S30V? Really? – For the steel junky.

my Benchmade 210 activator seems to hold an edge just fine, only had it about 9 months but i used it camping through alaska and other places and it has a flat ground blade rather then hollow ground which is preferable to me for a knife.

for alot of my future purchases i'd rather have a S30V blade if i'm going with a stainless...i have others of the 440C, VG-10 and such variety but none of those have compared to the benchmade so far. The closest would be my spyderco "spyder fly" in terms of stainless performance.
 
I have a Benchmade 610, a Buck 419, and that little Buck Hartsook.

After some initial reluctance to buy one because of "chipping stories," I took the plunge and find that I like S30V a whole lot for small knives and folders.

I wouldn't buy a larger fixed blade in this steel however because I don't believe any stainless steels are particularly suited to such uses due to lack of toughness.
 
I haven't experienced any like issues with any of my S30V bladed knives... Very happy with the performance characteristics. You mentioned cutting some network cable, are you just talking about CAT 5? If so, something is definitely amiss...
 
We done some serious test awhile with Spyderco Manix/Mini Manix S30V.

One of my forum-mates even cut small steel NAILS with it :cool:, without chipping or breaking, only the 70 mm long nail rolled the edge. :thumbup: (Of course, after this punishment it needed a full resharpening, but none serious problems. ;))

20m_szog.jpg
 
I have been trying test like this with different steel grades but my desk was much to soft, so the nail deformed and was just pushed into the wood.

But, all edges smaller than 35° showed small marks, where the nails was pushed with. Larger than 35° any edge was good. All blades were hard around 59 - 60 HRC.

All stainless, generally mentioned here should work fine with hardness above 58 HRC.

Some get more toothier edges than others.

I would recommend convex edges too.
 
Blop said:
Larger than 35° any edge was good. All blades were hard around 59 - 60 HRC.
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That's what I found on my Spyderco brand Native folding pocketknife. 35 included degrees and higher will let S30V's wear-resistance come to the forefront. Just thin out the area behind the edge until that 35-45 degree edge cuts better. Also, that RC60 everyone's talking about is in the range where S30V excels. I've had production S30V blades rehardened to RC61 and their edges last even longer than when they were RC58 or RC59 (provided I keep the 17-25 degrees per side edge on the knife :o ).

Of course, if a stainless steel is going to be in the RC59-61 range, I'd rather it be 13C26. And in a lockback. :)
 
The only problems I know of with S30V....are when the heat-treat is off. *shrug*



Xcel - you can take the blade off and send it to Paul Bos for re-heat-treat....will cost some $$$...and you'll have to redo the finish (best/easiest solution = rub down with a scotchbrite pad)...but he does test the stuff for hardness.
 
In my experience it will take a nice sharp polished edge, but it does take a while on the strop (w/diamond abrasive) to get it there. Have not had issues with chipping with my users (all but a couple have polished edges at 30-35 degrees total). Probably not the best steel for a thrower. :D
 
SteelUser said:
I haven't experienced any like issues with any of my S30V bladed knives... Very happy with the performance characteristics. You mentioned cutting some network cable, are you just talking about CAT 5? If so, something is definitely amiss...
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It looked like CAT5. I'm not a networking installer but this cable was coming from what looked like a big router. It wasn't a computer tower or rack, such as a server. Maybe someone can clear this up.

Daniel Koster said:
The only problems I know of with S30V....are when the heat-treat is off. *shrug*


Xcel - you can take the blade off and send it to Paul Bos for re-heat-treat....will cost some $$$...and you'll have to redo the finish (best/easiest solution = rub down with a scotchbrite pad)...but he does test the stuff for hardness.
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It seems that your experience and others are coming to the same conclusion about the heat-treatment of S30V. I'll check in to the Paul Bos HT. Thank you.
 
i may have missed someone else posting this, but dont use the sharpmaker stones to unroll the edge. you will probably just grind it off.

try a chef steel, preferably a smooth one, and run the steel toward the edge.
 
TOOO late on the Sharpmaker info. I've been working on it on and off a couple of times. The edge is almost back to normal.

Thanks for the information, I'll keep it in mind.
 
If it's heat treated properly S30V is a good steel.

Try one of Spyderco's knives in that steel. For a production company, they do a good job.

Oh, and cryo is a necessity.

A hardness of HRC 59 is recommended for the best combination of wear resistance and toughness.

(Just my .02, but I believe Chris Reeve's knives are really nice knives, but the heat treat leaves something to be desired. Just my own experience and other people's experiences with Sebenzas).
 
flatgrinder said:
If it's heat treated properly S30V is a good steel.

Try one of Spyderco's knives in that steel. For a production company, they do a good job.

Oh, and cryo is a necessity.

A hardness of HRC 59 is recommended for the best combination of wear resistance and toughness.

(Just my .02, but I believe Chris Reeve's knives are really nice knives, but the heat treat leaves something to be desired. Just my own experience and other people's experiences with Sebenzas).
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Yup. You're right about the Sebenza's HT; I wish mine were a couple of Rc points harder.:grumpy:
 
For all you guys who know your heat treats, how good is the heat treat on Benchmade S30V knives?
 
Troop said:
Yup. You're right about the Sebenza's HT; I wish mine were a couple of Rc points harder.:grumpy:
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You can disassemble it and send the blade off to be re-heat treated, you'll have a whole different knife. PM me for details.
 
MicroAlign said:
For all you guys who know your heat treats, how good is the heat treat on Benchmade S30V knives?
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in my experience the heat treat is pretty darn good, definately no complaints from me with benchmades S30V line of knives.
 
I have several BMs with S30V - all great knives, great steel, spot-on heat-treat.

:thumbup:


I do know of at least one other CRK owner whose sebbie had a sour heat-treat....they sent it back...came back the same. I was a bit disappointed...considering the rep CRK has in the industry. :(

I'm sure mete would agree - heat-treat literally makes/breaks the knife. Otherwise, it's just a lot of overpriced metals/woods/doodads...

Every outfit has its duds I guess...

Dan
 
Yet, another question/clarification. I was doing some reading and basically found out/got the impression that S30V at 58-59RC is somewhat like BG-42 at 61RC but easier to sharpen. If you up the RC on the S30V to 60-61RC then it really out shines the BG-42 in edge holding ability but is harder to sharpen. When you compare the same blade grind/design in both steels. Is that about right?

Again, Thanks for all the help and input.:)
 
Yes HT can make or break a steel ! However a company will choose the hardness that they think will serve the majority of their customers well. For those who are hardness oriented ,I now have a Fallkniven TK-1 to test .A laminate with 3G steel in the core at HRc 62 ! The chemistry would indicate that it's close to S30V and BG42 in performance .I can at least compare it to my Sebenza !
 
sodak said:
You can disassemble it and send the blade off to be re-heat treated, you'll have a whole different knife. PM me for details.
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Man, I'm going to jump on that ASAP! Thanks for the info.:thumbup:
 
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