Caring for S30v

B

brswan

Joined
Jun 2, 2014
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I just got my first s30v knife, a Benchmade bushmaster 162. Got a good deal on it and I personally love the feel and look of it.

I choose s30v because I live in Florida and wanted a good stainless steel knife. But this is my first one and I don't know how or if I need to care for it.

Other than making sure its dry when sheathing it, do I need to oil it or any other maintenance?

Thanks for any advice.
 
usually a light coating of gun oil helps a lot, but so far just keeping it dry is a good start. keep it sharp too
 
sheathing it dry is definitely a good idea. If you get saltwater on it rinse well with fresh water as soon as you can. If you did coat it with a little oil (I never do with my knives) use something non toxic, like mineral oil.

-mike
 
North Arm Knives said:
sheathing it dry is definitely a good idea. If you get saltwater on it rinse well with fresh water as soon as you can. If you did coat it with a little oil (I never do with my knives) use something non toxic, like mineral oil.

-mike
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Great. Will do thanks.
 
S30V is very rust resistant. If you get it to rust, you either did something wrong or the surface has a bad finish. If it is satin, polished, or stonewashed and it rusts it was left in exposure to corrosive elements like salt or something acidic. So long as you keep the knife dry and clean it off, you shouldn't get a bit of rust.
 
brswan,

+1 on the 162 :)

Getting some DMT or other diamond plates will make edge maintenance so much easier :)

I give the 162 blade a wipe with Sentry Solutions TufGlide when I am done with it for the day : probably doesn't need it, but it has become a habit with all my blades, carbon & stainless :)

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ
 
Use, sharpen, use, sharpen, use, sharpen.

I wouldn't worry about rust, if you can get S30V to rust then your doing something VERY wrong.
 
brswan said:
Thanks! Ive been bitten by the blade bug! Too bad the bug didn't bite my wife too.
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Haha! Just remember, slow and steady and you should be alright. :)
Benchmade has a video on that model, and they beat the snot out of it and it holds up very well. You don't see a lot of manufacturers using S30V for that sort of application on fixed blades. It seems that 3V and traditional 10 series carbon steels are a more popular choice. A light coat of good oil, such as Rem Oil or 3 in 1 will do the trick just fine.
 
Welcome to BF. this place is both addictive and expensive. :) I will echo what others have said about S30V: use and enjoy. I wouldn't even bother with oil. S30V is very stain resistant steel. You'd have to TRY and rust/ patina it. Use and enjoy.
 
I appreciate all the comments and welcoming!

Just used her today to make a figure 4 snare and some other general bushcrafting. The Benchmade was awesome. Only minor complaint is the spine is so sharp it took off some skin when I had my thumb on it.
 
S30V is tough stuff, don't worry too much about it. It doesn't behave anything like spring/tempered carbons (this is both good and not so good depending on your needs).
Keep it sharp, because bringing it back to shaving-sharp, from butterknife dull is harder than a lot of other popular steels.
You're on the right track though. Like others have said, find a food-safe oil to occasionally wipe down. Mineral or Camilla oil (my choice, a bit thinner/lighter) - found at wood working shops, Samurai tested, mother approved or something like that :)

Also, welcome to the addiction.
 
M0NK said:
S30V is tough stuff, don't worry too much about it. It doesn't behave anything like spring/tempered carbons (this is both good and not so good depending on your needs).
Keep it sharp, because bringing it back to shaving-sharp, from butterknife dull is harder than a lot of other popular steels.
You're on the right track though. Like others have said, find a food-safe oil to occasionally wipe down. Mineral or Camilla oil (my choice, a bit thinner/lighter) - found at wood working shops, Samurai tested, mother approved or something like that :)

Also, welcome to the addiction.
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Thanks. I'll look into Camilla oil.
 
brswan said:
I appreciate all the comments and welcoming!

Just used her today to make a figure 4 snare and some other general bushcrafting. The Benchmade was awesome. Only minor complaint is the spine is so sharp it took off some skin when I had my thumb on it.
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I've used S30V for 4" to 10" fixed blade customs and as already said. Just wash with fresh water and dry.

I always radius the spine on all of my custom knives.
there is a way for you to knock off those painful edges on the spine.
Take some 220 wet & dry sandpaper and back it with a piece of hard leather from an old belt about 2" long and 1" wide.
Run it up and down the spine with two fingers with the spine dead center.
Do a few stroke and test.
Repeat until you have softened the spine to your liking.

I like to do this with a 120 or 220 grit belt on my machine so that it gets the edges knocked off but still has traction for a thumb or finger.

Hope this helps!
 
Rhinoknives1 said:
I've used S30V for 4" to 10" fixed blade customs and as already said. Just wash with fresh water and dry.

I always radius the spine on all of my custom knives.
there is a way for you to knock off those painful edges on the spine.
Take some 220 wet & dry sandpaper and back it with a piece of hard leather from an old belt about 2" long and 1" wide.
Run it up and down the spine with two fingers with the spine dead center.
Do a few stroke and test.
Repeat until you have softened the spine to your liking.

I like to do this with a 120 or 220 grit belt on my machine so that it gets the edges knocked off but still has traction for a thumb or finger.

Hope this helps!
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Thanks for the tips. I'll try it out.
 
brswan said:
I have a smiths tri stone sharpener. Its three stones of coarse, medium, and an Arkansas fine stone. Will this be sufficient for touch ups? Which stones should I use?

I know Benchmade will resharpen it if I send it back but that's no fun.
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If you're comfortable with free-handing your stones, then go with that. If you're not sure of your angle, use the sharpie trick. Fine stone should fix most "edge rolls" which is usually the problem after use.
DMT stuff makes quick work of CPM (s30, s60, s90)... but to get a shave-sharp edge, look into strop blocks (or make one). Cheap and can be beat for honing and maintenance... which brings us to the wonderful rabbit hole of sharpening... which is also quite habit-forming :)
 
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Since I just within the last few days experienced it, I will second the DMT stones for S30V. I was able to get it sharp with mediums that cannot abrade vanadium carbides, but when you find something that can the sharpness is completely different. The edge is just as sharp, but bites like it was sharpened to a very coarse grit edge. It completely changes how the steel cuts, for the better.
 
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