharpen to that fine edge than s30v but I think s30v does hold a good working edge a bit longer but not by a lot.

Now If I had a choice between the two in the exact same knife at the same price range I would probably choose s35vn.
 
midnight flyer said:
Well, Boattale Boattale don't know how you get much better than that. Talk about burning memories... reminds me of sitting by the campfire idly drawing that little stone gently across the blade, smoking my cigar.

Thanks for that!
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No problem. That same Golden Spike dressed a New Mexico cow elk as its most recent duty. And guess what, it worked just fine. They're classics for good reason. The hat was there too. And the copperhead.
 
Hashishiin said:
I'm guessing the use of powdered steel (reg. S30) does not negate it's authority as an outdoor knife.
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You have to keep in mind that the "powdered" part is pretty early in the steelmaking process - the final product (plates, ingots, whatever form) is just as solid as any other steel. Do not confuse the PM technology with sintering.
 
TC said:
You have to keep in mind that the "powdered" part is pretty early in the steelmaking process - the final product (plates, ingots, whatever form) is just as solid as any other steel. Do not confuse the PM technology with sintering.
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Oh.. I wish I knew what sintering was, in order to confuse it with PM technology! I just looked it up, and I can see how one could mix up those processes. I've seen something I think could be described as sintering in a Japanese shop, making steel and separating the steel from sand/impurities in this big cauldron, resulting in a blob of just the steel.

Very interesting topic, lots to learn on it.
 
ferider said:
April 2021 BOTM.
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Man, THAT is what I want 😂
I'm gonna hold out for a production 3V Buck. It's either that or go custom, because I ain't paying hundreds for a Benchmade Puuko, and I can't bring myself to buy the Warcraft Tanto... I feel like the only right way to go with CS is big, and I don't know that I wouldn't feel a little silly bringing an 11" black tanto camping, even if I do know it's made of 3V. Then again, I'm taking my blacked out Matriarch mushroom hunting! Lol
 
I'm going to take S35V over S30V for a fixed blade every time, but most people aren't going to notice a difference and I'm not going to throw away a fixed blade because they made it with S30V steel.

I've had my Buck 119 for over twenty years, after it was recommended to me by a Metis trapper. Its 420 steel is not as fancy as some of my newer knives, but it was my first serious fixed blade.
 
knarfeng said:
I have several Buck knives with S30V blades. Excellent blades.
As a side note: S30V performs best when sharpened with diamond or boron nitride media no matter who made the blade. You want the sharpening media to be harder than the Vanadium carbides in the steel.
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I just got me some CBN, for some reason I find it harder to use than the med. rods, do you know if CBN is supposed to break in, or does it always have that sort of gritty feel to it? I was encouraged to rub my med. stones together to break them in. I am hesitant to do that with CBN.
 
Hashishiin said:
I just got me some CBN, for some reason I find it harder to use than the med. rods, do you know if CBN is supposed to break in, or does it always have that sort of gritty feel to it? I was encouraged to rub my med. stones together to break them in. I am hesitant to do that with CBN.
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Couldn't tell you. Never used CBN, myself. I just know that it is harder than Vanadium Carbide, so it ought to work.
(But I would hold off on rubbing the CBN rods together until getting an answer from somebody who really does know. You might consider starting a thread in the Maintenance & tinkering section.)
 
Danke42 said:
You'll never go wrong with a Paul Bos heat treat.
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Bos retired ~10 years ago. It's just a marketing term now.

Bos was quite a guy, custom makers paid to get his stamp on knives he heat treated for them. I haven't seen that since he retired. I have a 440c Bruce Bump knife with his mark on one side and Paul Bos on the other.
 
brownshoe said:
Bos retired ~10 years ago. It's just a marketing term now.

Bos was quite a guy, custom makers paid to get his stamp on knives he heat treated for them. I haven't seen that since he retired. I have a 440c Bruce Bump knife with his mark on one side and Paul Bos on the other.
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Does Buck still use his methods? Would be disappointed if they just use his name without the actual heat treat.
 
brownshoe said:
Bos retired ~10 years ago. It's just a marketing term now.

Bos was quite a guy, custom makers paid to get his stamp on knives he heat treated for them. I haven't seen that since he retired. I have a 440c Bruce Bump knife with his mark on one side and Paul Bos on the other.
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true on retiring, but not so much on only marketing. his methods are still in effect and Bucks heat treatment under his methods shows this. also the guy he trained, Paul Farner who worked alongside Bos for a decade plus....... to take over, is in charge. I'm sure he didn't leave his good name in poor untrained hands and with no access to questions or advice.
 
RugerNurse said:
Does Buck still use his methods? Would be disappointed if they just use his name without the actual heat treat.
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It's marketing and trade secrets. Buck says on their website they use his formulas and he consults, but the guy's been gone from Buck for 12 years now. I work for a tech company, we keep experts around part time for awhile after retirement, but not for long.
 
jbmonkey said:
true on retiring, but not so much on only marketing. his methods are still in effect and Bucks heat treatment under his methods shows this. also the guy he trained, Paul Farner who worked alongside Bos for a decade plus....... to take over, is in charge. I'm sure he didn't leave his good name in poor untrained hands and with no access to questions or advice.
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I wonder how the new stuff holds up to the older models. Maybe I should look for an old model 105 on eBay.
 
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