Who does the best job on their S30V steel: Kershaw, Spyderco or Benchmade?

Not my favorite steel, but both the Benchmade & Spydercos I have in it have been good.
 
I have been happy with Benchmade S30v and Spyderco, but honestly only light use on those so far. My 940 is a little thick at the edge, I've tried to knock the shoulder off a bit, but it would take more effort and skill than I have to do it right. Para2 is a scalpel and seems to keep a nice edge, the dlc coating is amazing. Manix is another good one, only had to lighty touch up the edge on a rod to keep it hair shaving sharp and I like how it feels beefier than the Para 2.

I love Buck but my small Vantage in S30V is a lemon, the steel seems well done from a HT perspective, its hard to sharpen, not soft. My issue is the poor grind it came with, very thick behind the edge compared to the same knife in 420hc, poor fit and finish, and the blade sat too deep in the handle hitting a post. I kept it and have backed the grind bevel back some with great effort on a little blade. Must have been made on a Friday because all my other bucks have come near perfect and razor sharp, even the China made ones. Someday I'll get a large Vantage or Marksman in S30V.
 
I own lots of folders from all the usual suspects and plenty in s30v. Never had any issues with any of them honestly although i dont really hard use my folders but do use them primarily in an EDC role. Not sure what the concerns are but personally I would choose a knife based on design, ergos, handle material, intended use, size, etc and worry less about HT as all those big boy production companies are gonna do a good enough job using crucibles recommendations and any slight differences in their s30v steels wont matter much in real world use anyway. I mostly carry Spydercos not bc of steel or HT but bc they have highly functional designs and are what i prefer but S30v is fine by me for my uses regardless of brand.
 
I’m not an expert by any means but I think it also depends on how the edge is ground when it is profiled at time of manufacture and if they keep it cool while grinding. I’ve had identical knives in s30v and one will chip ease and the other will be tough and never chip. As JBC commented in post #22 on his vantage, mine did as well but after reprofiling mine by hand sharpening and removing the chipped edge it was good then and hasn’t chipped any more but I had to take a lot of metal off to get there.
I wonder if sometimes when they machine grind the new blade if they get in a hurry and get it to hot then quench it making it harder at the very edge there by making it more prone to chipping.

I don’t hear as much about chipping problems in s30v now as 5-7 years ago so maybe they have eliminated or fixed what was causing the chipping. And it might not have been the actual heat treatment and tempering process itself but maybe the grind finishing at the edge. I have worked in a manufacturing plant years ago with 700+ employees and I’ve seen similar things like this happen. After some investigation and adjustments things get straightened out. That’s just my thoughts on it.
 
Lesknife said:
I’m not an expert by any means but I think it also depends on how the edge is ground when it is profiled at time of manufacture and if they keep it cool while grinding. I’ve had identical knives in s30v and one will chip ease and the other will be tough and never chip. As JBC commented in post #22 on his vantage, mine did as well but after reprofiling mine by hand sharpening and removing the chipped edge it was good then and hasn’t chipped any more but I had to take a lot of metal off to get there.
I wonder if sometimes when they machine grind the new blade if they get in a hurry and get it to hot then quench it making it harder at the very edge there by making it more prone to chipping.

I don’t hear as much about chipping problems in s30v now as 5-7 years ago so maybe they have eliminated or fixed what was causing the chipping. And it might not have been the actual heat treatment and tempering process itself but maybe the grind finishing at the edge. I have worked in a manufacturing plant years ago with 700+ employees and I’ve seen similar things like this happen. After some investigation and adjustments things get straightened out. That’s just my thoughts on it.
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Lesknife said:
I’m not an expert by any means but I think it also depends on how the edge is ground when it is profiled at time of manufacture and if they keep it cool while grinding. I’ve had identical knives in s30v and one will chip ease and the other will be tough and never chip. As JBC commented in post #22 on his vantage, mine did as well but after reprofiling mine by hand sharpening and removing the chipped edge it was good then and hasn’t chipped any more but I had to take a lot of metal off to get there.
I wonder if sometimes when they machine grind the new blade if they get in a hurry and get it to hot then quench it making it harder at the very edge there by making it more prone to chipping.

I don’t hear as much about chipping problems in s30v now as 5-7 years ago so maybe they have eliminated or fixed what was causing the chipping. And it might not have been the actual heat treatment and tempering process itself but maybe the grind finishing at the edge. I have worked in a manufacturing plant years ago with 700+ employees and I’ve seen similar things like this happen. After some investigation and adjustments things get straightened out. That’s just my thoughts on it.
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Im no expert just an enthusiast but my understanding is a burnt factory edge will definitely alter perception of ones opinion on a companys steel if it isn't recognized as such. Most production companies final sharpen on the belt grinder and then some hit it with a quick polish after to knock off any burrs etc. the belt can definitely overheat the edge and fatique the metal requiring maybe even several resharpenings to get to good stable metal again hence chipping or rolling etc on the factory edge and giving the user a bad impression of the steel and maybe even the company if its their first example from them. Some production companies sharpen using coolant such as Reate for example to prevent this and their factory edges are superior imo out the box bc of it. Not sure what other companies do that but more should follow suit. Also geometry and acuteness of secondary bevel plays a bigger part that steel choice regarding performance.
 
Unless something is really off, are you really going to notice much of a difference? I mean, unless you're doing elaborate cut testing, a small percentage of variation isn't going to make much practical difference. And even if you tested samples, there is almost certainly some small amount of variation batch to batch.

Outside of the odd really terrible performer that suggests something might be hosed, I doubt it matters much.
 
evilgreg said:
Unless something is really off, are you really going to notice much of a difference? I mean, unless you're doing elaborate cut testing, a small percentage of variation isn't going to make much practical difference. And even if you tested samples, there is almost certainly some small amount of variation batch to batch.

Outside of the odd really terrible performer that suggests something might be hosed, I doubt it matters much.
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I've found Spyderco and Benchmade perform equally well on S30V in real world use, with ZT lagging behind. There's a few Benchmade knives that are outliers in the negative side. The reason why there's not much difference despite Benchmade having a slightly superior HT is all because of geometry. Most Spyderco knives are ground to cut. Benchmade is now making a lot of stuff in S30V that's ground compellingly well, like the Bugout.
 
evilgreg said:
Unless something is really off, are you really going to notice much of a difference? I mean, unless you're doing elaborate cut testing, a small percentage of variation isn't going to make much practical difference. And even if you tested samples, there is almost certainly some small amount of variation batch to batch.

Outside of the odd really terrible performer that suggests something might be hosed, I doubt it matters much.
Click to expand...

ZT’s S35VN was very different than what I’ve had from other makers. Enough to really notice without doing cut tests.
 
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