Sharpening S30V

B

BRAXTONSLEEGER184

Joined
Nov 19, 2023
Messages
11
Hello,
I have a knife with an S30V blade and I am having trouble getting it very sharp. Can anyone tell me their method of getting it very sharp?
 
what stones are you using?

try diamond benchstones. light pressure and work your way up to grit level ya like. sic stones also work well. ceramics work okay too. better for maintaining an edge over reprofiling. I wouldnt recommend them for reprofiling...more for finish work....
 
I use a Hapstone sharpening jig. Either the v8, or m3, depending on the size of blade I'm sharpening. I use a set of cheap diamond plates from chef's knives to go. 140, 400, and 1000 grit.

O.B.
 
I keep mine shaving sharp for the most part with my Spyderco Sharpmaker using medium and fine ceramic stones. What are you using? What angle are you sharpening at? If your angle is shallower than the existing bevel you may not even be sharpening the edge. All things being equal I don’t have any issues sharpening S30v over other steels.
 
I am using a work sharp electric sharpener with all different belt grits and angles. I don' t want to burn the blade. Thank You All for the good advice. I have been thinking of getting a KME setup. I sharpen at 28 degrees inclusive
 
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I recommend you consider a system that uses the edge pro format stones, if you decide to buy a sharpening system. Your available stone options in the 1 x 6 inch size, is much greater than what is available with any other system.

O.B.
 
Thank You All for your recommendations I have gotten knives that my father collected. He has passed and I inherited the knives some very beautiful one. Inverted bucks and a very nice 50th anniversary set of 4 knives with the plate as a coa. There were only 110 made. I know he paid much money for that set. I also have maybe 10 184's that are I think pristine. Braxton
 
That work sharp belt sharpener should only be used on cheap knives. It will eat a blade so fast. I use it on my cheapo kitchen knives and it keeps them sharp as hell but you can see how it's started to give some a recurve shape after a couple years of using it. It's also really really easy to round the tip of a good pocket knife with that system. First pocket knife I rounded with mine I quite using it on my pocket knives. For some reason I'll spend a ton on money on pocket knives but very little on kitchen knives so I only use it on my kitchen knives. Work sharp has a precision adjusting sharpening system. I use that now for my pocket knives with good success. Spydero sharpmaker is ok too but I prefere the work sharp precision adjustable system.
 
DMT Diafold does the trick for me. Coarse for a couple of strokes, then fine, then a real light swipe over the coarse again for a nice toothy edge.
 
steelhead seeker said:
That work sharp belt sharpener should only be used on cheap knives. It will eat a blade so fast. I use it on my cheapo kitchen knives and it keeps them sharp as hell but you can see how it's started to give some a recurve shape after a couple years of using it. It's also really really easy to round the tip of a good pocket knife with that system. First pocket knife I rounded with mine I quite using it on my pocket knives. For some reason I'll spend a ton on money on pocket knives but very little on kitchen knives so I only use it on my kitchen knives. Work sharp has a precision adjusting sharpening system. I use that now for my pocket knives with good success. Spydero sharpmaker is ok too but I prefere the work sharp precision adjustable system.
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I agree. I had the same experience, I only use my WS Ken Onion for kitchen knives and yard tools. Works great for mowerblades, scrapers, shears, etc, but for pocket knives, it's a bit of a crapshoot.
 
The belt sharpener has a learning curve to it.

You can get some pretty good results once you figure it out.

I can get a nice edge quickly with one or 2 passes.
Then strop and I'm done.
If you need more than that your either reprofiling or the angle is wrong.

There's many videos and tutorials on it's use.
Go there for advice on it's proper use.

😉
 
You need diamond hones to sharpen S30V (and most other powder steels) due to its high vanadium carbide content. I prefer freehand sharpening, occasionally with an angle guide to (re)set the angle. I've found most powder steels with significant high carbide content cut better with a fine (DMT (red) 600 grit) hone; going to finer grit (DMT extra fine (green) 1200 grit) doesn't seem to make them cut any better. One exception is CTS-XHP, which on my CS American Lawman gets hair popping sharp when taken to the ultra fine hone.
 
I use the Buck EdgeTek Ultra. Three diamond grits (you’ll NEVER use the roughest, so two, really), and it’s a rod so it also handles anything with a recurve or a belly like the 104 Compadres.

As mentioned by others above, you need something harder than the Vanadium carbides in the S30V - in other words diamonds. Softer materials may dislodge the carbides and make you think you’re making sharpening progress, but you’re not - you’re just producing an edge of matrix metal with craters where the carbides used to be. Also the reason to go LIGHTLY on the diamond rods. You want the diamond to shape the carbides, not dislodge them. This is why S30V got it’s reputation for “taking a mediocre edge and holding it forever” because when it came out and folks only had traditional stones and ceramic rods, they couldn’t really sharpen it.

Lastly, don’t reprofile and thin the edge with a shallower angle. S30V needs more metal behind the apex to hold the carbides in place. You’ll never be successful if you reprofile an S30V blade to look like a 425M 110 Folding Hunter blade. Stick with the factory geometry and you’ll be in good shape.

Lastly, if you want to strop after the diamond rod, get some low-micron compound to load up the leather with and polish the carbides. Otherwise, you’re just spinning your wheels and polishing the matrix metal.


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Culprit99 said:
I use the Buck EdgeTek Ultra. Three diamond grits (you’ll NEVER use the roughest, so two, really), and it’s a rod so it also handles anything with a recurve or a belly like the 104 Compadres.

As mentioned by others above, you need something harder than the Vanadium carbides in the S30V - in other words diamonds. Softer materials may dislodge the carbides and make you think you’re making sharpening progress, but you’re not - you’re just producing an edge of matrix metal with craters where the carbides used to be. Also the reason to go LIGHTLY on the diamond rods. You want the diamond to shape the carbides, not dislodge them. This is why S30V got it’s reputation for “taking a mediocre edge and holding it forever” because when it came out and folks only had traditional stones and ceramic rods, they couldn’t really sharpen it.

Lastly, don’t reprofile and thin the edge with a shallower angle. S30V needs more metal behind the apex to hold the carbides in place. You’ll never be successful if you reprofile an S30V blade to look like a 425M 110 Folding Hunter blade. Stick with the factory geometry and you’ll be in good shape.

Lastly, if you want to strop after the diamond rod, get some low-micron compound to load up the leather with and polish the carbides. Otherwise, you’re just spinning your wheels and polishing the matrix metal.


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Thanks for this. I've read (and watched) tons of material on this subject. Trying to understand the differences in these metals. It finally "clicked" for me while reading your post. I think I'll have more success when sharpening my S30V blades, now.
 
Midnight Rider said:
Thanks for this. I've read (and watched) tons of material on this subject. Trying to understand the differences in these metals. It finally "clicked" for me while reading your post. I think I'll have more success when sharpening my S30V blades, now.
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You're welcome - I'm glad it helped. I was amazed once I finally learned this and the improvement I got on S30V.
 
Culprit99 said:
I use the Buck EdgeTek Ultra. Three diamond grits (you’ll NEVER use the roughest, so two, really), and it’s a rod so it also handles anything with a recurve or a belly like the 104 Compadres.

As mentioned by others above, you need something harder than the Vanadium carbides in the S30V - in other words diamonds. Softer materials may dislodge the carbides and make you think you’re making sharpening progress, but you’re not - you’re just producing an edge of matrix metal with craters where the carbides used to be. Also the reason to go LIGHTLY on the diamond rods. You want the diamond to shape the carbides, not dislodge them. This is why S30V got it’s reputation for “taking a mediocre edge and holding it forever” because when it came out and folks only had traditional stones and ceramic rods, they couldn’t really sharpen it.

Lastly, don’t reprofile and thin the edge with a shallower angle. S30V needs more metal behind the apex to hold the carbides in place. You’ll never be successful if you reprofile an S30V blade to look like a 425M 110 Folding Hunter blade. Stick with the factory geometry and you’ll be in good shape.

Lastly, if you want to strop after the diamond rod, get some low-micron compound to load up the leather with and polish the carbides. Otherwise, you’re just spinning your wheels and polishing the matrix metal.


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I purchased one of these, and man does it ever make short work of hard steel, and therein lies the problem for me as i'm not skilled at sharpening for squat, i'm working on it though, but still not there. And i'm worried about going too hard on a nice blade, there's a learning curve to this for sure, I made some nasty divots in some kitchen steel trying to figure it out. I'm going to practice some more though, thinking about what you said about going very lightly so as to shape rather than dislodge the carbides, that makes it more understandable.

You know, i'm a can-do sort of guy, fixed the wife's vaccum cleaner yesterday with parts I harvested a couple weeks ago from some old broken electronics, but sharpening is my Achilles heel, it is skill that takes time to develop.
 
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