Questions about S45VN & S35VN

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jbib

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I am a novice on blade steel. If I had a specific question on a comparison of two blade steels which subforum would I use? Thank you
 
One is CPM S45VM. and the other is S35VM. Thank you "Blues"!
 
jbib said:
I thought this was what a forum is for.
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You're not wrong, but you didn't ask a specific question yet. Also, I believe you mean S45VN and S35VN. I have a couple in S35VN, but have not used S45VN to be able to answer whatever specific question you are going to ask at some point. But go ahead and ask your specific question, because there will be no shortage of others on here who will have experience directly related to your questions about these two steels.
 
S30V, S35VN, and S45VN are iterations of Chris Reeve's idea of an optimally balanced knife steel. They're not all that different, but you can read an in-depth story about the steels that Larrin wrote on his site. S30V was a benchmark for a long time. S35VN was tweaked slightly and came out ahead on toughness and corrosion resistance but behind on edge retention; the main point of the revision however was to offer similar performance in a steel that was much easier to machine. S45VN I guess is a tweak for the people who miss S30V?
 
Tsujigiri said:
S30V, S35VN, and S45VN are iterations of Chris Reeve's idea of an optimally balanced knife steel. They're not all that different, but you can read an in-depth story about the steels that Larrin wrote on his site. S30V was a benchmark for a long time. S35VN was tweaked slightly and came out ahead on toughness and corrosion resistance but behind on edge retention; the main point of the revision however was to offer similar performance in a steel that was much easier to machine. S45VN I guess is a tweak for the people who miss S30V?
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I think maybe S45VN was trying to create a steel that had better edge retention than S35 while still being easier to machine than S30.

I've yet to try S45VN, but I've had good results with the S35VN in my two Heretics and the BT&F Twist Tighe OTF.
 
While I can't say anything first hand about S45VN, I've used, sharpened, and reground S30V some years ago, and S35VN more recently, and I can't say I noticed much of a difference.
 
I have some Chris Reeve knives in S35 & one in S45. The S45 holds an edge a little bit longer, but the S35 has just about the right combination of toughness & edge holding properties for me. As far as ease of sharpening, I haven't noticed a whole lot of difference in the two, using a Spyderco Sharpmaker. I have no scientific evidence of any of this. Just my personal observations.:)
 
If we are talking about their use in CRK knives and heat treat, Ill take the 35 all day over the , in my experience, much more prone to chip 45.
 
I have a Spyderco with a "CPM S45VM" and a State & Union with an "S35VN". I was curious about the reliability and edge retention comparison. The statistics about the various steels is like reading Latin for me. I was hoping for an English translation.
 
David Mary said:
You're not wrong, but you didn't ask a specific question yet. Also, I believe you mean S45VN and S35VN. I have a couple in S35VN, but have not used S45VN to be able to answer whatever specific question you are going to ask at some point. But go ahead and ask your specific question, because there will be no shortage of others on here who will have experience directly related to your questions about these two steels.
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Thank you, Sir.
 
K.O.D. said:
I think maybe S45VN was trying to create a steel that had better edge retention than S35 while still being easier to machine than S30.

I've yet to try S45VN, but I've had good results with the S35VN in my two Heretics and the BT&F Twist Tighe OTF.
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That was exactly how I interpreted it, too, although I haven't read anything confirming that that was the intent. It will be interesting to see if S45VN really does replace S35VN; it seems like most manufacturers aren't making the switch like they did from S30V.
 
I've been a big fan of S30V for many years and have also used S35VN and S45VN. I cannot tell any practical difference between the three from a users standpoint, and I suspect that the specific heat treatment that the knife maker uses will be the largest contributing factor for any performance differences that may be noticed. So there may be nothing that the user can do to try and differentiate the flavors on their own without the specific heat treatment also being a part of the comparison.

From what I understand, 35VN and 45VN are easier to machine than 30V for the knife makers, so perhaps this is the real appeal. One that doesn't even get seen by the user.
 
Question: does anyone think that Magnacut has supplanted S45VN? I think I read somewhere that Chris Reeve was moving away from S45VN to Magnacut entirely (although I may have misread or may be misremembering that), and looking purely at stats sheets, it feels like Magnacut is equal to or better than S45VN in every department.

S45VN is my favorite steel at the moment, but admittedly I haven't had that much experience with Magnacut, so I don't know how good Magncut is myself.
 
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