s30v woes

R

Racerx2oo3

Joined
Aug 22, 2005
Messages
174
I recieved a new Kershaw G10 Leek in s30v a few weeks ago. I went ahead a decided to sharpen it up on my bench stones, although the knife was already pretty damn sharp to start with. This ended up being a much bigger trial then I ever imagined.

Previously I've been able to put a shaving edge on my other knives which are mostly 440A or 440C. This s30v however is giving me fits.

First thing i managed to do, was to dull the edge almost completely. After several attempts I was able to bring back the edge to something useful, although I'm not sure it's any sharper than it was originally.

I mainly used a fine Arkansas stone, although I also tried with a Medium Grit Japanese Water Stone as well. I'm finding it next to impossible to raise a bur on the blade while sharpening, so I'm kind of as a loss here.

I'm not sure if the problem here is the s30v blade itself, or the factory grind on the blade that is causing me such difficulty.

Sean
 
Do a search on s30v, and you'll find a thread of people have chipping issues with their knives in s30v. Not all, but too many IMO.
 
cjpgeyer said:
Do a search on s30v, and you'll find a thread of people have chipping issues with their knives in s30v. Not all, but too many IMO.
Click to expand...

He didn't say anything about chipping, did he?

Well, first off, S30V is difficult to grind, no question. I am not very familar with Arkansas stone, having abandoned them a long time ago, but it is not a very hard abrasive (softer than the Vanadium Carbides that S30V has a fair amount of) and many have reported having difficulties sharp S30V with it.
In my experience S30V doesn't burr much (though I have been able to raise burrs on it, just don't expect something that is mm wide) which is one of the reasons I like S30V, you don't have to fight a stubborn burr.

Beyond that, you don't really decribe what you are doing, or how the edge look like so it is difficult to offer advice. Some people have experienced S30V crumbling on the stone, do you see any of that?
 
HoB said:
He didn't say anything about chipping, did he?
Click to expand...
No, but if I recall correctly, micro-chipping in S30V sometimes reveals itself as an apparent inability to get a truly fine edge on the blade.

(I'm going from memory here. I was once going to buy a Mini-RSK and was doing a bit of research on them before pulling the trigger. Then I ran across an artticle about S30V chipping. So I researched that issue. Suffice it to say: I decided to give S30V a pass.)
 
Cliff had mentioned everything from micro chipping to edge crumbling. Racerx2003's prob sounds like the mico chipping described in the afore mentioned thread, but you're right on the 'need more description'.
 
You should really stick with diamond or ceramic to sharpen steels such as S30V. ...Burr ? Whats a burr ? My S30V Sebenza is sharpened , not polished, with diamond for the most part never getting a burr . More frequent touch ups are easier than to wait till it's very dull .
 
HoB,

I suspect you might be right that the Arkasas Stone is too soft for the s30v. I also have a Diamond stone that might be a better choice for the s30v, I've been reluctent to use that because even the fine diamond stone still seems pretty coarse to me.

I haven't had any issues with the blade itself chipping or not holding up, it just seems to take alot of effort to take an edge.

Sean
 
The thread is in Knife Reviews and Testing. It is titled RSK : s30v (chipping defect). Hopefully you're not experiencing mico chips, but you may find your description a little too similar to others who have a problem getting their s30v to take an edge as well.
Here's to an all's well! Good luck.
 
EDCeeker said:
No, but if I recall correctly, micro-chipping in S30V sometimes reveals itself as an apparent inability to get a truly fine edge on the blade.

(I'm going from memory here. I was once going to buy a Mini-RSK and was doing a bit of research on them before pulling the trigger. Then I ran across an artticle about S30V chipping. So I researched that issue. Suffice it to say: I decided to give S30V a pass.)
Click to expand...


I just bought an RSK yesterday :(
 
I have numerous knives with S30V and while I have read numerous reports of chipping (even from people who cut cardboard and had it chip supposedly) I have not experienced it. I don't know what to make of this problem. I would lay odds thogh that you will love your RSK.
 
My EDC is the S30V G10 Leek. I use it everyday numerous times and had to sharpen it more than a few times since new. Let me tell you, I like S30v, it holds an edge, I've had no chipping issues and resharpening is a breeze (but I do retouch it every now and then). My sharpening kit in a Lansky deluxe (no diamond here).

So all in all I give S30V :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: at least in my leek.
 
Assuming that you don't have a blade with problematic S30V, try the fine or preferably the extra fine diamond, finish with VERY light passes at very consistant angle and finish of with a strop. The edge might still be a bit toothier than you like, but at least this way you know that you are getting there.
 
I like HoB's advice. I only use a fine diamond stone on my S30V Leek. You can worry about polishing the edge once you know you've got the angle right. I had no problem with chipping but although the edge would shave at first, it was more obtuse than I liked.

Before you worry about S30V chipping stories, check which companies supposedly suffered from it, since this is likely to be a heat treating problem, not a characteristic of the steel.
 
Racerx2oo3 said:
Previously I've been able to put a shaving edge on my other knives which are mostly 440A or 440C. This s30v however is giving me fits.
Click to expand...

The grindability of S30V is very low and thus you can expect much longer than the time to sharpen 440A. S30V is even much harder to grind than steels like VG-10. This is in fact what has lead to the re-promotion of 154CM as a replacement. I would suspect however that the major problem is that the edge is simply too thick and obtuse so the first thing you do is apply a relief grind.

HoB said:
I am not very familar with Arkansas stone, having abandoned them a long time ago, but it is not a very hard abrasive (softer than the Vanadium Carbides that S30V has a fair amount of) and many have reported having difficulties sharp S30V with it.
Click to expand...

You can sharpen S30V with arkansas stones, you can even sharpen it with cheap dollar stones you find at hardware stores. Only 4% of S30V is vanadium carbide and the rest of it is butter soft compared to sharpening stones. I detailed the responce of a bunch of cheap abrasives on Wilson's S30V South Fork.

mete said:
Whats a burr ?
Click to expand...

The non-zero extent of the apex point, at a minimum it is still about 0.1 microns and is usually 10-100 times larger due to deformation/fracture or debris/weakened steel. All knives will burr, all you can do is minimize the extent.

-Cliff
 
The chipping I'm getting on S30V isn't easily visible without magnification. I can maybe spot a glint of light along the edge if I hold it in front of a bulb, but nothing drastic. The knife can also still shave arm hair with the tiny edge chips. I just wish it didn't chip, since of 7 other knives/steels I've checked directly alongside it, only one other chipped as much from the same task. But the chips in that were also a bit smaller.
 
Lucky Strike said:
I just bought an RSK yesterday :(
Click to expand...

Don't worry I have been EDCing a mini RSK for 2+ years and it is as sharp as it came new. I have had no "chipping" issue and I asked recently on BF if anyone had a chipped RSK of any type that had been returned to either Doug Ritter / Aeromedix or Benchmade; no answer. So I chalk this "chipping" thing to either a few isolated knives, user abuse or something else.
I am not saying that others are liars, I am saying that no one has sent a chipped knife back to the source.
I have found it takes longer to sharpen the S30V but it also stays sharp longer.
Enjoy you new RSK; I love mine.
 
S30V is supposed to be easy to sharpen but my experience is that it takes a lot of work to get it where you want but once you get it where you want it's real easy to maintain.;)
 
Having a Native, Military, BM210 and MTX2 in S30V, I found establishing the blade grind profile with a coarse diamond stone followed by applying the seconday bevel with a fine diamond does the trick. The key with S30V is polishing the edge with a ceramic or translucent Arkansas to to eliminate the larger fragile teeth that break as the edge dulls. The polished edge lasts a very, very long time and is easier to maintain. I get no burrs with this method.

The toothier edge, though more aggressive and easier to apply with diamonds, will not last as long on this (typical) steel.

My $.02.
 
When any of my S30V blades are a bit lack luster I can bring them right back with light passes on my Smiths Diamond sharpening steel. From shank to tip in equal passes and they are like new.
 
I have found it sharpens nicley with diamonds. A note of observation, a while back I forgot to double temper a S30v blade and as result It had some of the chipping problems that many have noticed. I wonder if some manufactures are trying to cut cost and only tempering once. Except for that one blade I have been reasonbly happy with S30V, I am little disapointed with its edge holding, but I still prefer it for a general purpose or hunting knife over any other stainless. I do harden them to about 61 Rc. I still prefer CPM3V overall.
Because of its toughness & edge holding ability I can reduce the edge to 12-15 degrees and it will outperform S30V 4to 1

Leon Pugh
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top