Pics of serious breaks chips or cracks on a S30v blade.

LOL who cares what it looks like?! One of the points of S30V was to be able to support edges like that, since ATS34 and such couldn't. And from most accounts, it can't. I just think many people expected to much from a stainless. It holds an edge longer than the other super steels in rough materials, but other than that is pretty much the same as other larger carbide steel. Good steel, when its 15 deg or thicker. Any thinner and it seems your playing Russian roulette.
 
Bushman5 said:
looks like the knife was used instead of wire cutters (wire cutters being the RIGHT TOOL for the job). Nasty knife abuse there......wonde rif you can sharpen dents like that out? :eek:
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Check the link at the bottom of his pics:

"The UKPK was then hammered into a Swiss Army Knife blade of softer stainless steel ground thicker at the edge. Each knife received about the same level of damage."

:eek: No wonder the edge is torn up.
 
I wouldn't call cutting household coax cable abuse. If it's copper core it won't hurt anything at all, seems that it was some steel core stuff, even then I wouldn't expect that level of damage to a hard knife edge.
 
s30v, in my experience, is not good at lower edge angles. the tip of my mini manix chipped off cutting some plastic piping. this was after a reprofile down to around 15 degrees. my benchmade 940 was taken down to around 12 per side and it would chip on the sharpmaker as i tried to put the 15 degree bevel on it.
 
waffle said:
What did you do to that grind?:barf:
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I changed the grind to be optimized for cutting applications I regularly preform. That is the function of a knife. This knife cuts better than my Opinels.


Bushman5 said:
looks like the knife was used instead of wire cutters (wire cutters being the RIGHT TOOL for the job). Nasty knife abuse there......wonde rif you can sharpen dents like that out? :eek:
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Right tool for the job? In the review this was done to see the limits of S30V. I stated I thinned the edge out like this and experienced no durability issues in anything I cut on a regular basis, so I purposely took the edge to more damaging media to see it's limits and how it would fail once reaching said limit. With the intentions I had in mind, using wire cutters would of been the wrong tool for the job, unless I wanted a reference point to compare the UKPK to. I did this for the same reason I've chopped wood with Opinels, to see how the knife, and in particular the steel and geometry used, handles the task at hand. I prefer more concrete results regarding what my knives can and cannot do rather than basing my opinion of such on the second hand experience of others.

yoda4561 said:
I wouldn't call cutting household coax cable abuse. If it's copper core it won't hurt anything at all, seems that it was some steel core stuff, even then I wouldn't expect that level of damage to a hard knife edge.
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Correct, it was some sort of steel core. I've cut other cabling with the same knife without issue. Also note how other knives in tougher steels with thicker edges didn't really do any better except the Mule.

ginaz said:
s30v, in my experience, is not good at lower edge angles. the tip of my mini manix chipped off cutting some plastic piping. this was after a reprofile down to around 15 degrees. my benchmade 940 was taken down to around 12 per side and it would chip on the sharpmaker as i tried to put the 15 degree bevel on it.
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I had a full sized Manix I took to roughly the same angle, a little less I think. Never had issues. My Paramilitary is about 10 degrees per side right now, no issues except cutting performance sucks because the edge is still too thick.

I don't know what you use a knife for, but for everything I need to cut, S30V has never once failed me at low angles. I've seen a few posts of people having S30V knives fail them doing things I've done multiple times (I think STR had an S30V edge chip out cutting through knotty wood, which the UKPK takes with ease). Maybe variances in heat treat are to blame? No idea myself, I can only relate to others what I've observed in my knives.
 
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robicon said:
and had intended to use a knife on a recent backpacking trip. Didn't get the blade in time.

From what I've read it's all in the heat treat methods and to what hardness the maker brings it to. Some said CRK wasn't hardening his blades enough (green beret and P1)?

The knife I purchased:
DSC01687.jpg
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Anyone know who makes this knife?
 
There were some legitimate issues with S30V when it first came out with some minor edge issues and folks getting past the characteristics of the steel. As it turned out most of the issues were related to heat treating and were corrected.

I believe their was a lot more concern about chipping and fracture issues with S60V (440V) when it was seeing more use in production cutlery than it does now that carried over into S30V since S30V has seemed to take its place for many production companies and I guess makers too but the makers and I believe even Crucible did change suggestions for heat treating and the final hardness for S30V as I recall. For the most part the issues that first came up with that steel are history now although one or two posts do come up now and then with someone asking about it.

I've seen a video clip somewhere of someone chopping nails with an S30V blade and cutting them cleanly without damage to the edge so between proper heat treat and proper edge and primary grind geometry the steel certainly works and works well. It is the only steel ever designed from the ground up for knives and has much appealing about it just for this reason. I've tested it both in my own knives I've bought and some sent to me by manufacturers and though I have seen some minor chipping along the edge on the ones that are thinner there, for the most part the steel outperforms about anything you compare it to side by side with the exception of maybe a handful of others like SG2 or ZDP189. D2 and BG42 hold their own with S30V for the most part but I think overall I'd still give S30V the lead in most cases for everything except the finish it can get.

About the only real drawback if it is one is the finish that S30V takes which is not that great looking unless you bead blast it. That is why most folks blast it which to me is not a drawback but actually makes it easier to get to the finish line than say having to mirror polish a blade. But hey, I'm lazy when it comes to polish time. :D

STR
 
OwenM said:
I'd like to see just one time someone step up to the plate and prove a complaint. I see all this talk of chipping from people who don't even know what a chip is—or a wire edge....
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I bought a 30x jeweler's loup from Deal Extreme for a few bucks and it was actually very good. I've been examining my knife edges, including that of my Spyderco Native, and so far I've seen nothing but a clean edge on that knife. I think if you're really interested, get a good magnifier (20-30x) and see if you can see any damage.

From the title of this thread, I expected to see some pics, but no such luck.
 
Thanks. Now that's a knife I can shell out some dough for!

It doesn't look like an 02, though. This is what an 02 is supposed to look like according to the website:


clip_image001_003.gif
 
I pounded a Chris Reeve Professional Soldier through a dried store bought piece of firewood to get a smaller wedge for kindling, and it held up perfectly.
 
I've had micro chipping in a couple of S30V knives. Nothing too serious, I just sharpened the chips out. I also had one early S30V knife that wouldn't hold an edge at all until I had sharpened it several time to get rid of the weak steel. That was obviously a knife that got overheated during sharpening at the factory. These things happen. I also had a Native break whose tip broke off after I dropped it down a small cliff on a mountain hike in Scandinavia. Oh well, that was my fault.

However, I feel S30V isn't the supersteel to end all others. It does have its weaknesses, for instance it doesn't take a very fine edge compared to fine grained stainless steels like 12C27, so it's not very good when it comes to push cutting. In my kind of use a thinned out edge just doesn't work with S30V, I need something like 15 degrees per side. Some other stainless steels work just fine with something like 8 to 10 degrees per side.

Sure, all these steels have their weaknesses, but I guess what I want to say is that S30V isn't as good as the hype surrounding its introduction some years ago suggested. It's - like any other steel - a compromise. A good steel, but not the best steel for every knife and every kind of use.
 
There is a very tiny difference between all the high-end steels. Sitting around worrying about them is.. a luxury.. for which we should all be grateful.
 
Most post-initial release and heat-treating chipping issues with S30V come from factory fresh blades. Factory sharpening causes some micro chipping, some of the time in S30V. Just as several posters in this thread state, it microchipped/they sharpened it by hand a few times/no more problems.

Pretty funny that the OP asked for pictures showing the chips, and the only guy who says he has some states no one is interested in seeing them. :confused:
 
Confederate said:
Thanks. Now that's a knife I can shell out some dough for!

It doesn't look like an 02, though. This is what an 02 is supposed to look like according to the website:


clip_image001_003.gif
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It's an 02 as a basis. Take a gander at the certificate of authenticity on the review thread.

I explained what the knife was to be used for (camp, some chopping, game dressing, all purpose type) and this is what Maciej Szczerbiak came up with.

Unfortunately I didn't receive the knife in time for a hog hunting/backpacking trip, but it'll be taken on the next.

His wife Kathy was very easy to work with and did everything they could to expedite the process.

Keep in mind, each blade is made by hand. No assembly line there. From my understanding, Maciej takes particular pride in his heat-treating of the CPMS30V steel.
 
Vivi said:
I stated I thinned the edge out like this and experienced no durability issues in anything I cut on a regular basis, so I purposely took the edge to more damaging media to see it's limits and how it would fail once reaching said limit. With the intentions I had in mind, using wire cutters would of been the wrong tool for the job, unless I wanted a reference point to compare the UKPK to. I did this for the same reason I've chopped wood with Opinels, to see how the knife, and in particular the steel and geometry used, handles the task at hand. I prefer more concrete results regarding what my knives can and cannot do rather than basing my opinion of such on the second hand experience of others.
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...So is there anyone out there who can post serious cracks or chips in an S30V blade from use, not from this kind of "testing"?
 
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