CPM S110V - My Conclusions After 1 Year 

Hi Stephan. Freut mich dass dir das Video gefallen hat. Du hattest mal das Manix(G10) mit S110V und ich habe dir auch geschrieben dass ich denke das dieser Stahl etwas fuer dich sein koennte. Langsam versuche ich, wieder in das Spiel(RU-vid und Messer) wieder reinzukommen. Mal sehen wie es dieses mal klappt. :) Danke fuer die netten Worte... Ich versuche immer meine eigene Erfahrungen reinzubringen. Immer nur das selbe...wird auch langweilig nach einer Weile! Leiebe Gruesse, Denis

@@SpartanJohns

Du Stephan, ausser wenn es um Messer geht....bin ich schon am Fuss des Berges! :)) Musst dich nicht beeilen...ich warte...;)

@@SpartanJohns 😅😅😅😅

I think that is the way to go! You get a steel, you sharpen it and use it. As long as you don't abuse it, it will do a good job and the better engineered it is the better of a job it will do. I want to get a UKPK with S110V....i had a UKPK and it had a thin grind. That was BD1N. If the S110V has a similar grind I think I will like it a lot. Maybe full height convex it....I personally agree with you 100%...i also recommend it!

Thank you! Happy to see it is well received

Thank you...as always...I was never "gone" just layin' low....

Glad you liked it! I hope you can put some of the information here to good use

So far, and maybe because I tested it so much, K390 in on the top of my list as well. It takes a "hazy" patine pretty quickly but I never had it rut on me either. I have been laying with Maxamet and 15V for a few months now...can't really find a flaw in them but then again I have not gone to the extremes I went to with K390 and S110V. I love swithching steels and testing everything out. After sharpening 15V and Maxamet for so long I sharpened a VG10 knife and was so pleased with how easy the last steps were. I recently(about 5 months ago) got a Native 5 with Magnacut. I have tested that steel from other manufacturers but was really waiting to see Spyderco's HT of it. I said "recently" beause I have not managed to do much with it. Dropped the edge 1 degree per side and used it a bit.... I still like H1...and I am curious about H2 but I think it will do more or less the same like H1. For "on the water" i used 440C before H1 and LC200N...and tbh...i never really had any issues unless I left it damp (in my swimming shorts) over 1-2 nights....If I just dried it a bit....no issues. Of course that was 1-2 weeks on holliday....for more frequent outings things might be different. Little spots turn into big spots and then rust.

@@SpartanJohns H2 is basically H1 in terms of performance, as far as I can distinguish. I have many fillet knives in well treated 440C - it can take water and even handle salty water quite well. However, here on the Pacific - even Lc200n gets rust spots if you don’t rinse it off (I don’t) frequently. My fishing knives basically live in salt water; I fish nearly 300 days a year, and these are extreme conditions as far as exposure to salt water goes. Maxamet and 15v are a pain to sharpen, but the edge holding is incredible. Magnacut is a great edc steel, from my somewhat limited experience. I did find that when using rather carelessly on the kayak, I managed to get a few chips here and there. I don’t get my tougher models in Lc200n and H2/H1 chipped at all. Cheers!

@@helterskelter156 I had no issues sharpening Maxamet or 15V to where they would whittle hair. even with a 45 micon finish of the coarse dmt stone. I used the same progession of strops which I showed and got it to whittle hair quite well. I tested Magnacut in the A200 and it was ok. The Deka was better, i felt, but maybe it was because the grind was thinner too. I am expecting the Native 5 to do better. But I would have to drop the edge angle to 13 dps to be able to compare. Lc200N I like very much. I had it with me seaside for 10 days and there was rust only between the guide pin and scale. But then again I am not sure how the Black Sea and Pacific compare. I have not seen any models with H2 yet show up on my regular sites....Not that I am looking to buy anything right now... About 2-3 more months....I am hoping the Native Chief Salt will come out by then... 😁

this was more the stropping over time. I do love he look of it! and I must say..polished S110V, if you mainly do push cuts....very cool1

Thank you!

...back again...Shady's back...tell a friend! ;)

Glad you found it useful. I made an "update" video....but the title is a bit clickbait-y... easy to missunderstand the point I wanted to make. But essentially...if you damage S110V it most likely is user error.

Thank you so much 😀 I have a small update, brought on by the interaction with users after this video!

Atata timp cat exista otel, chestii care taie otel si pe care sa le tai cu otelul si o platforma pe care sa postezi toate tampeniile...o sa fie si un SpatanJohns...e undeva. ;)

A blast from the past! So nice of you to drop by! I also used a bit of convexity. Especially for lower edge angles...I have to handsharpen and that just happens. In general I prefer convex edge angles when going under 15dps. Since Cliff's first video about plateau sharpening I was always curious about it. And I have tried, but get it to where the edge almost meets but not really and then use the exact amount of pressure...that is beyond my skill. What I did, for a few paring knives, I sharpened them to low edge angles...somewhere around 3-4 dps...at that point the burr was so fragile and would not come off....so i cut it off gently on a stone(later on i found out that is "the jointing method") and then did just 1-2 ultra light passes to remove the burr but is a larger edge angle. as if i would apply a microbevel but it was more to cut off burr. I don't have a microscope to check...it was not shaving, it cut paper very well...almost a 90 degree pushcut(i had to angle it a bit)...and if I wanted a shaving edge all i had to do was 1-2 passes on the DMT fine. BUT....the grind was so thin at that point...even if it worked great on vegetables and apples if i would hit the cutting board a bit harder it would get small warps. I have not managed to do the same with larger edge angles....like 12-15 dps...

Me too...i have an update video on this...the title is a bit clickbait-y, and i did damage the tip but it was not the steel or HT...it was due to what I did

Thanks! I hope this was of some use!

@@SpartanJohns absolutely! had a S110V Para 3 and it chipped the tip with light gardening work but good to see that things aren't that black and white. And I really need to step up my strops 😊

I have to admit that, until i modified my Para 3(skinny mod and thinned out the grind), I was not a big fan of it. The Para2-3 Mili...have thinner tips...and sometimes that can happen with any steel. I had a lot of micro chips in this one too...but I could always trace it back to abuse. Since over the last 3-4 months I only used it for normal cutting tasks...no tests, just what I actually needed to do...I wasn't all that surprised that the edge was ok. As for strops....they are useful, especially if you want to play around with leaving a coarser finish off the stone. Like a 300 grit diamond stone. That and strops...can really give you a nice aggressive edge. But if you use a good progression of your stones...all you need is maybe a 3M, a 1M and maybe .5 M....with that you can do all sorts of hair whittling accrobatics

@@SpartanJohns I use 4 stones up to around 1500 and 2 Strops with 1M and 05M. Need to add a ceramic and at least a 0.25M Strop, I like to just bring them users back and for my more expensive folders, I send them to a german Pro Sharpener for those mirror finishes or reshaping...

If you go up to 1500 in diamond then yes...the scratch pattern of the diamond might be a bit too deep to be removed by a 1 M strop. However you should get superb edges with that setup. What I would suggest would be to "have a deeper look" at what really is happening. With practice and that setup...you will get superb edges from any steel Mirror edges are ok for certain materials. they make life easier when cutting wood. but you can also manipulate a 600 grit finish to do almost the same. First thing you could try: next time you sharpen: do a full sharpening(here you actually remove the apex-a light pass with the apex on a fine diamond stone) then sharpen using "ultra light pressure". TBH I only used "sharpening services" when I wanted to thin out a grind. It is much easier done on a belt grinder than by hand. I like sharpening too much to let others do it. But I am always curious at how other people sharpen. Whenever I buy a second hand knife I like to look/test it to see...it does happen very rare that one comes with a good edge.

I have S90V nly from Manly. I would like to see what Spyderco does to their S90V. I seem to trust them more with the HT than any other knife company. As for the S90V from Manly....i can't omplain. Sharpened it on diamonds only and on ceramic only. In regular test and use...i could not see a difference. Maxamet is a bit more difficult to sharpen if the abrasives don't cut well...but if you use even "medium" quality diamonds...it works. I have been playing around with Maxamet and 15V in paralel....I should focus on just 1. that would be the better option! :)

you're killing me....yes...i also saw a Military 2 with S110V. I wanted to get it but...could not...and I still can't. But at some point I will. I think 14-15 dps is a good edge angle. It will be slicy enough and still have some "meat' supporting the edge. Factory edges are usually less good than the ones you put on yourself. Once you sharpen it a few times...you will see a huge improvement. Nice choice!

Thank you! I am not sure what "regular stones" means....i assume it is water or oil stones. You can sharpen S30V on sandpaper and get great results. You don't need "special"(expensive) stones to sharpen S30V

Daca faci ce am facut eu....tai lemne(relativ curate) si ai grija la cum tai, intretii taisul din cand in cand...nu ar trebui sa apara probleme. Am scazut unghiul doar. Nu am "lucrat" la geometria lamei. Ar fi de mare ajutor dar sincer daca fac aia as vreasa fac sa si arate bine si aia ar dura. Cand vine vorba de stropuri...e ca la oricealtceva: time and practice! Pentru mine a durat o vreme sa ma obisnuiesc cu pietrele diamantate dar cu timpul si dupa multe cutite ascutite am trecut la ele si acum vad beneficiile. Stropurile sunt foarte utile. Da, normal, pot sa faca si rau daca sunt utilizate prea mult dar alea sunt cazurile de execptie. Mai ales cand e vorba de oteluri "normale" cum e VG10 sau cele similare. Am lame din VG10 pe care le ascut doarpe strop. Am incercat asta sicu CRUWEAR (dat pestrop zinic cam 3 luni) si nu am observat partile negative de care multi vorbesc. Vorbind de brici...eu si ala il ascuteam freehand si pe stropuri normale de piele pe lemn sau doar lemn de balsa. In cazul asta chiar observi o diferenta daca din cand in cand mai ascuti pe pietre.

@@SpartanJohns La mine nu a fost neaparat ceva rau combinatia strop-cutit doar ca le dau degeaba....inclusiv pe strop cu pasta, se lustruieste mirror dar nu rade nici dupa 50 pase.... Prin contrast, 20 de pase pe CC4 ( sau dc3, spyderco ultra fine, worksharp fata ceramica) si rade perfect, aproape whitling.... Pe de alta parte la brici am reusit sa l fac sa taie parul fara sa l presez pe piele, numai cu strop cu pasta si apoi strop simplu.....cred vreo 1000 pase in total, fara misto ( bine, si stropul e mic cam vreo 20cm supraf utila)..... Nu ma deranjeaza dar e cam ciudat.....azi m am ras cu briciu pe obraji, insa cand am incercat pe gat cu R41 m am taiat 🤣.....

daca dupa 50 de ori dat pe strop pare ca nu are efect pot fi cateva chestii: ori nu atingi apexul, ori nu e format apexul cum trebuie pentru pasta. In princiiu...daca pasta e ok, atunci e tehnica. Sunt paste care nu sunt ok. Poti verfica usor. Tocmai am facut asta. Am pus un spray de 0.5 microni pe o bucata curata de balsa si am dat ea un Opinel. initial nu am verificat unghiul si mi se parea ciudat ca devenea mai fin taisul. Dupa aia am verificat si mi-am dat seama ca unghiul era mai mare. in 20 de treceri am vazut o diferenta. Daa polisheaza lama dar nu taie diferit inseamna ca probabil nu atingi apexul.

if paper bad, paper gets cut!

S110v has a finer grain structure than s90v which is impressive because s110v has a higher carbide volume.

@@hayden1590 yeah s110v has a higher chromium carbide structure an additional 1.5% of chromium compared to s90v. The problem with this is you don't want chromium carbides you want vanadium. And the additional niobium and I think cobalt isn't helping s110v, s90v is still outperforming it as far as edge retention, stability and possibly toughness as well. Theoretically s110v should be an improvement overall, atleast that's what everyone's initial impression was but after further testing and real world use s90v is still preferred. I don't understand why but my guess is that they hit the nail on the head with s90v's composition balance and maybe it's HT isn't as tricky as s110v.

I think you mentioned it....S110V's HT is not as "tricky"(I would say:expensive) as S90V's HT. I think that would be it. That said.... I have not had any S90V from Spyderco. I have it from Manly...some people say, after tests, it is "ok" but I don't know what that means...I also sharpened it and used it..and it is fine...but comparing manly's s90v to this S110V...without testing them side-by-side....I would prefer the S110V. But maybe it is because I used the Manix more than my WASP

What exactly would you like to know? It is like sharpening any other steel.... if I show you...you would not see/know the difference. If you tell me exactly what you want to know i could maybe clarify what questions you might have

@@SpartanJohns I would be happy to see how you sharpen freehand and various suggestions for obtaining a razor edge on a steel like S110V. Thank you for your availability, warm greetings from Italy

www.tiktok.com/@tinnybrownbear/video/7294244411762806048 This is a video I made for my tiktok. Here I sharpen a Victorinox Spartan which I found. For S110V the process would be the same. Only difference is that you might have to pay more attention at the end with the strops. Because the steel is softer so certain ceramics will not do the job as quickly. If you are using diamonds the process is the same. There is no "special technique" or a secret...Just practice...

@@SpartanJohns Thank you so much🙏😊👋👋

You're welcome! BigBrownBear has a vieo of him sharpening S110V. But He does it the right way....big stones, fastened. I really prefer to hand sharpen much more. That does bring the level of precision down at first. Because not only does the knife move but the stone too. Maybe sharpening on a bench is the better way to start