S30V and mirror edges.

CrimsonTideShooter

CrimsonTideShooter

Joined
Oct 23, 2010
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3,196
For some reason my military in s30v will not take a mirror polish. Even at the 3000 grit polishing tapes the edge seems milky. It is very polished, but it's not nearly as clear as most of my other knives. Is this just the nature of the steel or what? All my other edges are crystal clear. What gives?
 
It can be done.

edc01.jpg

EDIT: Top knife is in s30v. Picture doesn't show it that clearly, but it is mirror polished.
 
Well what is the deal then? I haven't had a problem with any other steel, even s90. Is there some special trick to s30v?
 
Yep, its called diamonds





Hark, you ever gonna use those blades? ;)
 
This is my S30V Ti millie. Edge pro polished to 3000 grit tape. That's the camera's reflection on the edge. That's my shirt reflecting off the edge in the second pic.

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mirrors30v2.jpg
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spend more time at coarser grits, and cross the scratch patterns, i mean go heel to tip on the 120 and tip to heel on the 220 etc, this way you'll see if you erased the previous scratch pattern more easily. a loupe is helpfull too.

my guess is that the haze you see after your finest stone is leftover scratches from the coarsest ones.
 
Rub a bit of Mother's Mag and Aluminum polish into that 3K polishing tape after it's well worn.

Or, better yet, polish with a pink 6K tape, anmd use Mother's when it's well worn. :p
 
I vote on the diamonds. S30V for me has been a bitch with the Edge Pro- where CPM-M4 is sporting a mirror, S30V has a mirror with tiny scratches. Mother's mag helps a lot, but not if the scratches are deep. I vote using any number of the custom-strop ideas for the E.P. loaded with fine grit (100-200k) diamond paste from any number of the many distributors. I haven't gone that route just yet, but I'm building up to it (bunch of diamond PSA lapping tape came in- going to have fun with that first).

Good luck
 
BladeChemist said:
I vote on the diamonds. S30V for me has been a bitch with the Edge Pro- where CPM-M4 is sporting a mirror, S30V has a mirror with tiny scratches. Mother's mag helps a lot, but not if the scratches are deep. I vote using any number of the custom-strop ideas for the E.P. loaded with fine grit (100-200k) diamond paste from any number of the many distributors. I haven't gone that route just yet, but I'm building up to it (bunch of diamond PSA lapping tape came in- going to have fun with that first).

Good luck
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If you don't keep the tapes clean it will scratch the edge. :)
 
BladeChemist said:
I vote on the diamonds. S30V for me has been a bitch with the Edge Pro- where CPM-M4 is sporting a mirror, S30V has a mirror with tiny scratches. Mother's mag helps a lot, but not if the scratches are deep. I vote using any number of the custom-strop ideas for the E.P. loaded with fine grit (100-200k) diamond paste from any number of the many distributors. I haven't gone that route just yet, but I'm building up to it (bunch of diamond PSA lapping tape came in- going to have fun with that first).

Good luck
Click to expand...
I shall be eagerly awaiting your report. Please share it with us. :)
 
Ben Dover said:
I shall be eagerly awaiting your report. Please share it with us. :)
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I'm supposing there's a few people who frequent this sub-forum who would like to see some of the 3M products I recently received in the mail- and what they can do. I'll remember to post up on their performance :).
 
Ankerson said:
If you don't keep the tapes clean it will scratch the edge. :)
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I cleaned them with mothers mag. I got the military to a mirror polish, but it seems a lot more hazy than my other knives. Almost milky, if that makes sense. I wonder what is so different about this steel?
 
CrimsonTideShooter said:
I cleaned them with mothers mag. I got the military to a mirror polish, but it seems a lot more hazy than my other knives. Almost milky, if that makes sense. I wonder what is so different about this steel?
Click to expand...

You will need the 6000 grit tapes to really bring it out. :)
 
So why exactly do you want a mirror edge? just for the sake of being a mirror? You realize with this steel the higher polish is not the most ideal for performance right?
 
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