Does anyone use a S90V blade?

Discuss Spyderco's products and history.
Hardbawl
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Does anyone use a S90V blade?

#1

Post by Hardbawl »

After searching Forum archives on S90V steel I have come up with 2 attributes. One, it is hard to sharpen. Two, it holds an edge. In my experience, if you have diamond rods for your SharpMaker, S90V is NOT hard to sharpen. What really surprised me was that after working down from in rod grit from diamond to ultra fine (forgive me, Mr. Vivi) the edge results were as good as, if not better that I could get with Cruwear. My Chief in S90V came out sharper than any knife I have ever used. Please note that I am not a sharpening expert at all. Further, I always thought that a tool steel could be made sharper than stainless. But, this Chief in S90V has made me sit up and take notice. Weekly touchup of 50 very light strokes per side on the ultra fine rods keeps the Chief sharp and take only 5 minutes. This unit is in daily use. It is not part of a rotation. I would like to know if your experience with S90V is similar? Cruwear is famous for taking an edge. Why doesn't S90V get noticed for taking an even better edge??
metaphoricalsimile
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Re: Does anyone use a S90V blade?

#2

Post by metaphoricalsimile »

My daily driver is an S90V Para 3 LW, but I also recently got a Cruwear PM2 and have been carrying it, and I think that you're making broad statements about your individual experiences. For one thing, if your blade is already properly apexed, and you're sharpening at the bevel angle, pretty much *any* steel is going to get super sharp super fast if you're doing your job right. The major place where wear resistance starts to rear its ugly head is if your sharpening angle is *not* precisely the same as the bevel angle or if you're trying to reprofile to a different bevel angle, in which case I think it is very safe to say that S90V will be a lot more effort than Cruwear. I personally have only touched up the factory edge on my S90V blade and it's doing great (it's not super sharp, but it opens packages cleanly which is just how sharp I need it to be), but I found out that with similar methods and effort the Cruwear factory edge got sharper easier.

As an addendum I also want to say that it's not universal that low-grit edges always perform better. It varies based on steel and bevel angle and blade geometry and what the knife is routinely used for.
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ZrowsN1s
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Re: Does anyone use a S90V blade?

#3

Post by ZrowsN1s »

S90v is a favorite. I have the Native 5, Chief, and Shaman. The Chief in particular is exceptional. I'd buy more S90V blades.
Last edited by ZrowsN1s on Wed May 18, 2022 3:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Evil D
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Re: Does anyone use a S90V blade?

#4

Post by Evil D »

Carried a S90V Yojimbo for a couple years. I think it depends more on your uses. If you're really using a knife hard and you're wearing out the edge, those 50 strokes on the UF rods aren't getting you anywhere. Any time I read that a steel is hard to sharpen I'm immediately suspicious about that person's sharpening ability, tools, leaving burrs, etc. I don't see one steel as being harder to sharpen than the next, one just takes more time or strokes to get there than the next.
Last edited by Evil D on Thu May 19, 2022 3:01 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Does anyone use a S90V blade?

#5

Post by yablanowitz »

I wore out a Military S90V/CF Sprint run. It served as my work knife during a period when I was doing a lot of drywall repair work. Luckily, I had bought a second one for backup. There's an S90V/CF Chief in my back pocket now.
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sal
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Re: Does anyone use a S90V blade?

#6

Post by sal »

Hi Hardbawl,

S90V is and has always been one of my favorites. Carrying an S90V Shaman today.

sal
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Airlsee
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Re: Does anyone use a S90V blade?

#7

Post by Airlsee »

I love S90V, it's by far my most owned stainless steel.
So it goes.
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bleasure
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Re: Does anyone use a S90V blade?

#8

Post by bleasure »

S90V is one of maybe 2 or 3 steels I still don't have that I would like to own. It's difficult to find available, affordable models I want in it though, even outside of Spyderco. Looking forward to the day I snag the right one
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Ramonade
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Re: Does anyone use a S90V blade?

#9

Post by Ramonade »

My experience (altough small compared to many here) in sharpening made me realize something. Steels that are commonly said "hard to sharpen" by some people are in fact excellent at giving feedback for your actions on the stones. When the heat treat is correct, these steels don't mess around, you know when you hit the apex. If it is indeed a sharpening job and not a reprofiling, It is possible to give a fine edge back to S110V, S90V or K390 very fast.

Only thing is, I think some people do not exactly match or increase the sharpening angle between 2 sessions and it ends up being a small reprofiling job at every sharpening !

I have only one S90V Spyderco, but also have another knife in S90V, very veyr similar to an Endura, but thinner blade stock. I've used it a lot for the last 2 years and it's a joy to sharpen back (except when chipped, but again, it's not the same kind of job)
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wrdwrght
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Re: Does anyone use a S90V blade?

#10

Post by wrdwrght »

I was going to say it’s one of Sal’s faves…. It sure is one of mine. I have S90V in some of my favorite Spydies (Military Model; Manix2 XL; Native5; Native Shaman; Native Chief).

I find S90V’s sharpening response to be very good, but that’s while maintaining its edge.

Re-profiling is another matter, but because S90V is relatively hard, re-profiling is not often required. Diamond rods will certainly be a better use of your time if you need to repair edge-damage or change the bevel.
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VooDooChild
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Re: Does anyone use a S90V blade?

#11

Post by VooDooChild »

My manix 2 ltwt in s90v is one of my favorites.
bleasure wrote: S90V is one of maybe 2 or 3 steels I still don't have that I would like to own. It's difficult to find available, affordable models I want in it though, even outside of Spyderco. Looking forward to the day I snag the right one
Yeah, when spyderco does a sprint or exclusive with s90v you should try to get one. They are still usually the cheapest s90v knives you can find. Especially if they are a lightweight. Ive never seen a s90v knife as cheap as my Cutlerry Shoppe exclusive s90v manix 2 ltwt. The pastel blue para 3 lightweight in s90v was also a decent price.
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Re: Does anyone use a S90V blade?

#12

Post by VashHash »

I use S90V pretty often. It's one of my favorite steels. I like it with a coarse /extra coarse edge. Been going back and forth between the S90V Yojumbo and military a lot lately. The only downside to S90V is it takes a while to repair edge damage. I'm not talking about a glint or burr here or there. I've peeled out a piece of edge from a S90V Manix 2 and it took a long time to fix. (don't cut the bead of a tire)
skeeg11
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Re: Does anyone use a S90V blade?

#13

Post by skeeg11 »

How time flies. Hard to believe that knives have been made in S90V for almost two decades. Have to wonder about tweaks or changes in heat treat protocols since its inception. Perhaps Dr. Larrin could fill us in.
Last edited by skeeg11 on Wed May 18, 2022 8:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
twinboysdad
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Re: Does anyone use a S90V blade?

#14

Post by twinboysdad »

Not to derail but this is why I love VG10 and my basic Sharpmaker brown rods…sticky sharp fast
Soanso McMasters
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Re: Does anyone use a S90V blade?

#15

Post by Soanso McMasters »

My only contribution is that I have found S90V easier to sharpen and re-profile than S110V. In addition, it is easier to get a very sharp edge on S90V than S110V. This has held true for me using both guided systems and bench stones.
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Fireman
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Re: Does anyone use a S90V blade?

#16

Post by Fireman »

S90V is great if you have a trip where you can bring diamond sharpening tools or don’t intend to sharpen. S90V is a great choice when you want a long lasting edge and don’t want or need to sharpen and corrosion resistance is a premium. I like this steel a lot for what it does. Kudos to Spyderco for offering this steel. Spyderco is a great company that bends over backwards to please it’s clients. Spyderco will always have my appreciation and admiration
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Philo Beddoe
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Re: Does anyone use a S90V blade?

#17

Post by Philo Beddoe »

Sure do..all the time..not mine but have one of these that gets carried a lot.

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Re: Does anyone use a S90V blade?

#18

Post by Wandering_About »

S90V is good stuff. I've always enjoyed using it. Sharpens up fine, but that does depend on your experience and equipment. I strongly recommend diamond abrasives for S90V.
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Sonorum
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Re: Does anyone use a S90V blade?

#19

Post by Sonorum »

Hardbawl wrote:
Wed May 18, 2022 2:30 pm
After searching Forum archives on S90V steel I have come up with 2 attributes. One, it is hard to sharpen. Two, it holds an edge. In my experience, if you have diamond rods for your SharpMaker, S90V is NOT hard to sharpen. What really surprised me was that after working down from in rod grit from diamond to ultra fine (forgive me, Mr. Vivi) the edge results were as good as, if not better that I could get with Cruwear. My Chief in S90V came out sharper than any knife I have ever used. Please note that I am not a sharpening expert at all. Further, I always thought that a tool steel could be made sharper than stainless. But, this Chief in S90V has made me sit up and take notice. Weekly touchup of 50 very light strokes per side on the ultra fine rods keeps the Chief sharp and take only 5 minutes. This unit is in daily use. It is not part of a rotation. I would like to know if your experience with S90V is similar? Cruwear is famous for taking an edge. Why doesn't S90V get noticed for taking an even better edge??
My experience is that it isn't too difficult to sharpen and that the sharpening response is very good. I'm not a great sharpener but I can put a very good edge on my S90V Native. It also rarely needs to be sharpened! I rotate my knives enough that I don't often notice differences in wear resistance, but S90V stands out! Overall it is one of my favorite steels. In my use CTS-XHP and Elmax behave similarly with easy sharpening and wear resistance that I notice.

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Sonorum
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Re: Does anyone use a S90V blade?

#20

Post by Sonorum »

Fireman wrote:
Wed May 18, 2022 9:08 pm
S90V is great if you have a trip where you can bring diamond sharpening tools or don’t intend to sharpen. S90V is a great choice when you want a long lasting edge and don’t want or need to sharpen and corrosion resistance is a premium. I like this steel a lot for what it does. Kudos to Spyderco for offering this steel. Spyderco is a great company that bends over backwards to please it’s clients. Spyderco will always have my appreciation and admiration
I brought ym S90V Native for this reason, was gone for 6 weeks and only brought a DMT Diafold which I only used once after 5 weeks. My wife and I used it as the only knife for foodprep and just about everything else.
/ David
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