Really liking S90V

[Bemo]

Those smaller carbides, IIRC, add to edge stability as well correct?

[Bolster]

This thread is NOT helping my S90V envy. Have missed owning a sample of it several times...someone always scoops me. I guess my competition knows how good it is and is willing to spend to get it...!

[Doc Dan]

I love the looks of the PPT, but it is heavier than it should be. I wish they'd reintroduce this knife in S90V in a lighter weight format, say in the 3 oz. range. I didn't like the scales much, either. This knife cries for brown Micarta.

[sal]

Hi Erion,

Welcome to our forum. I suggest you consider Sharpmaker. It will teach you and offer you success of a sharp edge as well.

On steels; S90V is one of my favorites as well. Just the right combination of "stuff" to make a good foundation for an edge. FYI, it was developed for coal chutes. We're pleased to be able to offer it to you in production pieces.

sal

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"Continual improvement is our evolutionary obligation to humankind"

[JoviAl]

Every time I read to stay away from certain steels….in this case, due to sharpening difficulty….others come along with a love of that steel

So, is it hard to sharpen, or exaggerated rumor?

It’s no harder to sharpen than most and distinctly easier than some. For frame of reference I resharpened my S90V Yojumbo today to hair shaving sharp on my KME in under five minutes. It wasn’t a totally ruined edge so I didn’t have to remove any dints or anything, but it’s comparable to Magnacut or cruwear for me (which are both pretty friendly to sharpen). For frame of reference K390 is the easiest to sharpen in my experience, and M398/S110V a bit more effort, but that’s just my experience so take it with a pinch of salt.

I wouldn’t hesitate to sharpen S90V on my sharp maker or any other system with decent abrasives. It takes a stropping and polish real nicely too if you want a mirror edge.

Have a great day,
Al

[Dnwrghtsr]

I love the looks of the PPT, but it is heavier than it should be. I wish they'd reintroduce this knife in S90V in a lighter weight format, say in the 3 oz. range. I didn't like the scales much, either. This knife cries for brown Micarta.

I am carrying the Siren s90v carbon fiber backpacking today. 3.3oz

[Doc Dan]

I love the looks of the PPT, but it is heavier than it should be. I wish they'd reintroduce this knife in S90V in a lighter weight format, say in the 3 oz. range. I didn't like the scales much, either. This knife cries for brown Micarta.

I am carrying the Siren s90v carbon fiber backpacking today. 3.3oz

What do you think about it? It looks like a great design.

[Doc Dan]

But I'm still a sucker for 14C28N, 12C27, or NitroV. I really wish Spyderco would try some of those steels on their budget line.

I hear you, especially the 14C28N. It is a solid steel and very tough. I have a couple of fixed blades in this steel and I really like using them.

[Soulrack]

Every time I read to stay away from certain steels….in this case, due to sharpening difficulty….others come along with a love of that steel

So, is it hard to sharpen, or exaggerated rumor?

I find it hard to sharpen compared to most if not all stainless steels.

[Guts]

Every time I read to stay away from certain steels….in this case, due to sharpening difficulty….others come along with a love of that steel

So, is it hard to sharpen, or exaggerated rumor?

Probably just people using the wrong abrasives. Diamond or CBN stones will make quick work of S90V no problem in my experience.

[TkoK83Spy]

Every time I read to stay away from certain steels….in this case, due to sharpening difficulty….others come along with a love of that steel

So, is it hard to sharpen, or exaggerated rumor?

Probably just people using the wrong abrasives. Diamond or CBN stones will make quick work of S90V no problem in my experience.

BINGO!

[Giygas]

Thats definitely the issue.

I've never found s90v any harder to sharpen than s30v. It may take a little longer, but its not any harder and the increase in edge retention more than makes up for the few extra minutes of sharpening.

S90v also seems to strop back better than s30v, in my experience.

[p_atrick]

How does S90V respond to the Spyderco ultra fine ceramics?

[TkoK83Spy]

How does S90V respond to the Spyderco ultra fine ceramics?

I haven't given either of mine a full reprofile to this point, but I have used a UF stone for a couple passes to clean things up after touching up on the browns. Seems to do the trick, notice a slight difference.

[Deadboxhero]

How does S90V respond to the Spyderco ultra fine ceramics?

It's not going to be as sharp as it could be compared to if you use diamond or cBN.


The hardness of the ceramic abrasive is 79rc
The hardness of the chromium carbide in S90V is 81rc
The hardness of the vanadium carbide in S90V is 87rc
The hardness of cBN and diamond is 94 and 100rc respectively.


So 22% of the matrix is carbide that is harder than the ceramic abrasive.

The remaining 78% of the steel is mostly tempered martensite (65rc) and some retained austenite (15rc) which is significantly softer than the ceramic abrasive.

That's why it seems like you can get away with using ceramic but just won't be as sharp if you do a side by side with a quality diamond/cBN abrasive and your technique is solid.

This is one reason out of many why we have people complain that they can't seem to get the knife as sharp or that the edge retention is not as good as they had hoped is people refusing to accept the reality that you should use an abrasive harder than all of the constituents in the matrix If you are trying to shape the apex as sharp as possible.

[Dnwrghtsr]

I love the looks of the PPT, but it is heavier than it should be. I wish they'd reintroduce this knife in S90V in a lighter weight format, say in the 3 oz. range. I didn't like the scales much, either. This knife cries for brown Micarta.

I am carrying the Siren s90v carbon fiber backpacking today. 3.3oz

What do you think about it? It looks like a great design.

Just got back. I held one at a knife store and had to have one. The design fits my hand perfectly. There is almost no choil so no wasted cutting edge. I thing 3.6 in blade, 3.5 cutting edge, and light.

[Sonorum]

Every time I read to stay away from certain steels….in this case, due to sharpening difficulty….others come along with a love of that steel

So, is it hard to sharpen, or exaggerated rumor?

S90V is one of my favourite steels. If all my knives were S90V I wouldn't be sad.

Using DMT stones it really isn't difficult. It feels like it responds well to sharpening. As someone else said, it also strops back really well.

I'm not that good at sharpening but S90V and XHP are my favorites because I can get them sticky sharp consistently and easily. Sure VG10 sharpens easily but it looses that scary sharp feeling pretty fast whilst S90V stays sharp forever.

I used my S90V Native as my only knife for a six week vacation and me and my wife used it for cooking and absolutely everything. I wanted to use it until it became very noticeably dull despite stropping and that took about four-five weeks. Most of you would sharpen earlier but i really wanted to see when it goes beyond usable. Amazing performing steel!

[legOFwhat?]

How does S90V respond to the Spyderco ultra fine ceramics?

It's not going to be as sharp as it could be compared to if you use diamond or cBN.


The hardness of the ceramic abrasive is 79rc
The hardness of the chromium carbide in S90V is 81rc
The hardness of the vanadium carbide in S90V is 87rc
The hardness of cBN and diamond is 94 and 100rc respectively.


So 22% of the matrix is carbide that is harder than the ceramic abrasive.

The remaining 78% of the steel is mostly tempered martensite (65rc) and some retained austenite (15rc) which is significantly softer than the ceramic abrasive.

That's why it seems like you can get away with using ceramic but just won't be as sharp if you do a side by side with a quality diamond/cBN abrasive and your technique is solid.

This is one reason out of many why we have people complain that they can't seem to get the knife as sharp or that the edge retention is not as good as they had hoped is people refusing to accept the reality that you should use an abrasive harder than all of the constituents in the matrix If you are trying to shape the apex as sharp as possible.

This really helped me! Great explanation Shawn.

[gooeytek]

It's my favorite steel. I find myself carrying the S90V versions of the Spydercos that I have, over the other steel types.
This one today, Manix 2 yesterday. Looking for another Ti Military to do a blade swap for my S90V version :D

That’s one of the best looking Spydercos I’ve ever seen! What is it?

Thanks, it's a Spyderco PPT that I had a Ti framelock conversion done on, then I torch-etched it

[Bolster]

How does S90V respond to the Spyderco ultra fine ceramics?

It's not going to be as sharp as it could be compared to if you use diamond or cBN.


The hardness of the ceramic abrasive is 79rc
The hardness of the chromium carbide in S90V is 81rc
The hardness of the vanadium carbide in S90V is 87rc
The hardness of cBN and diamond is 94 and 100rc respectively.


So 22% of the matrix is carbide that is harder than the ceramic abrasive.

The remaining 78% of the steel is mostly tempered martensite (65rc) and some retained austenite (15rc) which is significantly softer than the ceramic abrasive.

That's why it seems like you can get away with using ceramic but just won't be as sharp if you do a side by side with a quality diamond/cBN abrasive and your technique is solid.

This is one reason out of many why we have people complain that they can't seem to get the knife as sharp or that the edge retention is not as good as they had hoped is people refusing to accept the reality that you should use an abrasive harder than all of the constituents in the matrix If you are trying to shape the apex as sharp as possible.

That's a clip-and-save explanation! Very useful information. Makes me rethink (and reject) my final pass on the Ultra Fine sharpmaker stones after using diamonds to get there. Thanks Shawn!!