Give me the dirt on S30V

I don't think that too many of you have two furnaces so you'll have to ramp it up from the preheat.
 
I was told to destroy it, ofcourse i wont use it for a pry bar or anything, a knife is made to cut, that being said i have skinned several elk and deer and alot of laddigo leather altho its not as sharp as it was it still will shave hair off my arm ( it came SCAREY sharp) and i wont hone it untill we are satified with the test. So far i hate to say it its outperforming my carbon blades for retaining a edge. I think alot of it is Rons knowledge of blade geometry also that has made it such a wonderful skinner.
Romey
Cowboy inc
 
Preheating is used to minimize the time at temperatures that will produce scaling and decarburization.This can be important in alloys that are sensitive to decarburization and is more of a problem with large sections. Idealy two furnaces should be used but with the thin blade sections it's less critical.
 
This stuff sounds like a nightmare, but it seems for a serious user knife it might be worth the trouble. I might try using some on some hunters (I don't make many of them anyway) and keep using ATS on the folders, one more question....those of you who use S30V, do you charge more for a knife made with it? I'd love the offer my customers a longer lasting edge but with the HT process and the harder grinding and finishing i'd need to charge a little more.
 
Les, your fears are unnecessary. The heat treat for s30v is not foriegn to that of your ATS-34 and the grinding is not enough more difficult to be dicouraged. It is minimal by comparison. It is true that you should not expect to acheive the high sheen mirror finish you are accustomed to getting with ATS-34.

If you are heat treating ATS-34 you can heat treat s30v. They are both within the same ball park. Get enough extra steel to do some HT experiments and you will end up happy with it.

RL
 
Originally posted by rlinger
It is true that you should not expect to acheive the high sheen mirror finish you are accustomed to getting with ATS-34.



RL
Click to expand...

I do not yet have a knife in S30 V
but have a custom on order.

Do you by any chance have a photo of the highest finish one can expect from S30V??
 
Jim Smyth wrote:
It is also very tough to get a good satin finish on it
Click to expand...

Some guys put it on a magnetic chuck to keep it straight. Some put it between big alunimum plates. I clamp mine in a "BIG" vise and have a large fan blowing on high.
Click to expand...

I don't do mirror finishes much anymore but hard to get a satin finish on? Also, i've never had to clamp my ATS-34 blades to keep them straight, these are a few of the things i've seen in this thread that started me thinking maybe i don't want to use S30V on a regular basis, but i think i will play with it some and see how it goes.

Thanks for all of your input. Several people mentioned doing a search on the site for S30V, i did a search before i posted this thread and maybe i'm not using the search function properly but i got a lot of hits on it and when i started to wade through them many were just making mention of what material a knife was made of and things like that, anyone have a suggestion for doing a better search on this site?

Thanks
 
On the heat treat you really do need to do some experimentaion for yourself. Clamping in a vise, magnetic chucks, whatever type quench, you should experiment with to determine what works best. I, as I think now, lean toward an oil or rapid air quench, and in that order of preference.

As for sheen, I have been told that some makers do get a mirror finish on s30v. I believe I was told they use diamond belts but may be mistaken about that. I have tried hand finishing to about 1500 grit and buffing. It seems 1000 grit by hand is about as far as I can achieve, maybe. It still looks good or okay and I no longer strive for a mirror finish with s30v. I have made, to date, five knives of s30v. Four of them can be seen at my web site linked below.

In defense of my opinion of s30v, I am not at all discouraged from using it further and still have a couple yards of it. It is just that I am currently concentrating on other steels for now and am anxious to get back to working CPM s30v.

RL
 
What little stainless I've been useing has been ATS-34. What I'm wondering is how they compare in side by side edge holding with similar blade grinds? 10%? 20%? 30% better? Similar toughness? Anybody done this yet? I would have to send out for heat treat.

I'm almost out of ATS-34 and am thinking of ordering some S30v
 
Will, I have been real fortunate with ATS-34 heat treats. I continue to be amazed at how the ATS-34 edges hold up under cutting conditions. One thing for sure, since you have already worked ATS-34 you will have no relative problem working CPM s30v. Give it a try and since you will be sending it out, to Paul I suppose, you'll have nothing to loose and another high alloy steel under your belt.

RL
 
Les,
Check out Crucible's website at: http://www.crucibleservice.com/products.cfm

S30V is superior inedge holding and toughness to any other stainless that I have experience with. Crucible developed it for cutlery.

It is more difficult to grind and finish, but I think the result is worth it. I haven't had any trouble with warping except fo one thin blade that I bent slightly getting the foil off for an oil quench.
 
Les,

I'll just echo what Rlinger and Shgeo said. S30V (I feel) is a hair easier to Heat Treat. I've not enough experience to know the difference, but my as quenched hardness is higher. I just temper at 550-575 rather than the 400ish for ATS-34.

As far as finishing goes, the wider the worse! The ol' cork belt/Green Chrome trick doesn't work. I can use a machine finish on blades up to 3/4" wide. Wider than that I haven't had any luck. Maybe more pressure? But hand rubbed is well hand rubbed.

The I'm finishing one today. Took it to a X65 then a blue scotch bright finish. Looks just fine.

Nosmo,

Highest finish? Hmmm. I think anything is possible with the steel, it's just really hard to get. I tried doing a waterstone finish to about 2000 grit. OK you can't get there that way! It takes a lot of rubbing and that opened the grain in irregular areas. Looked awful. If your maker has the patience for handrubbing the stuff, I'm sure you can get a wonderful finish.

Maybe a mirror polish with diamond paste?

Steve
 
Although I don't recall saying I believe S30V is easier to HT, and I doubt it is, there should be nothing sacred about its HT by comparison. It is only that I have not spent enough deserved time experimenting with its HT, yet. Maybe a bit longer soak because of the vanadium but I don't know yet. Just don't be afraid of it to try.

Steve Sando has been working S30V for some several weeks now, alot, and I believe is getting a handle on it both in HT and in finishing.

I will know who to call on about it when I go back to working S30V - soon I hope.

RL
 
Thanks Rlinger, I think I'll order some and make a comparison blade to see what if any gains I get over ATS-34.
 
S30V is no harder to heat treat than ATS-34/154CM, just different numbers for heat treat and tempering. It is a little harder to grind and is similar to the other CPM metals that Crucible sells. I grind all my blades after they are heat treated. Use fresh belts and dont let them get hot. I never have a problem with warpage other than some S90V/420V due to the higher temps needed during heat treat. S30V grinds different than alot of metals and leaves a glowing fuzz ball on each pass. It is harder to get a good edge on it but when you do it wont dull out as easy as ATS-34/154CM either. I wouldnt hesitate to try some, its a great steel. If most of the manufacturers are using it, that has to say something.

Call Bruce DiVita at Crucible. 1(800)365-1168

I started out ordering not very much material and they were pleasant to work with the they shipped out pretty quick. Also ask him for the "Crucible Tool Steel and Specialty Alloy Selector Book" Its orange in color and Kit Carson calls it the bible. It has all the heat treat formulas in it for all the metals Crucible sells with tempering numbers etc. You can play and adjust to your liking. It's a wealth of knowledge.

If you have any questions you can always email or post in here for heat treat numbers. For S30V I ramp to 1200 (let cycle) ramp to 1500 (let cycle) ramp to 1950 (let soak about 15 minutes.)
I wrap the blade prior to heat treat in foil and I use a little spray of WD40 in the pouch. This is so when it gets hot in the oven the oil burns up in the pouch and leaves no air. This way the blade wont decarb as bad in the pouch. After then blade come out of the oven you have to rapid cool as stated above. When its cool to the touch I do a double temper at 600 with a cool down in between. I RC ever blade and the S30V dials in at around 59. Cheers ;)
 
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