Golden S30V

[cutter17]

Have a question about the S30V used in the titanium Military, the unfluted version. I have one on hold and will get it at the end of the month. I have the Perrin PPT, and the Vallotton which both use S30V, and so far I've had no problems with it. My question's concern the hardness of this steel, with the first one being;

1- Do the Tawain S30V knives have the same hardness as the Golden, CO S30V knives?

2- What is the hardness of the S30V used in each?

Almost from the time CRK started using this steel I've read how CRK hardens it to 58-59, and many say that is too low, that S30V is best at 60-62. So I'm just curious about the Rockwell numbers for Spyderco's S30V.

Remember, I'm a Spyderco newbie, though not a knife newbie, as I have collected knives for the past 30+ years. Just no Spyderco's until now! :)

[Ankerson]

I had a S30V CRK ZAAN blade HRC tested and it was 59+ HRC, not 58-59....

I had 4 Spyderco S30V blades tested and all of them were 60 HRC.

One coated blade came in at 58.5.

You won't see S30V over 60 HRC except in customs and even then 61 HRC would be max with a good HT and tempering process.

Once S30V gets above 60 HRC it will have serious chipping issues if not properly HT.

[cutter17]

Okay, that's right, as you jogged my memory about the over 60 chipping issue. Is the hardness of the Umnumzaan, at 59+, greater than what CRK started out hardening their knives?

So Spyderco is pretty consistent with a 60 Rockwell hardness on their S30V. Would that be safe to assume?

Finally, is 60 Rockwell the optimum hardness for S30V?

I appreciate your answering my questions Ankerson, as I was actually thinking you would be the one with the knowledge to answer them. Btw, I'm up on the other end of NC. The southern foothills. :)

[Ankerson]

Okay, that's right, as you jogged my memory about the over 60 chipping issue. Is the hardness of the Umnumzaan, at 59+, greater than what CRK started out hardening their knives?

So Spyderco is pretty consistent with a 60 Rockwell hardness on their S30V. Would that be safe to assume?

Finally, is 60 Rockwell the optimum hardness for S30V?

I appreciate your answering my questions Ankerson, as I was actually thinking you would be the one with the knowledge to answer them. Btw, I'm up on the other end of NC. The southern foothills. :)

CRK started out at 59-60+ HRC back when they 1st started using S30V based on that 1st production run, but that S30V was different than what we have today. They had to back the hardness down to that 58-59 range due to the chipping issues for awhile. So it looks like to me they did what some others have done and worked the HT formula to that 59-60 range and that's were S30V needs to be.

Spyderco has S30V down to a Science...

There was a problem when Crucible changed S30V that created the chipping issues so the HT formulas had to be tweaked to avoid those.

That 1st Production run S30V was freaking awesome and could take 62 HRC from what I have been told. That's the reason why Chris Reeve and the others who were involved in the development of S30V jumped all over it.

[bh49]

One coated blade came in at 58.5.

this is quite surprise for me. For some reason I thought that the coating is much harder than base, I guess not.

[Ankerson]

this is quite surprise for me. For some reason I thought that the coating is much harder than base, I guess not.

The coating was ground off so a good reading could be done.

That has to be done for all coated blades.

[cutter17]

Thanks much Ankerson...........indeed, you are a fountain of knowledge! :)

[navajasound]

The coating was ground off so a good reading could be done.

That has to be done for all coated blades.

Then why the difference ?Do the black coated blades have a lower hardness ?

[Ankerson]

Then why the difference ?Do the black coated blades have a lower hardness ?

Couldn't tell you, it was a loaner knife for testing and I don't by coated blades from anyone as a rule if there is an another option.