s30v

Not a super steel? Nah, it's not a super steel, that's why Reeve, Hinderer, Strider, Sibert, Onion, Mayo and every other good maker has been using it for years and years and years...

S30V is a super steel. Period.
 
^ I agree 100% I'll just add Phil Wilson to the other great names you listed
 
It's good now but I'd guess within about 5yrs we'll be referring to it as the '154CM' of nowadays. Acceptable, but on the lower end of decent steel.
 
The big deal with S-30-V is the Vanadium and the powdered metallurgy. Vanadium forms carbides that Rockwell at 82C. Tungsten carbide by comparison is only 72 HRC. Most blades are around 60 HRC. So you have got this high Carbon (1.45%), high purity, stainless steel with 4% Vanadium content which is double that of conventionally smelted steels (BG-42).
Add to that the refined grain structure made possible by the PM process, and you've got a big improvement over the non-Vanadium non-powder stuff.
The elephant in the living room is position of S-30-V at the bottom of the totem pole in the CPM S series. CPM S-60-V has 5.5% Vanadium. CPM S-90-V has 9% Vanadium. CPM S110-V has 9% Vanadium plus 3.5% Niobium which is also forms a carbide harder than Tungsten carbide. Then there's CPM S125-V which sports 3.25% Carbon plus 12% Vanadium.
Performance improves as you go up the ladder but so does the cost. This guy would rather spend his knife bucks on high end steels than on Walrus ivory and mosaic Damascus.
 
it's a high-end steel for as long as it has no mainstream application besides knife blades for medium- to high-cost knives. multi-tool and other tool makers don't even use it for their wire cutters. leatherman uses cpm154 for its "hard-cutting" wire snipper.

my own experience with s30v was "this was meant for the cutlery industry???" i noticed it was hard to sharpen and hone (compared with carbon steel.) i also noticed it was even harder to touch-up than zdp 189 (and get a better polished edge.) but the real surprise came when i tried to give the entire blade a mirror polish. geez, it doesn't behave like steel. two days of hand-sanding with a 240 grit paper and all i managed was to collect dunk inside the scratches of the original factory grind. when i finally pressed it against a course carborundum, that's the only time i got somewhere. stoning it produced a silvery white powder, very different from the darkish one you get when sharpening carbon steel. it really acted weird. it acts weird. i still can't get a mirror edge on my military. but as far as wear-resistance is concerned, it made a believer out of me.
 
There is nothing wrong with S30V, great all around user steel that holds an edge for a good amount of time, not all that difficult or time consuming to sharpen or touch up, pretty rust resistant and reasonably tough.
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I agree with Jim. It may not be the latest steel but it still performs very much like a premium steel. It has excellent wear resistance, and a good balance of corrosion resistance and toughness ( for this class of steel. 3V would be in a different class of steel for instance)

S35VN I'm not as familiar with. I have only 1 knife in that steel and not enough time on it to give it fair assessment. It looks fine, but I got along with S30V ok so I'm not in a hurry to learn it. I'm more of a tool steel/high speed steel guy than true super steel classes for daily use. I do have some honest "super steel" knives both custom and production.
 
I do believe and some one correct me if I'm wrong, those CPM s series like s90 and 110 will hold an edge longer but at the cost of toughness. Lateral side load on s110v vs s30v... I'll take s30v. Everything is a trade off I prefer good edge holding with good toughness as outright edge holding wouldn't suit how I use my knives. So those steels are "better" at wear resistance but not "better" at everything than CPM s30v.
tiguy7 said:
The big deal with S-30-V is the Vanadium and the powdered metallurgy. Vanadium forms carbides that Rockwell at 82C. Tungsten carbide by comparison is only 72 HRC. Most blades are around 60 HRC. So you have got this high Carbon (1.45%), high purity, stainless steel with 4% Vanadium content which is double that of conventionally smelted steels (BG-42).
Add to that the refined grain structure made possible by the PM process, and you've got a big improvement over the non-Vanadium non-powder stuff.
The elephant in the living room is position of S-30-V at the bottom of the totem pole in the CPM S series. CPM S-60-V has 5.5% Vanadium. CPM S-90-V has 9% Vanadium. CPM S110-V has 9% Vanadium plus 3.5% Niobium which is also forms a carbide harder than Tungsten carbide. Then there's CPM S125-V which sports 3.25% Carbon plus 12% Vanadium.
Performance improves as you go up the ladder but so does the cost. This guy would rather spend his knife bucks on high end steels than on Walrus ivory and mosaic Damascus.
Click to expand...
 
We're sort of spoiled! Our ancestors got by and did REAL work with knives made from steel that was often poorly heat treated not to mention formulation of said steel was generally far less controlled than in modern days. There were exceptions. Some specimens were outstanding. Unfortunately these knives were prone to rust, although regular use kept that under control! The real point, though, is many of these knives were used far more than our prized marvels.

I cannot resist trying the latest super steels, but just to put them in perspective...
 
I've made it known in other threads that my experience with S30V has been less than stellar. Chipping and rolling in multiple knives, and poor edge retention in one (though I suspect it was due to the scandi grind). I would have no problem with S30V being phased out, or at least seeing less use. There are so many knives love to have but I'm truly afraid of trying the steel again.

I'm trying out S35VN in the TSF Beast (which should be here tomorrow) hopefully I'll have better luck with it.
 
just out of curiosity, what blades in s30v have you had that chipped and rolled? what were you cutting that caused the chipping and rolling? were they brand new and chipped and rolled first time using? How did the manufacturers take care of you? did the replacement do the same? honest questions not being smart or anything
K.O.D. said:
I've made it known in other threads that my experience with S30V has been less than stellar. Chipping and rolling in multiple knives, and poor edge retention in one (though I suspect it was due to the scandi grind). I would have no problem with S30V being phased out, or at least seeing less use. There are so many knives love to have but I'm truly afraid of trying the steel again.

I'm trying out S35VN in the TSF Beast (which should be here tomorrow) hopefully I'll have better luck with it.
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My Spyderco Embassy had a problem with chipping early on, but has improved with a couple of sharpenings. I have carried and used it a lot, and like it a lot, but S90V it isn't.
 
shinyedges said:
just out of curiosity, what blades in s30v have you had that chipped and rolled? what were you cutting that caused the chipping and rolling? were they brand new and chipped and rolled first time using? How did the manufacturers take care of you? did the replacement do the same? honest questions not being smart or anything
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Benchmade 162--rolled the first time I used it, cutting the top of a pumpkin off. Not exactly hard use. Never used it again, finally traded it a few months ago.
Spyderco Pm2--Have only opened mail and cut tape on boxes with it. Has about an inch and a half of small chips from the tip down. Love the overall design of the knife, so I sharpened the chips out. Bought it in April.
Spyderco Nilakka--couldn't hold an edge if its life depended on it.--Sold it.
Strider SnG--micro chipping. Sold it, more because I needed the money than because of the chipping.

EDIT: Forgot one:
ZT0350TS--Micro-chipping. Sold it.
 
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fetzer85 said:
It's good now but I'd guess within about 5yrs we'll be referring to it as the '154CM' of nowadays. Acceptable, but on the lower end of decent steel.
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Its an interesting thought for sure. How far will the steel evolution go ? We've made huge leaps in the last hundred years, how much room to improve is there ?
Even more wear resistance ? How will you sharpen those "future" knives ? Is steel even gonna be used anymore or will there be another material ?
 
Industrially, CPM S-90-V is used to make blades for power shears which cut the lesser steels. If chipping were a problem, it would probably show up in this application.
 
Thats some bad luck you have. Ive got a benchmade 162 coming in tomorrow and ive literally watched every review on youtube i even searched blade forums for everything i could find on this knife and this is the first i have heard a rolled edge on the 162. Benchmade put out several videos of them pounding it in to douglas fir with zero damage, it still shaved hair off peters arm. There tip strength test was also good. It sounds like you had a dud and never let the manufacturer make it right.
My pm2 in s30v never chipped on me.. and ive cut much worse than tape. Your luck must be really bad to get bad s30v from many reputable companies ZT,benchmade,spyderco,strider... sounds a little off to me. Not trying to be rude just being real about how your story sounds i mean come on lol If s30v was as bad as you claim why do many of the companies still use it with great success? If it was how you make it seem i doubt they would use it for as long as they have. just my humble opinion.
K.O.D. said:
Benchmade 162--rolled the first time I used it, cutting the top of a pumpkin off. Not exactly hard use. Never used it again, finally traded it a few months ago.
Spyderco Pm2--Have only opened mail and cut tape on boxes with it. Has about an inch and a half of small chips from the tip down. Love the overall design of the knife, so I sharpened the chips out. Bought it in April.
Spyderco Nilakka--couldn't hold an edge if its life depended on it.--Sold it.
Strider SnG--micro chipping. Sold it, more because I needed the money than because of the chipping.

EDIT: Forgot one:
ZT0350TS--Micro-chipping. Sold it.
Click to expand...
 
K.O.D. said:
I've made it known in other threads that my experience with S30V has been less than stellar. Chipping and rolling in multiple knives, and poor edge retention in one (though I suspect it was due to the scandi grind). I would have no problem with S30V being phased out, or at least seeing less use. There are so many knives love to have but I'm truly afraid of trying the steel again.

I'm trying out S35VN in the TSF Beast (which should be here tomorrow) hopefully I'll have better luck with it.
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I totally agree!

I'm sick of seeing S30V being used on everything nowadays. I wish the knife industry would "standardize" a better super-steel.
Besides, didn't Chris Reeves design S35VN as the "successor" to S30V due to its chipping/rolling problems? I think I've read that somewhere before...

I see so many awesome designs...but with S30V...
I just want it to go away to a dark corner and die slowly
t9707.gif

Ok, maybe that's a little too harsh:D


P.s. I hope that TSF Beast works out great for ya! I've been wanting to contact Jim, but I've been undecided since the zt 0454 is out soon. Not sure which road to travel:rolleyes:
 
Blues Bender said:
I totally agree!

I'm sick of seeing S30V being used on everything nowadays. I wish the knife industry would "standardize" a better super-steel.
Besides, didn't Chris Reeves design S35VN as the "successor" to S30V due to its chipping/rolling problems? I think I've read that somewhere before...

I see so many awesome designs...but with S30V...
I just want it to go away to a dark corner and die slowly
t9707.gif

Ok, maybe that's a little too harsh:D


P.s. I hope that TSF Beast works out great for ya! I've been wanting to contact Jim, but I've been undecided since the zt 0454 is out soon. Not sure which road to travel:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I was trying to decide between a sebenza and the beast, but ended up taking the road less traveled, which I generally prefer to do.

As far as seeing awesome designs, that kershawguy blue/silver twill blur sure is beautiful, but with s30v...
 
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