S30V...Is it the be all and end all?

earan said:
Dan Gray,

let me know your stand point why you choose 154CM over ATS-34 and 440C. is it cost or workability?
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made by I believe Hitachi ATS34 is the Japanese copy of the US made 154CM which was first made for the US Military for use in Military air craft engines..I choose to stay with the US made..
440C is better in the corrosion department but is less in edge holding..
there are other reasons I've stated but those are my main reasons..for this question you ask..

you can look here for some more chat on it too.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/printthread.php?t=344707
 
S30V is manufactured by Crucible Metals. It is one of the first tools steels designed for cutlery. S30V has a small consistant grain size withVanadium carbides. These Carbides are about 3-8 Microns in size. This steel is very difficult to near impossible to polish because of the carbide size. This is one of the few tool steels that incorporates Nitrogen, which is very benefical to the durability, strength and corrosion resistance of the steel.

I find that this steel is very suitable for folders in that they generally opperate in an inorganic and processed world. This would include paper, plastic, even soft metals. This is a very wear resistant steel.

I find the forged steel properly heat treated works a little better in the organic world. This would include raw wood, vegitation, and animals.

S30V is a very good steel for cutlery. It performs very well in many types of material. It is not the total answer for all cutlery by any means...Take Care...Ed
 
I have read that 154 CM was developed by Crucible as a substitute for 440C for jet engine turbines. It was originally called 440 MOD and substituted Molybdenum for some of the Chromium, it was the first 14-4 type stainless.

I think this pre-dated their development of the CPM process, which came along in the 1970s.
 
I thought 154CM was developed by Climax Molybdenum Co [that's why the CM !] and Crucible bought the rights.Anyway it makes a very fine blade and I don't care for high polish !
 
ras said:
Assuming CPM154 is a powdered version of 154CM, what is it about CPM154 that would make it better (there's a loaded word) than S30V? What properties of CPM154 would be better -- workability, corrosion resistance, edge holding, toughness. . .? TIA
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were not even going to mention cpmS30V... :D

edit... I didn't see mr. trooper's post, he beat me to it.
 
Mete, you are correct. 154 CM was developed by Climax Molybdenum. Crucible bought the name and started producing the product not soon after.
 
Some guys are slow readers !! But in a year they can develop a few new steels !!
 
I've seen all claims on the latest super-steel / alien metal / no-knife-will-be-made-of-anything-but-this-ever.. :jerkit:
They all were like summer thunderstorms: impressive for a half hour, then forgotten.
Plain carbon steel has been there for some thousand years, and will be there in the future.
Sure, certain steels will have an edge (no pun intended) in certain uses, but there is no "magic metal" that can substitute good heat treating.
The smiths of the "good 'ole times" were not believed to be sorcerers because they had steel, but because they could heat treat it properly.
No steel will hold an edge if not properly heat treated.
Any steel will lose its edge with time. Some can be resharpened with any stone, other require diamond files or ceramic sharpeners. Guess which is better?
Any steel will rust with time and neglect.
No steel will rust, given proper care.
I'm not saying "foo-foo S30V, stay on plain ole 1075". We would still be living on trees, with this kind of reasoning, but one should clear his mind from sales hype and myth, and look at what is good and what is less good (or bad) in a material, and be conscious of what he's doing, and what will be the properties, with pros and cons, of the finished manufact.
No steel can be good for everything. Some will be easier to heat treat, other will give better edges but be brittle. Some will keep a damn good edge, without being brittle, but be a pain in the ass to treat properly.
I've got a knife from a finnish maker.
I'ts got a 62-64 HRc edge, which you can sharpen only with diamond or ceramic sharpeners, but that will bend as a spring.
Proper heat treating, not miracle steel.
A properly HTd 1075 knife will far surpass any crappy HTd or mass-produced miracle steel knife...
That's why you pay a knife by a custom knifemaker far more than a factory blade.
You pay for the skill. If it was just in the steel, we'd all be great knifemakers.

Bottom line: when somebody sells you a knife to a given price because of the "super-steel" it's made of... best chances are that he doesn't know much about knives.
Stay away from hype peddlers...
 
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