S30v

Walt2

Walt2

Joined
Mar 13, 2001
Messages
1,157
About a week and a half ago I met a fellow named Ed Thuesen, who was the origional owner of Texas Knifemakers Supply, at a small gun/knife show. He had some S30V blades that he had picked up at a show in Denver. They were already tempered and had some pretty deep grind marks left in them. I bought two of them and boy, are these things rough to finish. I ground the grind marks out of the blades, but I am having a problem getting them finished like I want. This stuff can be a b**ch to a newbie!!!!!!
 
Newbie got nothing to do with it, Walt. The stuff is just plain a bear to finish. Some have gone so far as to get diamond belts.
 
I have went to grinding all my blades after Heat treat,I profile
them and send them of to HT,I have mostly used D2 I find S30V
easier to grind than D2,call me crazy but,I think the key to grinding S30V is your belts,if you want to get a good finish do yourself a favor get some norax belts,
 
Nathan, have you done handfinishing on the blades or is it all satin? I have had an absolute bear of a time handsanding S30V past 400 with any paper I've bought. (I do all handrubbed stuff, so eventually I have to go to paper and blocks.)
 
Mike
I do mostly hand rubbing satin finish,I have found a trick for the trouble spots,I use a cratex bullet point to get in the hard to reach
places,I will also be doing some light bead blast with S30V,when I want a differnt finish.S30V is not an easy steel to hand finish but it can be done,I was surprised at how easy it was to cut on my saw
D2 is a bugger to cut,This is my first time using S30V so the verdict is still out,but so far I have not found it that hard to work
:confused:
 
I've just had a helluva time with the S30V, Nathan, but it may just be these *&$*&^ arthritic hands. thanks for the response.
 
Mike
I don't have arthritic hands yet,but your hand do take a pounding
when you do alot of hand rubbing,and S30V will really work them
I try to get the biggest part out with the grinder,but there is alway those stubborn spots that always show up.You said you can't get past a 400 grit,I only go up to 600 for a high satin finish.
are you looking for a satin finsh or a highly polished finish?
I don't know what kind of paper you are using,I have tried some cheap stuff,but I have found that 3M paper seems to do the best job.
Check Ebay,I bought about of it on there for very cheap I paid 30 dollars and it looks like I have enough for a couple years.
Nathan
 
S30V - pressure, pressure, pressure.

I can't get belts to do a thing past 220 and then Norax 65x. Hand sanding is all I can do with the stuff, but it takes a lot of pressure. Mike try using a narrow sanding block. You risk adding 'ripples', but you can get it done.

FWIW,

Steve
 
Try a fine DMT stone if you are doing flat grinds. It will take out those grinding scratches and ripples awfully darned quick.
 
The last little piece I made out of S30V, I took it to 600 grit handrub with Norton blue zirconia paper. &^#*(&^!! A test piece for my use only, it was ground to essentially finish thickness. There was a bit of pucker as I quenched between aluminum plates, but it came out straight as can be. Hard as a rock (62-63), too, without cryo even. After temper, I simply hit it longitudinally with an ultrafine scotchbrite. That worked ok for a user. I am a bit old school, though, and take a little pause about not grinding more post HT. I would like to find a good way to polish to a very fine satin for some finer finishes. It's just a matter of experimenting more, so I really appreciate your suggestions. I really think the problem may be these hands, they don't like long stretches of hand sanding at all anymore. This aging crap is for the birds! :)

Curiously, I remember hearing almost a year ago that Crucible, aware of the finishing difficulties, was collaborating with a major abrasives manufacturer to determine what stuff was best suited to this steel, and producing a set of optimal belts. Haven't heard a thing since....

Thanks, guys, I appreciate the suggestions, and will give them a try! I haven't flatground this stuff, yet, but I'll try that and see what a stone will do. One of my quirks: I hollowgrind stainless and flatgrind the damascus I make.... go figure. :rolleyes:

Thanks, again!
 
Mike, sounds like you and I are in the same boat with the hands. I just started doing this a few months ago as a hobby. I am retired and have problems with tendonitis and arthritis both. The hand sanding eats my lunch on this S30V, I had been using 5160 and 52100, which is not near as hard to finish. I have used the DMT stones on the carbon steel blades but haven't tried them on the S30V. If I ever get these two blades finished, my next project is two D2 blades. I'll probably by cussing that next. Well, that's life I guess.
 
"Golden Years" my ass. :D I just got back from the rheumatologist; he added another drug...that's like 18 &^%%^&% meds, now. :(

But, better than the alternative. "Walk, Don't Run" has become a way of life, but that's ok. Better than dirt in the old face.

D2, Walt, will really rock yer boat..... have a pot of coffee or beer handy... you'll be taking lots of breaks. Excellent steel. Hopefully you get the stock fully annealed; that's one of the problems with the stuff, it's all too often half hard. If you have old planer blades or something, find a friend with a furnace and anneal it first.
 
Walt
D2 is my steel of choice,it takes a satin finish well
and if heat treat right,it takes and holds an edge
it has been around along time,there are alot of old school
makers who that is pretty much all they use.Walter Brend
is a Big D2 user,Somthing that has really help cut my hand rubbing time in half is I use 1 inch wide wheels,you can use more pressure when grinding and you save alot of money on belts.I agree with Mike
the only hung up I have found with D2 is it is hard to cut on the saw
I have never tried to anneal it first,I will have to throw it in the coal furnace.
Nathan:)
 
Lmao, you bastids are just using the wrong belts and or the wrong speeds!:D

I've seen this same thing in past threads and I just don't understand it. I grind with aluminum oxide belts on a variable speed Wilton and s30v grinds just fine for me, all the way thru 400 grit and then takes a real nice scotchbrite finish.
I do my rough grinding with a 36 grit at 70% speed and then cut back to about 30% for the 60 grit and then 20% for 120 and then all the way down to the slowest from then on.
 
Some of use who are doing this as a hobby and are just getting started don't have the sophisicated toys that some people do.:D
 
Originally posted by fitzo
The last little piece I made out of S30V, I took it to 600 grit handrub with Norton blue zirconia paper. &^#*(&^!! ... I would like to find a good way to polish to a very fine satin for some finer finishes. It's just a matter of experimenting more, so I really appreciate your suggestions.
Curiously, I remember hearing almost a year ago that Crucible, aware of the finishing difficulties, was collaborating with a major abrasives manufacturer to determine what stuff was best suited to this steel, and producing a set of optimal belts. Haven't heard a thing since....
Click to expand...


Mike, 3-M is the best W&D paper. I'd be willing to bet that it will out cut Norton, Hermes, and Kligspor at least 5-1. :eek: ;)

The belt company was Microsurface, the makers of Micro Mesh MX, probably the best sheet abrasive for handrubbing I have ever used.:eek: The most expensive too.
Call and get a sample kit of the MX.
https://www.micro-surface.com/default.cfm?page_id=1
 
Michael, I'm talking about handrubbing longitudinally on a hollowground blade past 600 grit to a near mirror finshh. Different beastie, of course, than a satin "working" finish. If you have a way to do that with belts, I'm all ears..... :)
 
Mike, I keep forgetting to get that Micromesh... :( I've called a couple times and no answer. Missed em or something. Then CRS sets in and I forget. I'm writing a note, now, so I can forget i wrote it... hehehe.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top