Had my first S30V blade chip

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JTR357

JTR357

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Well after reading all the posts about S30V having problems with chipping,it happened to me.I was opening my BM635 by holding the blade & flipping it open,like I've done at least a hundred times & I dropped it.It only fell about four feet at the most on to a hardwood floor.
This is a real bummer.It's one of my favorite knives.It's only a tiny chip,but it's still a chip & a flawed blade now IMO.
Do you think I can sharpen it out?I'm pretty decent at sharpening,but not re-beveling.
If I send it in to Benchmade do you think they'll fix it?What do they charge?

Sorry for all the questions,just pretty bummed right now & looking for some answers.

Thanks for listening to my whining:o:D
 
Falling onto a hardwood floor IMO shouldn't chip a quality blade, S30V or otherwise.
Hardwood floors are pretty forgiving of objects that fall on them.

I'd send it to Benchmade and let them know the blade was chipped by wood.

I'm pretty sure they'll replace the blade for you at no charge.
 
I was thinking the exact same thing.I could see if I was cutting wire or something,but that's exactly what happened.Fell onto a hardwood floor??
I'll call them tommorrow.Thanks rifon2
 
My old 440v native had a few chips on it. After sharpening it for a few years, most of it was gone and it didn't affect performance. I don't mind small chips on blades, just like I don't mind dings in wood stocks. I feel that's what make a knife a "user".
 
mete said:
A 'tiny chip' ? grind it out and don't be a whimp !
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I would agree. :thumbup: User knives chip, it doesn't matter that much. Sharpen 'em right out and keep going. Even if the knife fell on a wood floor, the fall still makes the impact pretty darn heavy, so it's no wonder if a S30V blade, especially a relatively thinly ground folder, chips from that.
 
mete said:
A 'tiny chip' ? grind it out and don't be a wimp !
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:D:D OK mete,I'm gonna take your advice on this one.I'm somewhat of a perfectionist when it comes to my blade's edge.Do you think the sharpmaker's medium stone at 20 degrees with get it out?I really don't feel like shipping it across the country for a little chip.
 
Elen said:
I would agree. :thumbup: User knives chip, it doesn't matter that much. Sharpen 'em right out and keep going. Even if the knife fell on a wood floor, the fall still makes the impact pretty darn heavy, so it's no wonder if a S30V blade, especially a relatively thinly ground folder, chips from that.
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Ditto. I dropped my Chive on my driveway the day I bought it and it got a tiny chip a couple of millimeters in from the tip. At first I was really annoyed, then I figured, "Oh, well. Got the first ding out of the way" and moved on. :D
 
S30V is a good steel, but it's also clearly been overrated. Especially two or three years ago, when it was widely considered the be-all, end-all steel for all kinds of applications. No such thing if you ask me.
 
You can have safe queens or you can have users. If you have users, eventually you should learn how to sharpen well enough to put a unique edge on each, suitable to its use -- chopping, heavy cutting, fine slicing, and so on.

Every working knife's edge degrades with use, whether by dulling, rolling, chipping, or snapping off at the tip. Sharpen it out and keep on cutting!
 
Esav Benyamin said:
You can have safe queens or you can have users. If you have users, eventually you should learn how to sharpen well enough to put a unique edge on each, suitable to its use -- chopping, heavy cutting, fine slicing, and so on.

Every working knife's edge degrades with use, whether by dulling, rolling, chipping, or snapping off at the tip. Sharpen it out and keep on cutting!
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Thanks EB,I only have one safe queen.My SOG Architect with jigged bone.Every other knife I have is a user.I'd actually prefer if it rolled,rather than chip.A roll is much easier to fix.
 
Quiet Storm said:
S30V is a good steel, but it's also clearly been overrated. Especially two or three years ago, when it was widely considered the be-all, end-all steel for all kinds of applications. No such thing if you ask me.
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That's a big problem with every new steel, it gets hyped even before people know how to work it. If it's real good and can support a thin edge, that edge is more fragile when the heat treat isn't right (which means it won't perform up to its supersteel hype).

No steel does everything. Steel is a material. Materials degrade. Impact is worse than normal use for this. This is all stuff we should learn falling off bicycles: the ground is hard! :D
 
Having experienced chipping of tips of good quality knives with a lot less force than dropping I have to conclude that the blades have been overheated in grinding. This is a very easy thing to do. Reshaping the tip removes the heat damaged area.My experiences were not with S30V .
 
If you need to use the Sharpmaker to grind out a chip or regrind an edge the med hones are going to take a long time. Cheap fix pick up some coarse sandpaper and wrap it around the Sharpmaker hone, and use that until you've ground enough.
 
JTR357 said:
It's one of my favorite knives.It's only a tiny chip,but it's still a chip & a flawed blade now IMO.
Do you think I can sharpen it out?I'm pretty decent at sharpening,but not re-beveling.
Click to expand...

Reading your OP again, I think that it depends on how "tiny" the chip is, and whether you want the knife as a safe queen.

If it's an insignificantly tiny chip that's really only cosmetic, sure - sharpen it out.

But if it's a chip that's large enough to require rebeveling, and you don't feel comfortable with that - or you want it as a safe queen for resale or otherwise - send it back.

In my view, and I'll say it again, the blade shouldn't have chipped just from hitting a hardwood floor.
 
My 740 kept getting little chips on the sharpemaker at the 30 degree settings and on the sharpemaker they are a REAL pain to get out. Took literally hours sometimes to get out.

I now set a back bevel at 30, work my way down to the ultra's, then set the edge at the 40 degrees settings on the greys (sometimes work my way down again with the ultra fines).

The edge holds up ten times better now. It's a real pain to set the back bevel the first time at 30, but it's worth it in the long run.

My Spyderco ZDP-189 will take a 30 edge, but my BM s30v chips.

Michael
 
rifon2 said:
Reading your OP again, I think that it depends on how "tiny" the chip is, and whether you want the knife as a safe queen.

If it's an insignificantly tiny chip that's really only cosmetic, sure - sharpen it out.

But if it's a chip that's large enough to require rebeveling, and you don't feel comfortable with that - or you want it as a safe queen for resale or otherwise - send it back.

In my view, and I'll say it again, the blade shouldn't have chipped just from hitting a hardwood floor.
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rifon2,
Yea,Now that I'm looking at it again,it's more of a cosmetic defect than anything else.You're right though.It shouldn't have chipped from such a light fall onto a wood floor.I'm just gonna take my time with it on the sharpmaker.I should be able to get it out.It is a very tiny chip.Things always look worse,before you sleep on it:)

Thanks for your feedback everyone:thumbup:
 
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