S30V Support Club

[Van45]

Great steel!

[Red]

I have always been a knife fan/enthusiast but just recently in the last few years starting paying close attention to blade steels. As a marine mechanic in a saltwater environment, I use my edc knife hard and alot. I have to say in my limited experience that S30V, especially Spyderco S30V is my favorite steel with the perfect combo of corrosion resistance, edge retention and ease of sharpening. I tried several super steels and they were great but the S30V just works best all-around for me.

*I do have a Salt 2 LW H-1 on order and am anxiously waiting to try it out also*

[zhyla]

Ease of sharpening? Are you guys using the same S30V as I am? S30V is a great steel but it is noticeably harder to sharpen than other midrange steels like VG-10.

[soc_monki]

Been using my shaman a LOT. 2 straight weeks, did a bathroom renovation, been doing work in the yard outside, new wiring for the bathroom for a fan... The Shaman has seen it all. I have almost completely gotten rid of the factory grind lines on the edge, and today I was trimming a bit off a tree branch (taking out a lot of vegetation) and I slammed the edge into some tin that is still out there from the old bunny house. I did damage, but very little. I just sharpened it out, quickly, with extra fine diamond. Couple minutes and back to razor sharp.

M4 is probably my favorite steel, with M390/20cv right behind, but S30v is still a great contender and I see the edge retention of my shaman going up as I get past the factory grind. Slamming it into that tin made me cringe, but the damage was much less severe than I thought. No chips, but a little rolling. So why do people not like s30? Seems good to go to me!

[soc_monki]

Ease of sharpening? Are you guys using the same S30V as I am? S30V is a great steel but it is noticeably harder to sharpen than other midrange steels like VG-10.

Have you ever sharpened s90v? S30 feels like 8cr13mov after S90!

[Sharp Guy]

Ease of sharpening? Are you guys using the same S30V as I am? S30V is a great steel but it is noticeably harder to sharpen than other midrange steels like VG-10.

It's definitely harder to sharpen than VG-10 but not difficult IMO.

[Red]

Agreed

[JohnDoe99]

Ease of sharpening? Are you guys using the same S30V as I am? S30V is a great steel but it is noticeably harder to sharpen than other midrange steels like VG-10.

In general s30v is indeed difficult to sharpen compared to simpler alloys. It takes longer and you need to be very precise when setting the apex on your coarse stone.

[James Y]

I’d say that S30V is less easy to resharpen than VG-10, but IME VG-10 is extremely easy to sharpen. And I’m no “master knife sharpener”, just a basic sharpener. I call S30V “less easy” than VG-10, because personally, I’ve never found S30V to be particularly difficult to sharpen.

Jim

[Wartstein]

I’d say that S30V is less easy to resharpen than VG-10, but IME VG-10 is extremely easy to sharpen. And I’m no “master knife sharpener”, just a basic sharpener. I call S30V “less easy” than VG-10, because personally, I’ve never found S30V to be particularly difficult to sharpen.

Jim

Same here.

[Ankerson]

Same as the last two, I find and always have found S30V to be easy to sharpen.

It didn't matter much what I used to sharpen it either.

[Tucson Tom]

I spent a few minutes with the Goldenstone on my S30V Pm2 and was shocked at how much sharper it was. I had been putting quite a few miles on the factory edge and it was easy as pie to get a better edge than when the knife was new!

Can't complain about that.

[metaphoricalsimile]

So far my only experience with S30V was a benchmade that would not hold an edge worth ****, so I suspect it had benchmade's infamous bad heat treat.

[Mattysc42]

Yep, after using high carbide steels for a couple years, getting s30v to hairsplitting sharp from dull takes 5-10 minutes, tops, on a broken in 400 grit diamond plate. Easy enough to have hair splitting straight off the plate as well.

Ultimately, sharpening any steel isn’t difficult if you can hold a stable angle. Just raise a burr on each side then apex with increasing light alternating strokes. If holding an angle is too difficult, tools like the KME, Edge Pro, and Wicked Edge are all readily available.

[BobABQ]

Ease of sharpening? Are you guys using the same S30V as I am? S30V is a great steel but it is noticeably harder to sharpen than other midrange steels like VG-10.

I do not know how or what sharpening system you are using but I use a Worksharp sharpener myself. I find it is very easy to sharpen S30v blade steel. I use the coarse red belt until I have a burr raised, while doing so I keep track of how many strokes it takes. Once the burr is raised I do the other the side for the same number of strokes. After that I hit it with the superfine belt and then I am done. I get a nice sharp edge with minimal effort.

[Karl_H]

I own and use knives in S30V steel, but the S30V steel was never the main selling point. It works well at the factory grind angles and I have diamond stones to sharpen it.

I do think it is surprising that Spyderco uses it as a “base” steel for most models. I would have thought steels with lower vanadium carbide, higher toughness, better corrosion resistance, and lower cost would make better “base” steels. I am specifically thinking of BD1N and 14C28N.

To me, it seems a bit weird to use a steel that can be difficult to sharpen for the average knife user as a base steel, when diamond or CBN are not “base” abrasives. Perhaps many people don’t ever sharpen their knives, in which case, S30V makes more sense as a base steel.

I am hoping that SPY27, S45VN, XHP or 20CV will eventually replace S30V. If you love S30V, you might want to stock up before other steels start to take its place.

[dreadpirate]

I'm with you on all points mentioned in OP.

[Sharp Guy]

I own and use knives in S30V steel, but the S30V steel was never the main selling point. It works well at the factory grind angles and I have diamond stones to sharpen it.

I do think it is surprising that Spyderco uses it as a “base” steel for most models. I would have thought steels with lower vanadium carbide, higher toughness, better corrosion resistance, and lower cost would make better “base” steels. I am specifically thinking of BD1N and 14C28N.

To me, it seems a bit weird to use a steel that can be difficult to sharpen for the average knife user as a base steel, when diamond or CBN are not “base” abrasives. Perhaps many people don’t ever sharpen their knives, in which case, S30V makes more sense as a base steel.

I am hoping that SPY27, S45VN, XHP or 20CV will eventually replace S30V. If you love S30V, you might want to stock up before other steels start to take its place.

Spyderco started using S30V back in 2003/2004 on their flagship models made in Golden, CO. Back then S30V was new and very much considered a premium steel (still is IMO). They've continued to use it on those models made in Golden and eventually most of the models made in Taichung. A lot of people refer to it as a "base" steel but the models it's being used on aren't really base models. They're more premium models and deserve a premium steel. Yes, there are now a lot of other great steel choices being used that we see in sprints and exclusives. I'm guessing they continue to use S30V to help keep the cost of their regular production premium models down while still offering a premium steel. I have and appreciate steels like BD1/BD1N and 14C28N but I consider them to be more budget steels that work great on lower priced models.

Also, I'm not sure why you think you need diamonds or CBN to sharpen S30V. I reprofile it with SiC stones and touch it up on the Sharpmaker brown and white stones without any issue.

[dreadpirate]

For that matter - I'm happy with my VG-10 knives.

[marty_bill_]

S30V is bad@ss steel and completely works for me. I'd be alright with nothing else. I think it's more steel than most folks ever need or can put through edc tasks. My Buck 101 fixed blade with 420hc is sharp af, tough af, and with Bos heat treat bad to the bone. Why do you think it took Buck so long to get S30V? They know stuff the rest of us don't, and I'm dying to get some Buck S30V to see what it does with Bos heat treat. I'm still a Spydie guy through and through and their knives ergos, and geometry do more for me than steels. That said I do appreciate the different options. Long live Spyderco S30V!!!