Rockwell cpm s30v

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powercut

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what is the working hardness on Spyderco cpm s30v?

The last view days I used the Manix to cut reed and wood with it.
What I noticed is that the steel blunted very easily.
Getting it shaving sharp again is no problem on the 204, but it loses it's edge quite fast especialy when putting pressure on it during heavy cutting tasks.

I don't want to give a wrong impression about cpm s30v.
but I just cutted up some some clean organic material and blunted on me in a view slices. Is this normal behaviour or is cpm s30v a light use steel?
 
My only S30V steel blade is my Native, and in my experience it loses it's razor edge very fast but keeps a working edge *slightly* above average before it goes completely dull.
 
It seems fairly common for S30V blades to develop a very tough burr or wire edge during sharpening. If this burr is not removed, you have a razor sharp edge that can't take much load before it rolls, rendering the knife dull. Getting rid of the burr can be hard to do, as S30V is pretty tough stuff, and the burr doesn't like to let go. You may have to re profile to get rid of the fatigued metal at the edge. If that doesn't do the job, consider sending it in to the factory for analysis, it is remotely possible there is something wrong with the heat treat.
I have and use a number of S30V blades, and I use them very hard. I have whittled shapes out of white oak with my Paramilitary, trimmed tree limbs and pruned shrubs with my Mini-Manix, and many other tasks without losing the edge. I also generally sharpen a new knife before I use it (some brands are notorius for having a wire edge from the factory)
Hope this helps :D
 
It sounds like the steel is too soft assuming you are getting the edge to form clean. Which angle are you using?

-Cliff
 
Yes I checked for bur formation there wasn't any. Normaly I sharpen my edge at a 20º degree angle, and as soon as the shoulders are to thick I rebevel it
at 30º degrees with my Spyderco diamond rods. From what I understand this a normal edge for cpm s30v. On light to medium cutting it behaves good, As soon if there is to much pressure involved the edge rolls, it does not chip.

Maybe the steel is a little on the soft side.

P.S.
From what I understand is that CPM S30V would benefit from cryogenic quenching to get optimal dispersion of the carbide structure.
I gues you won't see that in s30v production blades.
 
Generally if the steel is soft and it is rolling too quickly then cold treatments would likely have helped because this would have reduced the retained austenite and made the steel harder. Cryogenics will cause additional carbide precipitation, but the reason P/M's have finely dispersed carbides is inherently due to the P/M process which prevents large aggregates from forming unlike traditional ingot steels.

-Cliff
 
powercut said:
From what I understand is that CPM S30V would benefit from cryogenic quenching to get optimal dispersion of the carbide structure.
I gues you won't see that in s30v production blades.
Click to expand...

I don't understand the negative outlook. Off the top of my head Cold Steel cold treats their 420 and 440A and Camillus cold treated their Aus8 on knives with retail prices a fraction of most S30V blades.

Are aftermarket cold treatment ill-advisable? I understand the change in volume of the retained austenite going to marsenite will lead to stresses in the material that should be tempered out.
 
Send it back to Spyderco with a bill for your trouble of having to go to the post ofice. Properly heat treated this should never happen. They should send you a new one. I wonder if there are a whole bunch, thousands, of the same model out there that have the same problem. Has anyone heard of a recall by Spyderco for a defective run of knives?
 
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