Cpms30v?

[cmott69]

What do you guys (and or girls) think of this steel?
Hardenability?
Toughness?
Edge holding?
Etc.

 

[rlinger]

CPM S30V is one of the very few steels I am aware of that was SPECIFICALLY designed for use as cutlery. Most our steels were designed for other purposes and then adobted by use for knife usage. An example of that are some of the bearing, tool and spring steels. CPM S30V is unique to our purposes. It is high alloy and also is a "partical steel", in that I do not beleive it is forged or poured by the mill or foundry (someone may correct me on part of that though). I like to harden my CPM S30V to about 59 HRC. It should be tempered below 500 F., to about 400 F. or a bit higher to help retain non-corrosion attributes (as with all high alloys we use). It is not tough to an outstanding degree. It is very edge retentive if properly heat treated. It can be a chore to resharpen if let go too dull. It is VERY difficult to acheive a high finish sheen. A satin finish is a good choice for this steel. Of the high alloys we use this steel is an excellent choice for small to medium size blades (my opinion).

rlinger
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[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I made a series of cutlery pieces for a restaurant from CPM S30V. It was a very good steel. As rlinger said, it is not exceptional in any one way, but excellent in almost all ways. I have switched to CPM 154 and find it nearly as good for professional cutlery, and it polishes much better. Neither is cheap, but that is not the object when making knives from this type of steel. My advise would be to use CPM 154, but if you specifically want CPM S30V, go for it. There is nothing bad about it.
Stacy

 

[kyhunt]

I have two buck knives made in S30V. I have only used one so far, the vanguard. I have not used it on any large game but have used it for about 2 years on alot of small game. After two years the edge is still razor sharp with only needing a light touch up on a stone after cutting a 3 inch diameter tree down, (just wanted to see if it could). After cutting the tree with it , it was still very sharp, but not razor sharp. afte a couple of minutes on a translucent stone it was back to razor sharp. I like it.