Now it's s30v that's my problem.

hank_rearden

hank_rearden

Joined
Jun 7, 2002
Messages
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i'm still maturing wrt to free handing zdp 189. but now, i'm already used to touching up the edge well enough to tree-top hair that i don't see any need for a re-profiling in the foreseeable future. heaven knows the first sharpening was an ordeal.

now i'm having trouble with finishing s30v. i re-profile my edges with a two-sided carborundum (coarse-med). the scratches i try to remove using a fine green stone. finishing on a glass slab using aluminum oxide or just metal polish finally removes the scratches. then i use a treated strop and finally, plain leather. that's how i've been doing my zdp endura and dragonfly. sharpening a vg-10 to hair-splitting sharpness using this process is a breeze.

with the s30v military, re-profiling on the coarse-medium is a lot faster and the edge throws up a burr fast. trouble is, i can't seem to remove the scratches completely. when i finally get to the treated leather, there isn't the bluish reflection i get from a well-polish zdp 189 edge. the s30v edge just stays a dull satin. and it can't split hair.

so what am i doing wrong with s30v?
 
S30V can be a pain to polish and really has no advantages in doing so, about 600 grit is a good finishing point for that steel.

To refine to a mirror polish you will need diamond compounds and a tight grit progression.
 
I haven't been able to get my PM2 in S30V to a mirror-ish finish either. Oddly enough, my Benchmade S30V can do it with an ultra-fine stone and a loaded strop with the same effort. Maybe the heat treat is different?

I am definitely not worried about it, as my PM2 is a workhorse. I touch up the microbevel almost daily, and have had to remove chips twice over the last week.
 
I don't like S30v.

It's not hard to get a mirror polish on the Edge-Pro, but it will not hold that "crisp" edge worth a damn. It's not worth the extra effort to polish. I finish S30v on a Shapton Pro At 2000 grit.
 
Depends on the heat treatment too. Spyderco tends to make theirs a little harder. My CRK Sebenza has a pretty good mirror polish, but it never really holds that razor edge for too long. The mirror polish however is there to stay:D.

For the SXXV series, you'd either need 2-3 times more polishing strokes with finer stones and abrasives, or diamond stones. 2nd and 3rd generation PM steels like M390, Elmax, and CTS-204P seem to take a mirror polish much more easily.

If you're going to mirror polish, the only appeal to that is appearances for the most part.

I still do it anyway because it only takes about 10 minutes to put a mirror polish on S110V with a powered system:D.
 
I have no problem with polishing S30v and it cuts like it always has...(great)
Just finished my Sage 2 and Military in S30v and a Military in M390 to a decent mirrored finish.
I think grit progression and some patience is the key, along with a super fine ceramic stone and stropping.
S30v was my first love and always takes care of me :)
 
i've got me one of these blades. i have the tiger striped one. love it. and i have never sharpened it. its my goto when i leave the house.

might be time i get her sharpened.
 
Like Noctis3880 said, s30v won't give you much trouble if you have a *powered* system. I've used a few methods but a Harbor Freight belt grinder with good-quality paper belts and a leather belt for finishing has treated me quite well. Takes a little getting used to (you DEFINITELY want to start with a throw-away) but high-vanadium steels will cease to be a challenge. You'll still notice a difference versus more traditional steels, but not like you notice when working by hand. Also, it's nice to be able to get a convex edge with no effort; wears rather well and you can still put a microbevel in place by hand if you want. I think I spent $30 on the grinder (with coupon.) Belts will vary based on what you get, and where from.

If you really want a mirror edge, I recommend getting a thick, hard, aggressive strop and some diamond spray. It's definitely more efficient and effective than anything else I've tried.
 
I actually have another reason for mirror polishing.

Recently I've been playing more with low edge bevels and regrinding some blades with my Worksharp(something for which it was never intended to do:D). I find that the mirror edge makes a very good visual aid with good lighting, so you can see whether you've reached the apex or not when putting a lower edge angle(the shoulder is ground away first, so the mirror reflection is left closer to the edge apex), or in the case of my regrinds, see which spots you have to avoid.
 
Ben Dover said:
I don't like S30v.

It's not hard to get a mirror polish on the Edge-Pro, but it will not hold that "crisp" edge worth a damn. It's not worth the extra effort to polish. I finish S30v on a Shapton Pro At 2000 grit.
Click to expand...

Pretty much this. I think, maybe, it's natural for one to want to get the most refined edge possible on a knife at first, but once you start doing that and actually using them, you come to appreciate a nice toothy/aggressive edge. At least, I do.
 
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