s30v

[tonijedi]

Just got this week the 2 first folders with S30V - A Para2 and a Native. I still don't know how it performs, so far my favorite steel is VG-10... don't really know if I'll change my mind soon or not. Anyway, so far all I can tell is that the out of the box sharpness is fantastic, as Spyderco got us used to.

 

[Cynic2701]

Just got this week the 2 first folders with S30V - A Para2 and a Native. I still don't know how it performs, so far my favorite steel is VG-10... don't really know if I'll change my mind soon or not. Anyway, so far all I can tell is that the out of the box sharpness is fantastic, as Spyderco got us used to.

I've found S30V to be superior to VG-10 in my uses.

I was cutting down ceiling tile about a week ago, the thicker stuff, not the cheap ones, in my apartment because the roof was leaking in my newly renovated apartment

I found that although my FFG Endura cut better, initially, due to a thinner grind, about a quarter to halfway through the tile I was forcing the tile apart rather than cutting it.

My Para2 made it all the way through the tile, though there was noticeable edge wear and degradation, and it definitely needed sharpening. The Endura's edge was basically gone, and I had to re-establish the edge.

I guess that's what you get for cutting through fiberglass though.

 

[samhain73]

I never had any trouble with S30V.
No one does S30V like Strider.

Except Buck, who taught them how.

 

[mete]

I find a microserrated edge is the best way to sharpen the S30V.

 

[cziv]

Question for you S30V guys okay?

I have a Military in S30V and a Benchmade 940 (actually 2). I went on an "Ankerson tear" the other day and went nuts on some large carboard boxes dulling my Military to the point of it ripping the cardboard after many sheets had been cut to slivers.

I was comparing it to the Resilience, that was only beaten by a sheet of cardboard before it became extremely dull! Good job on the Resilience heat treat and performance btw.

Question: When I use a Sharpmaker, set at 40* I can get the Military screaming sharp. I wouldn't say it would whittle hair, but it shaves it very nicely. When I dull my user BM 940 in S30V I can't get the darn thing very sharp! I go at the same setting for a 1/2 hour and can't get it sharp enough to barely cut paper and sometimes it snags that!

What do you think my problem is? Is the 940 greater than 40* setting causing me to be in a re-profiling situation or is the Benchmade steel got a stronger heat treat or whatever it is that makes steels harder to sharpen? I do use a marker and the rods take it off - so I assume I'm hitting the angle.

Thanks!

 

[Cynic2701]

Question for you S30V guys okay?

I have a Military in S30V and a Benchmade 940 (actually 2). I went on an "Ankerson tear" the other day and went nuts on some large carboard boxes dulling my Military to the point of it ripping the cardboard after many sheets had been cut to slivers.

I was comparing it to the Resilience, that was only beaten by a sheet of cardboard before it became extremely dull! Good job on the Resilience heat treat and performance btw.

Question: When I use a Sharpmaker, set at 40* I can get the Military screaming sharp. I wouldn't say it would whittle hair, but it shaves it very nicely. When I dull my user BM 940 in S30V I can't get the darn thing very sharp! I go at the same setting for a 1/2 hour and can't get it sharp enough to barely cut paper and sometimes it snags that!

What do you think my problem is? Is the 940 greater than 40* setting causing me to be in a re-profiling situation or is the Benchmade steel got a stronger heat treat or whatever it is that makes steels harder to sharpen? I do use a marker and the rods take it off - so I assume I'm hitting the angle.

Thanks!

In my experience the BM 94x series and other of the BM "short" blades have very obtuse bevels ground on them. It takes a lot of re-profiling to get to a 30 degree edge or below. It very well could be that you are simply hitting "near" the edge, and not quite the edge itself.

When you are using a marker, are you marking the entire bevel? Where is the marking being taken off?

 

[cziv]

In my experience the BM 94x series and other of the BM "short" blades have very obtuse bevels ground on them. It takes a lot of re-profiling to get to a 30 degree edge or below. It very well could be that you are simply hitting "near" the edge, and not quite the edge itself.

When you are using a marker, are you marking the entire bevel? Where is the marking being taken off?

I'm at a 40* setting and it's wiping the marker right off the bevel. I might be very close to getting it to 40* but not 100%. Will keep working on it. It'll still cut yer finger!

 

[Cynic2701]

I'm at a 40* setting and it's wiping the marker right off the bevel. I might be very close to getting it to 40* but not 100%. Will keep working on it. It'll still cut yer finger!

If it's taking the marker off the bevel, then you are hitting the bevel not the edge.

Your 940 has an edge angle that is more obtuse than 40 degrees.

You could continue sharpening like that and you will eventually get something like a scandi-grind. The actual edge will be continuous from the bevel.

I find micro-bevels make sharpening easier and faster, and touch ups a breeze, as long as your bevel is 5-10 degrees shallower than the micro-bevel.

When I get home later, I'll take a crappy cellphone picture of how far up the blade the bevel on my 943 goes so that you can see what I mean about putting 30 degree or shallower angles on a "short" BM blade.

 

[cziv]

I thought the bevel was the edge?? I mean it's coming off of the shiny edge part that cuts!

 

[Cynic2701]

In these two pictures you can see the bevel on the 943. The bevel measures 2.55 mm high.

If you think about triangles and trigonometry, the taller the triangle, the lower the angle is. The shorter, the more obtuse.

With short blades like several BM's, you end up having to increase the size of the bevel in order to accommodate this if you want to get the actual edge to 30 degrees or lower.

All other things being equal, in order to reach the same edge angle, the length of the bevel will increase as the height of the blade decreases.

 

[cziv]

In these two pictures you can see the bevel on the 943. The bevel measures 2.55 mm high.

If you think about triangles and trigonometry, the taller the triangle, the lower the angle is. The shorter, the more obtuse.

With short blades like several BM's, you end up having to increase the size of the bevel in order to accommodate this if you want to get the actual edge to 30 degrees or lower.

All other things being equal, in order to reach the same edge angle, the length of the bevel will increase as the height of the blade decreases.

Thanks Cynic,

I got ya now. I have a tiny little V grind on mine, nothing like that. Time to get out the dia-folds I quess if I want to do better.

The 940 scares me with getting such a nice thinned out edge. I really messed up a blade by taking her shallow like that a few yrs ago.

Turns out that I was hitting the top portion of the reverse tanto since it's so thick compared to the edge and well you know the rest.

I suppose I could tape it off to insure against scratching it up.

 

[jimnolimit]

Question: When I use a Sharpmaker, set at 40* I can get the Military screaming sharp. I wouldn't say it would whittle hair, but it shaves it very nicely. When I dull my user BM 940 in S30V I can't get the darn thing very sharp! I go at the same setting for a 1/2 hour and can't get it sharp enough to barely cut paper and sometimes it snags that!

IMO, a 1/2 hour to sharpen a knife is over kill (unless you are working pretty big chips out of the blade).

1. what grits are you using from start to finish?
2. do you use less, more or the same pressure to sharpen your BM opposed to your millie?

 

[DennisStrickland]

very nice bevels Cziv, luckily i have power equipment to aid when making new bevels. my edge pro & spydie ceramics are following touches. even my extreme shallow bevels with m390 & zdp have not chipped out but i have'nt cut fiberglas. thumbs up to cobra on vantage pro. members would be well advised to check buck vantage pro in s30.i have'nt done extensive tests but my cardboard cutting tests seem to show the buck s30 surpasses kershaw leek & at least equals the spydie s30.---dennis

 

[Planterz]

You're English is quite good, no worries.

I try my best not to be a grammar/spelling nazi, since, like the OP, not everybody here speaks English as their first language. But I have to say this made me giggle.