S30V and sharpening

N

nolaradio

Joined
Nov 21, 2012
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I'm new to the forum. If this is not the right area, please move to the appropriate area.

I'm also kind of new to the knife world. In the past I've had cheap knives that I didn't mind losing. Now I would like to invest in a quality knife to carry and use daily. I work in a warehouse and would like something a little better that an utility knife to open boxes. I'd like to use the same knife for whatever I may need it for in everyday life outside of work.

Anyway, I've read on various sites that the S30V steel is about the best you could buy. I have two questions. 1) Is the S30V worth it or is it just hype? 2) What's the best way to sharpen this steel regarding the degree of the edge and the sharpening stone(s) to use? I guess I have another question as well... should all blades of this steel be sharpened to the same degree?

Thanks in advance.
 
s30v is a good steel, it's not the greatest thing ever but i've had alot of knives in it and im happy with it overall. It's going to lose its razor edge kinda fast but will hold a working edge for awhile.As far as sharpening goes the more acute angle you use the sharper the knife will get , but you will lose some edge holding ability and people say s30v chips on them, I dunno personally as I don't have the equipment yet to take it down to really low angles. As far as what stones to use, use what you got brother, the higher grit stones you have the higher polish the edge will be and the sharper it will be, as long as you know what your doing. Lastly I would say just follow the factory edge at first when sharpening and stick to that, and if you don't like how it performs then you could take on a full reprofile, might i ask what knife you are looking at and what sharpening equipment yu have as well, as both those answers are gonna help alot. I'll add ive only got a spyderco sharpmaker right now(edpro on the way), but I have sharpened all my s30v blades to either 30 or 40 degrees all the way up to the ultra fine stones and they get very very sharp, now when the edge pro gets here i plan on taking a few of my s30v blades down to as low an angle as the edge pro will allow , granted these won't be hard use knives, I'm gonna do it to my yojimbo 2 as I use that knife as a back up self defense only type knife so a nice polished edge at a very acute angle sounds perfect for it as it wont see any use (hopefully) but if it does it will be as sharp as i can possibly get it.
 
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Oh yea there is a reason this steel is offered in so many knives, and it's not because its junk steel, It's a great steel, and if it were the only blade steel ever made again , I'd be ok with that, I sure would miss cpm-m4 and m390 but s30v will do everything you need it to do I think you will be very happy with it.
 
I'm looking at the Buck line right now. Figured I start out inexpensive, meaning under $100, for now. These are the two in my wish list as of now:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001V2IAVC/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001V2IAVC&linkCode=as2&tag=dietry-20
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004RIKLVY/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B004RIKLVY&linkCode=as2&tag=dietry-20

Right now I am carrying a cheap $10 Chinese import knife and a S&W folder that someone gave me in a package that came with a boot knife from Academy: http://www.academy.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_10051_654555_-1__?N=329206490+4294965779

As far as a sharpening system, I don't have one yet. Still learning about all the systems. The Lansky systems are easily available and I just looked at the KME systems.
 
I would go spyderco para 2 they can be found for under 100 and are well prolly the best knife ever made just search para 2 , I don't think i've ever read an article saying it was a bad knife and there are thousands of them, where your looking is gonna be a little more expensive, check out howesknifeshop.com and theres a few other dealers who pay bladeforums dues just check them out not gonna mention where i buy most my knifes because i dunno if they are a supporter of the forums or not shoot me an email or pm and ill show you where to look to get a better deal than amazon
 
Buck's Vantage Pro is a good solid knife and American made. When I sharpen S30V I use a Norton IB-8 SiC stone, a combination coarse/ fine stone. Which works well on this steel.
 
Chip in about $10 extra and get a Spyderco Paramilitary 2. Its a great choice if its your first time getting a quality knife. I sharpen mine at about 23 degrees on an edge pro and Ive used it a lot for camping, food processing and haven't sharpened it in a while. The edge has help up pretty well. I'd defiantly buy S30V again, it's decent stuff. But like Allen R. said, the para 2 is a good knife. And be careful about buying knives on Amazon, every one Ive bought on there had an uneven edge. Blade HQ is a good place to buy from:thumbup:
 
I love S30V. At 61 Rockwell with a good heat treat, it is king. Paul Bos calls it the greatest steel in the world. Of course, he's biased since he helped design it. Personally, for an EDC knife, I consider it ideal.
 
worth it? it's close to being dirt-cheap. the only 'cheaper' steels that could match it are 154cm and vg-10 (and some knives in those two steels cost even more.)
 
I have the 0350 which is s30v. I sharpen it
With ceramic rods and yes it does in fact chip depending on use and how steep of a grind you have.
 
I have a Leek with S30V and love it. I sharpen to about 30 degrees (inclusive). On my Edge Pro, it took a lot of work to get the blade re-profiled, but once it did, it's not difficult to maintain it.

I'm no expert, but it's the best steel I've ever owned. It's much better than any of the 400 series stainless blades I've owned. And it's way better than the steel in the $5 knives I used to buy. (fortunately ignorance is curable especially here on BF)

I did have a little chipping when I used it to carve some hardwood for a handle on another knife. It wasn't a lot and sharpened out pretty quickly, but for most of the things I use it for, it's great. It's my EDC in the office. Mostly paper, boxes, bubble packs & my fingers :o .

I don't think that you will be dissapointed with S30V.

JMHO,
Allen
 
nolaradio said:
Dirt cheap? I'd hate to see your idea of expensive. :)
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spyderco guy here (if that helps.) a standard offering in s30v costs around $100 while a 'higher' super steel version cost 3 times more. that's for spydeys. i believe the buck vantage s30v costs less than $50.
 
The Vantage with non S30V steel runs around that. The Vantage Pro with S30V steel, the last time I checked was like 80$ at a well inventoried knife store. DM
 
I've been looking at a couple of different brands that are in the range of $80-$130. The problem is that I have too many to look at now. From reading about the different knives here in the forum or looking at youtube reviews, I think I am overloading myself. I found a hunting store nearby that I never knew existed. Gonna try to check them out this Saturday and see what they offer as far as knives. Maybe I can get to feel a few and see what like or don't like. If nothing wows me there, I think I may put off getting a knife for EDC until after the first of the year. That will give me time to add some more funds to the pot and maybe I can up my budget to $200.
 
Lots of great knives in S30V or VG10 for @ $100. It would be hard to beat Spyderco's full flat grinds for slicing cardboard. I'd advise picking a Spyderco Endura, Delica, Caly3, ParaMilitary or a Benchmade Ritter Griptillian depending on what lock and size you'd like. All of the above will work very well for the every day tasks you're talking about. Instead of saving up to $200 for a knife, add a Spyderco Sharpmaker to keep them sharp and you're in business. I think that $100 range is a good place to start on a first good knife. You're really not going to get any more functionality out of a much more expensive blade. I like my $400 premium knives but they get about the same carry time as the knives listed above.
 
If you go with s30v, then you can sharpen it with pretty much any quality stone. I tend to take my knives as low in angle as the will tolerate. So far my lowest has been 7°/side. When first getting into it, its probebly best to leave the edge at the factory angle. You can lower it or raise it later. There wont be a hard and fast angle for every knife, as there is a lot of variation in how people use knives. I do find any steel that chips carving wood to be suspect.
 
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