Pimping and modding the Buck Vantage Pro S30V

cotdt

cotdt

Joined
Oct 2, 2006
Messages
1,746
Picked up a Vantage Pro S30V for about $40. It performed well out of the box, amazing in fact for a low-cost folder. The Vantage has a thin convex grind and a premium steel. So what did I do? I thinned the blade out even further, and pushed up the hardness of S30V.

pimpvp0s.jpg


1. Skeletonized steel liners with dremel
2. Rehardened the S30V to ~63 rc
3. Reground the blade full-flat-grind

Stock weight: 4.0 oz.
Current weight: 2.8 oz.
Significantly lighter with the skeletonized liners and blade regrind.

Stock hardness: 59.5 rc
Current hardness: 63 rc
No sign of chippiness, and it survived a drop from 4 ft once.

Stock spine thickness: 3.0 mm
Current spine thickness: 1.2 mm
Cuts like a light saber. The high hardness prevents it from flexing like a noodle, so it's still somewhat stiff.

pimpvp1s.jpg


pimpvp2s.jpg


The edge bevel is really thin, this is a 10° per side edge yet hardly visible. Very easy to sharpen, literally took me 2 minutes to profile and sharpen. 320 grit already mirror polishes because full-hard S30V is so abrasion-resistant.

pimpvp3s.jpg
 
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Geez, use enough jerkit smileys?

What do you use to test the RC after heat treating?
 
Very cool, interested in future reports on how the S30V holds up.
 
CarpScot said:
Geez, use enough jerkit smileys?

What do you use to test the RC after heat treating?
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Hey, one of the forum admins invented the smiley for a reason!

I had a previous S30V knife rockwell tested at a professional lab to actually be a bit higher than 63 rc. This one used the exact same heat treat, hence the ~63 rc.

knifenut1013 said:
Very cool, interested in future reports on how the S30V holds up.
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Sure, thanks for commenting.
 
That knife can't possibly be used on anything but cutting thread, you need at least 20 degree per side edge bevels and a thick saber grind for a workin mans knife :D

Nice mods, I bet that knife is real fun to cut with. What kind of materials have you tried it out on so far?
 
Vivi said:
That knife can't possibly be used on anything but cutting thread, you need at least 20 degree per side edge bevels and a thick saber grind for a workin mans knife :D

Nice mods, I bet that knife is real fun to cut with. What kind of materials have you tried it out on so far?
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Haha thanks for the comments. I open packages with it, so basically just cardboard and paper. For hard-use cutting I have several M4 knives for the purpose.

Esav Benyamin said:
Yes, for Whine & Cheese, not for a discussion forum, where it's an insult to your audience.
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Understood, I just edited out the jerkit symbols.

sircantaloupe said:
cotdt, what was the original RC before you changed it?
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59.5 rc. It's a good heat treat done by Paul Bos, but I was getting dents here and there with thin edges that increasing the strength/hardness of minimizes.
 
Thanks, cotdt. I get a little irritated with people sometimes and I use the : rolleyes: :rolleyes: instead. :p
 
Could you specify what procedures and equipment you used to increase the hardness of the blade?
 
I'm curious as to your method of regrinding , I have access to the equipment but after several shoddy attempts at grinding my own from scratch blades I am shy.

Also kudos to Esav , you are the fairest , unbiased mod I have ever seen on a forum.

Tostig
 
Kenix said:
Could you specify what procedures and equipment you used to increase the hardness of the blade?
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Of course. The blade was removed from the folder and spherodize annealed, slow cooled from 1650F to 1100F in 20 hours, in a stainless foil pouch.

Then the blade was austenized at 2060F for 30 minutes, removed from pouch and quenched in oil, cleaned, then immediately went into the LN2 (cryo as part of the quench). After this comes a 975F triple temper, 2 hours each. For tempering S30V, the thing to remember is 500F for max toughness, 975F for max hardness (according to one of the metallurgists who wrote the patent on S30V). And since oil+cryo was used, a higher austenization temperature is more optimal as retained austenite is not an issue.

Tostig said:
I'm curious as to your method of regrinding , I have access to the equipment but after several shoddy attempts at grinding my own from scratch blades I am shy.
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I used those red ceramic belts, it's the only thing that can grind really hard S30V, and quickly at that. My bench grinder is a $60 2"x27" one, but I'm thinking of upgrading to a 2"x72"
 
Doggone that's a toothy shark ! :D gave me the willies..


Thanks COTDT , I am browsing for the first time , your long long thread about heat treat service , pretty interesting ideas.

Thanks for sharing !

Tostig


oh! most important forgot... do you cool the blade as you grind ? as in dip in water every so often ? I mean on blades you have allready HT , or do not need a HT.

Thanks! :)

Tostig
 
Tostig said:
oh! most important forgot... do you cool the blade as you grind ? as in dip in water every so often ? I mean on blades you have allready HT , or do not need a HT.

Thanks! :)

Tostig
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Thanks for the comments. I grind with bare hands so that whenever the blade is too hot to hold I dip it in water. The blade usually won't go past 300 degrees, so the temper will hold. You just have to be careful with the tip which can overheat easily.
 
me2 said:
So there is a secondary hardening effect at 975 F?
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Yes, but you have to hit 975F almost exactly. 20 degrees off and the hardness drops significantly. I've found for S30V and 154CM that cryo is still needed for full hardness, even with the secondary hardening. D2 has a secondary hardening effect as well, but you need to use higher austenization temps for it.
 
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