First knife S110v - help me not screw it up.

[cactus3]

Hi,

Would just like to thank everyone here for your contribution/knowledge as it's helped me greatly.

I've never owned a quality knife before; I've carried a very simple, never sharpened, swiss army on and off over the years which didn't do a lot or do it very well but never failed at puncturing and forcefully pushing through box tape which is essentially all I used it for.

Just once, I've always wanted to own a true, quality, long lasting pocket knife and after reading up went with what seems to be an obvious, well appreciated design, the PM2, and chose the purple/blue scales with s110v blade.

As this is not only my first experience with s110v steel, but my first experience with a knife of this quality I wanted to ask what to be sure to do and what not to do to ensure I don't screw up this blade. It's still unused. Thanks kindly for any thoughts.

If I may, my questions are:

1. Is there anything I should do immediately BEFORE using the blade for the first time?
2. Is there anything I should be certain NOT to do, i.e., common newb mistakes?
3. is there a guide somewhere that I could follow for an introduction to S110v steel and how to maintain/sharpen it?
4. Last, should I bother learning to sharpen it or just drop it with a professional to be sharpened when needed?

Thanks so much for any tips and direction as I get started here.

[Surfingringo]

Hello cactus. Welcome to the forum and welcome to the Spyderco experience. Great choice of knives! That is a big leap from you SAK and you should be very happy with it for years to come. I will try to answer a few of your questions.

First of all, don’t worry too much. You’ve got a well made knife in a quality and highly corrosion resistant steel. Use it like a knife and you shouldn’t have any issues. Regarding your specific questions,

1. You can oil the blade if you want but it’s completely unnecessary. After cutting something sticky, acidic or corrosive just give it a rinse and wipe it on your pants. Good to go.

2. Probably the biggest “no-no” that someone new to knives should be aware of is prying with your knife. Remember, this is a high performance cutlery Steel that is heat treated for hardness and wear resistance not for ductility. What that means is if you go stabbing it into something and twisting or torquing you are going to hear a very unpleasant pinging noise and your pm2 is going to be a lot shorter. Don’t over stress this though. As long as you are performing normal knife chores your blade will be PLENTY strong and will handle enough lateral stress to accomplish any job for which a pocket knife is a suitable tool. It’s just not a pry bar so don’t use it like one. :)

3. Maintaining s110v doesn’t really require any special technique. It just takes a bit more time to sharpen than some steels.

4. You should ABSOLUTELY learn to sharpen and maintain your tool. (Though I must say, you didn’t set yourself the easiest of tasks with your choice of s110v :cool: ) The best advice I can give you is to buy a Spyderco Sharpmaker. Watch the video that comes with it a couple of times and you will find that with just a little practice you will be able to keep your knife just as sharp as it came from the factory, if not sharper. Over time your bevel will start to get wider and you will need to reprofile but don’t worry about that for now. It’s simple enough to do and we will be happy to assist you with some suggestions when that time comes. For now just get a Sharpmaker and give that knife a few passes on the 40 degree setting once or twice a week and your knife will stay screaming sharp.


Enjoy your new knife!

[Mzen]

Since we're on the topic of sharpening, I have a general question that haven't seen discussed that often: How do you know when you must to do a reprofile?

Sure, the bevel gets wider with time, but are there other "tells"? Maybe some very noticeable difference in performance? I usually touch up my knife edges once a week with the Sharpmaker, but I haven't noticed a need for reprofiling just yet, so my lack of experience in that area makes me curious.

[Evil D]

1. I typically sharpen mine before using them but it sounds like you may need get yourself some sharpening equipment before that can happen.

2. Best thing you can do is not listen to everything you see on the internet. For example, don't take it apart if you have no experience doing such a thing. Don't use it as a pry bar or screwdriver or anything other than a cutting tool. Don't expect miracles, don't let the vast amount of internet hype create unrealistic expectations with this knife.

3. Get a Sharpmaker, practice on kitchen knives, then once you're able to get your knife sharp, touch it up often.

4. Avoid "professional sharpeners". See #3. Learn to sharpen your own knife.

[curlyhairedboy]

Welcome, cactus3!

Surfingringo covered your questions pretty well.

I'm trying to think of any other things to avoid with S110v. Might suggest trying to avoid banging the edge into rocks, if you can avoid it. Both a swiss army knife and a s110v PM2 won't like it, but it'll take a lot more time to sharpen out a chip in the PM2 than the swiss army knife.

Mzen: IIRC, using the sharpmaker, the 40 degree setting creates a microbevel on the usually steeper factory edge. It's time to reprofile when the microbevel becomes the 'main' bevel.

[ChrisinHove]

Wow - what a great first proper knife! Great choice!

1..2..3..4.. ditto

5. Don't lend it to anyone!

[ZrowsN1s]

Hi....

:D welcome to the forum. You made an excellent choice with S110V Para 2, it is a very nice and very capable knife. My only advice to you would be to follow Evil D's and Surfingringo's advice, they did not steer you wrong.
If you do follow their sage advice and get a sharpmaker, be sure to come back here and check out the many many threads on sharpmaker technique, tips, and tricks. Once you are confident you can sharpen that knife you will really enjoy (and use it) it more.