s30v second thouhts

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possumman

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Feb 28, 2007
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i just got a benchmade 635 mini skirmish. but now i've wondered if it was a mistake. i have been reading a lot of the complaints about chipping with the s30v. should i be concerned or give it a wider bevel. i've had no trouble yet but haven't been encouraged by what i'm reading. possumman
 
no steel is going to make everyone happy. i have a couple knives with s30v and havent chipped one.

my sebenza gets a fair amount of use, and the blade has held up perfectly.
 
i guess i shouldn't borrow trouble since i haven't had a problem yet, but i do wonder about optimum bevel.
 
The mini-Skirmish is an excellent knife. Great blade profile and size. S30 is a fine steel and is here to stay. The chipping phenomena seems to be fading with better procedures and controls being implemented during manufacture. My mini-S never chipped and I bet yours won't either.
 
The chipping problem is real, but sporadic. rnhood may be right that problems are fading as makers gain experience. I have had trouble with three knives to varying degrees, but most of my S30V blades have been fine. I tested my old Skirmish and my new Rukus very hard just to see if they would hold up, and they did. If you don't have trouble, you don't have trouble.
 
I have many knives that I USE, and have no issues with chipping. I like S30V is NOT HT'd correctly, then it will chip.
 
My Maniz S30v is fine.If you use a knife for it's intended purpose,which is cutting you will be fine.If you want to chop cinder blocks you may want to look for something else.:rolleyes:
 
S30V can chip if it's too thin for what you're doing, if it's overheated/overstressed during factory sharpening (or home sharpening with a dull belt on a sander), or if the edge is too coarse to support the stress you're putting on it (very very rare), but most of the time, it's fine. Cross that bridge if you come to it, but don't second guess what your knife can do. Let it please or disappoint you on its own.
 
I reprofiled my S30V Leek thinner, which is my daily user for a long time now, with no chipping whatsoever.
 
For three months now I've been using a Buck Hartsook a friend gave me, for alot of cutting. It's held up very well, for everything from breaking down cardboard boxes, to plastic packaging.
 
S30V is my favorite steel. When hardened correctly, chipping problems are far and in between.
 
thombrogan said:
S30V can chip if it's too thin for what you're doing, if it's overheated/overstressed during factory sharpening (or home sharpening with a dull belt on a sander), or if the edge is too coarse to support the stress you're putting on it (very very rare), ...
Click to expand...

You may find a knife out-of-the-box will chip or will lose its sharp edge. This can be a function of the factory edge having been put on quickly, but not cleaned up properly. What seems like edge damage may only be a wire edge breaking down.

This is a good reason for putting your own edge, even on a new knife. Once you sharpen the original thin or brittle secondary bevel back slightly, you get to good steel at your own choice of working angle and polish.
 
I had some S30V chipping on some of the first Spydercos and Benchmades, but none recently. I think the heat treat has been improved and/or is more consistent. I've never had chipping on S30V Sebenzas.
 
I have a mini skirmish which i have been edcing for several mionths. No problems chipping at all=). Great knife, i hope you use it well
 
I've noticed that when you cut things softer than your knife, chipping seems to happen less.
 
I have not had any issues with S30V chipping; even after thinning out the edge considerably. Then again, I only cut soft materials with my knives.
 
It's a great material, I think it depends a lot on how it's finished. I complained about rust problems on my Harsey T1, but now believe that's due to the bead-blast finish. My 210 Activator has had zero rusting problems.

Just as an example, I know this is about chipping, not rust.

It probably depends on whose S30V knife you're buying, and what you're using it for.

Going back to the Harsey, though: I had it sharpened by someone who used an electric knife sharpener. *shudder*
Even after they gouged pretty deeply into the blade, it didn't chip. And since the blade was destroyed and due for replacement anyway, I cut up a bunch of junk just to see how it would perform in the future, and it never chipped.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
You may find a knife out-of-the-box will chip or will lose its sharp edge. This can be a function of the factory edge having been put on quickly, but not cleaned up properly. What seems like edge damage may only be a wire edge breaking down.

This is a good reason for putting your own edge, even on a new knife. Once you sharpen the original thin or brittle secondary bevel back slightly, you get to good steel at your own choice of working angle and polish.
Click to expand...

Esav, you make a very good point. I hadn't really thought about that, but the one chip I've had in s30v was with the "out-of-the-box" edge.

The Chef said:
I've noticed that when you cut things softer than your knife, chipping seems to happen less.
Click to expand...

Uhhh, you make a good point too, The Chef.



For what it's worth, other than the one incident mentioned above, I've had great results with s30v.

:)
 
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