CPM-S110V - What do ya think?

Chris "Anagarika" said:
No chipping so far, but I cannot get it as sharp as my VG10 or M4. Using diamond all the way.

There’re few tricks and advices I haven’t tried, but if I go through these, and make it work, it will only mean that it’s achievable. Still more trouble than other high end stuff (M4, Or HAP40).
At current state, it cuts fine, just don’t dry shave my face cleanly while others that I tried can do (incl ZDP, Superblue AUS8 and 8Cr13MoV).

Having said that, I only have one sample, Manix 2 Blurple.
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My experience has been similar to Chris'. I can say that struggling with S110V has made other steels seem easy to deal with, though, so I think it's worth trying S110V even if you eventually decide it's not for you. Here's a thread you might find interesting...

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/s110v-trouble.1500781/
 
Mo2 said:
My manix2 s110v had chipping. Didn't cut anything hard or even hard use at the time.
After sharpening to a wider bevel it works without issues....
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My PM2 S110V was crazy sharp out of the box but chipped insanely easily. I put a convex edge on it (WSKO) and it seems fine now. Keeps a working edge for a very very long time.
 
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So just out of curiosity, I took this blade https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/edc-clippoint-s110v-cf.1533946/#post-17617440 (a S110V custom clip point EDC) out to test the edge to see if I could induce micro chipping.

I started with cutting 10 of our moving boxes. Then took 20 HARD chops into seasoned oak and lastly took 5 cuts into green bamboo...no discernible damage, no micro chips and still shaves hair off my arm. admittedly not scientific by any means, but proof that the steel is by no means brittle.

I also find that with a DMT duo sharp (fine/Xfine) I have no problem putting an edge on this steel. The edge is slightly convexed and about .015 behind the edge.
 
Rhodies said:
Should I be concerned about reading stories of the edge having problems with chipping, some people stating the edge can be brittle? I am looking at buying a Para 3 in this blade steel or perhaps in s35vn for a back up to my Delica. I drive up to Cook County 5 nights a week and there is a 3" Blade Limit up there.
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S110V is a hard to sharpen steel. It is brittle, and it is very expensive so you will refrain from actually using it because the cost of replacing it and the probability of damaging it (brittle) are both high. It really is only useful for guys who want to sit down and cut up a bunch of cardboard for no good reason.

You would be best to go s30v if you want a really hard steel. Unfortunately, Spyderco is engaging in predatory pricing, and Benchmade is absurdly expensive, so your options are limited these days. Buck makes good S30V and you can get the vantage force pro for around $65 dollars.
 
bigguyforyou said:
S110V is a hard to sharpen steel. It is brittle, and it is very expensive so you will refrain from actually using it because the cost of replacing it and the probability of damaging it (brittle) are both high. It really is only useful for guys who want to sit down and cut up a bunch of cardboard for no good reason.

You would be best to go s30v if you want a really hard steel. Unfortunately, Spyderco is engaging in predatory pricing, and Benchmade is absurdly expensive, so your options are limited these days. Buck makes good S30V and you can get the vantage force pro for around $65 dollars.
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What you said is misinformation.
It's not brittle.

It's not impossible to sharpen either, you just have to know how to sharpen.
 
I have a manix 2 in s110v and s30v. The s110v edge is great. No chipping issues yet. However, I have given up trying to sharpen it. My sharpening skills are so so. I can sharpen basic carbon steels (1905, O1, etc) just fine. 420, 440, VG10, etc... no sweat. S110V is ghastly to sharpen. While the edge retention is great, I'm not gonna purchase again. S30V is plenty good for any of my applications (and about the tip of my sharpening ability). I still use the s110v manix regularly, but I pay to have it sharpened.
 
bigguyforyou said:
S110V is a hard to sharpen steel. It is brittle, and it is very expensive so you will refrain from actually using it because the cost of replacing it and the probability of damaging it (brittle) are both high. It really is only useful for guys who want to sit down and cut up a bunch of cardboard for no good reason.
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Absolutely untrue statement. As with any other steel, it has limitations. Would I make a chopper out of it, no. But an EDC knife...more than functional. As far as pricing, yes I charge more for it (as do most custom makers) due to the difficulty of working it as compared to other steels. However, Spyderco's offerings are more than reasonably priced. I have a feeling that the issues people were/are having with the edge may be due to the way Spyderco put the final edge on. S110V likes diamonds or SIC. It does not particularly care for natural stones.

This is the same with most of the high carbide steels, if you want the edge (play on words) that these steels offer, invest in the proper tools to maintain them.

One of the pioneers of S110V, RJ Martin, stated that there is no point in owning a knife in S110V if you Aren't going to use it.
 
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I have 6 knives in S110V and have used it extensively. I also have a handful of knives in its little brother S90V and have used a couple of them extensively. The S110V Mule was my faithful hunting knife for a couple of years and has spent a lot of time around camp doing camp chores as well as cleaning fish and game. My S110V Military has also spent a lot of time fishing with me and has been a regular carry knife for me and has done a ton of chores and yard work. My S110V Native5 has done a ton of wood carving and whittling and a lot of that was dry hardwood and it has held up great.

I have used it for all sorts of things including using it paired with a BK15 to bone out an elk. Even after a couple hours of accidental contact with bone the edge showed only minor rolling in a few spots and was still cutting well.

I may also add that it is amazingly stainless and for me and has been more stainless than most other stainless steels.

From an elk hunt.
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Mule deer hunt.
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Grouse hunt.
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Ice fishing.
EkvCLAy.jpg



Hard to sharpen? Nope. This was after touching up the factory edge on the double stuff. I had used it at work for a week cutting cardboard and pallet banding and it had lost its shaving ability. After a couple of minutes on the double stuff it was back to whittling beard hairs. I can get it much sharper than this but this is to show that I can get it sharp in my truck on lunch break with a pocket stone.

In my experience steels that are wear resistant are not harder to sharpen, they just take longer to sharpen. Do not let them get super dull and they don't take long. If you do let them get very dull just be more patient and you will get there. At least that has been my experience. I use only sandpaper, benchstones, pocket stones and the sharpmaker. I do not use any modern guided systems.
EuNemVn.jpg
 
mec003 said:
I have a manix 2 in s110v and s30v. The s110v edge is great. No chipping issues yet. However, I have given up trying to sharpen it. My sharpening skills are so so. I can sharpen basic carbon steels (1905, O1, etc) just fine. 420, 440, VG10, etc... no sweat. S110V is ghastly to sharpen. While the edge retention is great, I'm not gonna purchase again. S30V is plenty good for any of my applications (and about the tip of my sharpening ability). I still use the s110v manix regularly, but I pay to have it sharpened.
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What Sharpener do you use ?
 
Yes it have put it on the sharpmaker once already
It took a little more time but it is manageable
I just didn’t wait for the blade to be blunt
As soon as it lose some sharpness I sharpen it
I think shall the blade be completely blunt it would take some time...
 
Insulting or rude behavior
DeadboxHero said:
What you said is misinformation.
It's not brittle.

It's not impossible to sharpen either, you just have to know how to sharpen.
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You're a liar. You paid $180 for a knife and now feel like you have to lie about it because you paid so much money for a knife you don't use.

As is the man in the video. The knife clearly chipped out because it stopped cutting the paper the moment the area of the blade that popped the penny apart came in contact with the paper, after which he stopped cutting and ended the video, because he knew he just proved himself wrong.

S110V has among the highest amounts of vanadium and carbon in any steel, with generous amounts of other alloying metals. It is very, very, very hard, and you can't have very, very, very hard without having an equal trade off elsewhere.
 
navman said:
Absolutely untrue statement. As with any other steel, it has limitations. Would I make a chopper out of it, no. But an EDC knife...more than functional. As far as pricing, yes I charge more for it (as do most custom makers) due to the difficulty of working it as compared to other steels. However, Spyderco's offerings are more than reasonably priced. I have a feeling that the issues people were/are having with the edge may be due to the way Spyderco put the final edge on. S110V likes diamonds or SIC. It does not particularly care for natural stones.

This is the same with most of the high carbide steels, if you want the edge (play on words) that these steels offer, invest in the proper tools to maintain them.

One of the pioneers of S110V, RJ Martin, stated that there is no point in owning a knife in S110V if you Aren't going to use it.
Click to expand...

So it is absolutely untrue that S110V is hard to sharpen relative to other steels, and it is absolutely untrue that S110V is expensive and brittle, but it has "limitations." And it is "difficult to work with," as in hard to grind. Do you know what sharpening is? You're grinding the knife steel against an abrasive. How is it difficult for you to grind when forming the steel, but it is somehow easy to grind later on, with far finer abrasives? And it is absolutely untrue that very hard things are not also brittle, because.....they just aren't, or Spyderco puts special sauce in the heat treatment.

Basically everything you said is contradictory. You said it because you're mad that I didn't unquestionably praise s110v, you've invested your ego in the steel and now your feelings are hurt.

FWIW I found the S110V and S90V Spyderco factory edges to be poor on sharpness and very burnt. It is a problem to have the factory edge so burnt, not surprising when you consider how hard the steel is and the economy of scale required to sell, because normal people won't be able to re-form the edge very well to get the dead steel out of the way and will make sharpening such a hard steel even harder for them.

If RJ Martin is right about S110V, then I'm not sure how Spyderco is able to sell those things.
 
bearfacedkiller said:
In my experience steels that are wear resistant are not harder to sharpen, they just take longer to sharpen. Do not let them get super dull and they don't take long. If you do let them get very dull just be more patient and you will get there.
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Nice selfies, but I think the issue is really one of semantics. If something is taking longer to do that effectively means it is harder to do, otherwise it would be done faster, generally speaking. You'll probably deny this but I just wanted to clarify my point.
 
emjay4248 said:
What Sharpener do you use ?
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It depends on how much money you want to spend and what kind of edge you're looking for.

Really, if you just want sharpness and don't worry about showing off in knife selfies, a Norton crystolone stone or India stone and some Lansky medium ceramic will get the job done all the way to hair popping sharpness for about $35. The India stone will smooth out over time, so depending on how hard you use it, you'll have to "condition" it, as in ripping away all the wore out abrasive on the top. It can be a minor pain in the ass.

The place where S110V is hard to sharpen is on the fine ceramics, and to a certain extent on the medium ceramic. As you go finer with the abrasive, the massive carbides of the steel are no longer "dug out" by the coarseness of the abrasive but start to directly grind against the abrasive. You're then trying to cut pure vanadium, which is actually harder than the stones you're using. That's why so many people use diamond on s110v. Which is fine, if you like diamond. I used to use it extensively back when I used ZDP-189, but a diamond edge really is a kind of damaged edge when you think about it, because the diamond cuts so deeply in the steel and because of "grit contamination" on the finer DMT stones (beyond 600 grit).
 
bigguyforyou said:
You're a liar. You paid $180 for a knife and now feel like you have to lie about it because you paid so much money for a knife you don't use.

As is the man in the video. The knife clearly chipped out because it stopped cutting the paper the moment the area of the blade that popped the penny apart came in contact with the paper, after which he stopped cutting and ended the video, because he knew he just proved himself wrong.

S110V has among the highest amounts of vanadium and carbon in any steel, with generous amounts of other alloying metals. It is very, very, very hard, and you can't have very, very, very hard without having an equal trade off elsewhere.
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Hardcore man, but question is? Can you prove it or are you just going to regurgitate everything you read and heard? Yawn, boring.
You have a camera on your phone, everybody does, so prove it. No excuses.
Show us what your talking about. Not someone else, YOU, your video. Ready! Go!
 
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