SE 440V

[VashHash]

Decided to start putting this one through it's paces. So far it's doing alright. The smaller teeth are starting to lose their initial sharpness but all the big scallops are paper slicing sharp.
First cut

Index card test

Another cut

Another index card test

A few more cuts.


And the final index card.


So far so good. Gonna move on to some rope a little later. 1/2" manilla.

[TkoK83Spy]

You should contribute your findings to this thread!

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=86207

[The Meat man]

Hey VashHash,

Could you take some close up photos of the edge? That's pretty impressive!

[VashHash]

Best I can do in my current set up.
Not much to see here.



On this side you can see some small rolls but they aren't that bad when you try to catch a nail on them.


Looking down at the edge with a flashlight doesn't show much of anything either. I can't get a picture of this though. My phone won't focus.

[VashHash]

A little tywrap action and still sharp after.

[The Meat man]

Thanks! That's not bad at all.

JD would like this. :)

[VashHash]

Rope time.
First 10 cuts. I did this cutting board style with cardboard underneath and a back and forth sawing motion. I did an index card test after every 10 cuts.


20


30


40


And 50


It's still cutting but finally showing some fatigue in the index card test. I did a paper test and some of the small scallops wouldn't cut at all. When I shined a light on the edge most of the tips are shining back. Also I haven't sharpened this knife since I started this test. I'll try to upload the paper picture later it's giving me trouble right now.

[Jazz]

:cool:

[PeaceInOurTime]

Thanks for taking the time to document this. I know next to nothing about 440V, but it looks like good stuff so far.

[Evil D]

It's interesting how those teeth look to be ground a lot less pointy than most especially considering the age of that knife. I guess it could be part of the "worn grinding stone variation" that we've heard about.

[VashHash]

Here's a shot of cardboard that I used as a cutting board.


Here's the paper edge test. You can see the small tears where parts of the edge snagged.


Close up of the edge after all of that.




I prefer the way the serrations start on the new natives. With one big scallop. The 2 small at the heel seem to snag more. I'm definitely not disappointed with the performance of this steel.

The edge still has a lot of life left to it. I cut some more rope after all of this just check it. Maybe 1 or 2 more cuts and i cut some cardboard too. I might see if I can find some 1" air hose that needs disposing of. If not maybe some 1/2". Probably won't be until Monday though.

[JD Spydo]

I have a very special place in my heart for my 440V, SE Native model. It's my demolition user. I've truly tried to destroy that knife on a couple of jobs but it's still doing well.

It would be fine by me if they wanted to do sprint Runs with any left over 440V bar stock they might want to use up. That blade steel is one of my favorite blade steels for Serrated blades. I rank 440V, ATS-55, AUS-8 and VG-10 as my favorite blade steels for serrated user blades.

[Evil D]

Man I dunno I feel like some of you guys must never consider the need to reprofile serrations with a steel like this. I'm currently working on my S30V Native and it is taking literally thousands of strokes on the Sharpmaker on CBN rods. I have absolutely no interest in any steel that's more wear resistant or harder to grind than S30V. Honestly if this wasn't my first Spyderco I would not waste my time on it.

[Knivesinedc]

I traded for a 440v SE Millie with one of our very own on the forums. Eventually I got bored with it and traded it back to him. Its the only knife I have and still do regret getting rid of. 440v is a great steel and was never terribly difficult to keep sharp on the sharpmaker. Great testing that makes me regret getting rid of the millie even more haha!

[VashHash]

Man I dunno I feel like some of you guys must never consider the need to reprofile serrations with a steel like this. I'm currently working on my S30V Native and it is taking literally thousands of strokes on the Sharpmaker on CBN rods. I have absolutely no interest in any steel that's more wear resistant or harder to grind than S30V. Honestly if this wasn't my first Spyderco I would not waste my time on it.

I'll let you know how the 440V/S60V sharpens when I get there. I think what honestly happenned was sharpening technology wasn't up to snuff when this steel first came out. Is your native SE or PE? I thought you weren't supposed to use the corners on the CBN rods.

[Evil D]

Man I dunno I feel like some of you guys must never consider the need to reprofile serrations with a steel like this. I'm currently working on my S30V Native and it is taking literally thousands of strokes on the Sharpmaker on CBN rods. I have absolutely no interest in any steel that's more wear resistant or harder to grind than S30V. Honestly if this wasn't my first Spyderco I would not waste my time on it.

I'll let you know how the 440V/S60V sharpens when I get there. I think what honestly happenned was sharpening technology wasn't up to snuff when this steel first came out. Is your native SE or PE? I thought you weren't supposed to use the corners on the CBN rods.

It's SE, and you're probably not supposed to but so far so good. I did pretty much ruin the corners of my diamond rods so I'm probably playing with fire but I'm trying to be super gentle. It's funny how we've all gotten so jaded with all these super steels but when you're used to working with H1 and LC200N and you go back to S30V it's a reality check, S30V is a pretty dang wear resistant steel.

[Donut]

Man I dunno I feel like some of you guys must never consider the need to reprofile serrations with a steel like this. I'm currently working on my S30V Native and it is taking literally thousands of strokes on the Sharpmaker on CBN rods. I have absolutely no interest in any steel that's more wear resistant or harder to grind than S30V. Honestly if this wasn't my first Spyderco I would not waste my time on it.

I ground the serrations off two Lil Matriarchs by hand with a rounded DMT stone. I don't think the stone works anymore.

It's my idea that the "Diamond type" rods... you shouldn't use the corners. I think you will eventually knock the diamonds off the rod. The medium should be suited for this better, because when you grind the outer layer, there is more abrasive underneath.

[Sonorum]

In Larrins recent article about s30v he mentions that 440v is similar to s90v (quoting from memory here) so it seems logical that the steel is performing well in your tests! When you look at the contents of 440v it has a lot of good stuff in it. The serrations seem to be not to toothy as well! That certainly helps with cutting paper. I'm a bit jealous of your knife One of my favourite knives is a CS s90v native.

[VashHash]

Man I dunno I feel like some of you guys must never consider the need to reprofile serrations with a steel like this. I'm currently working on my S30V Native and it is taking literally thousands of strokes on the Sharpmaker on CBN rods. I have absolutely no interest in any steel that's more wear resistant or harder to grind than S30V. Honestly if this wasn't my first Spyderco I would not waste my time on it.

I'll let you know how the 440V/S60V sharpens when I get there. I think what honestly happenned was sharpening technology wasn't up to snuff when this steel first came out. Is your native SE or PE? I thought you weren't supposed to use the corners on the CBN rods.

It's SE, and you're probably not supposed to but so far so good. I did pretty much ruin the corners of my diamond rods so I'm probably playing with fire but I'm trying to be super gentle. It's funny how we've all gotten so jaded with all these super steels but when you're used to working with H1 and LC200N and you go back to S30V it's a reality check, S30V is a pretty dang wear resistant steel.

Could you post pictures of the edge?

[Evil D]

Man I dunno I feel like some of you guys must never consider the need to reprofile serrations with a steel like this. I'm currently working on my S30V Native and it is taking literally thousands of strokes on the Sharpmaker on CBN rods. I have absolutely no interest in any steel that's more wear resistant or harder to grind than S30V. Honestly if this wasn't my first Spyderco I would not waste my time on it.

I'll let you know how the 440V/S60V sharpens when I get there. I think what honestly happenned was sharpening technology wasn't up to snuff when this steel first came out. Is your native SE or PE? I thought you weren't supposed to use the corners on the CBN rods.

It's SE, and you're probably not supposed to but so far so good. I did pretty much ruin the corners of my diamond rods so I'm probably playing with fire but I'm trying to be super gentle. It's funny how we've all gotten so jaded with all these super steels but when you're used to working with H1 and LC200N and you go back to S30V it's a reality check, S30V is a pretty dang wear resistant steel.

Could you post pictures of the edge?

It's coming along but very slowly, much slower now towards the edge. I think what happened is, when I sharpened it years ago with a tapered diamond rod I didn't hold the angle well enough and it gets steeper as it gets closer to the edge. I tried to go over it at 40 degrees (I'm reprofiling to 30) and it still hit above that bit of marker that's left at the edge so I know it's higher than 20 degrees at the edge.