S110V vs S45VN Steel

CPM S45VN and CPM S110V are two high-performance stainless steels made by Crucible Industries using their advanced Crucible Particle Metallurgy.

This results in very fine and homogeneous carbide structures compared to conventionally processed tool steels.

Crucible has continually evolved its stainless grades over the years from S30V to S35VN and now to the new S45VN composition. 

CPM S45VN builds upon the popular S30V and S35VN steels but with improved corrosion resistance and toughness. 

In comparison, S110V represents Crucible’s highest alloyed stainless steel, engineered for maximum wear resistance and corrosion resistance.

While S45VN steel aims for a balance of properties, CPM S110V steel is optimized solely for hardness, wear resistance and corrosion resistance.

S45VN knife steel provides an upgrade over past favorites like S30V steel and S35VN steel but with continued ease of grinding and sharpening.

S110V knife steel offers higher edge retention and corrosion resistance but with compromises to other attributes like toughness and ease of sharpening.

S110V vs S45VN Steel At A Glance

Hardness

Crucible Data sheets show S110V attaining over 62 HRC in comparison, S45VN reaches a maximum hardness of around 61 HRC. 

Therefore, CPM S110V is capable of achieving higher hardness levels than S45VN due to its higher alloy content and volume of carbides.

Both grades contain high levels of vanadium and other carbide-forming elements like chromium, molybdenum, and niobium. This leads to exceptional wear resistance properties.

The key difference lies in their relative hardness levels. CPM S110V has a higher volume of vanadium carbide and niobium carbides, around 25% more than S45VN. 

This translates to greater wear resistance and the potential for higher hardness with proper heat treatment. 

Toughness

While both S45VN and S110V exhibit high hardness and wear resistance, their toughness levels differ. S45VN exhibits better toughness than S110V.

Toughness in knife steel indicates a steel’s ability to resist chipping, cracking, or breaking under load. 

The data sheet shows S45VN has a transverse Charpy impact toughness of 11.0 ft-lbs when tested in the hardened and tempered condition.

In comparison, S110V steel as a higher alloy steel with greater hardness has lower toughness than S45VN steel.

S110V’s higher carbide content makes the matrix more brittle. S45VN possesses superior notch toughness and ability to resist impact forces compared to S110V.

S45VN blade steel’s lower alloy content provides better crack resistance when hardened.

Therefore, for knife applications where toughness is critical, S45VN would be the preferred choice over the higher hardness but less tough S110V steel.

Edge Retention

S45VN and S110V are both high-vanadium stainless steels made using Crucible’s particle metallurgy process. This results in a very fine, homogeneous carbide structure.

However, S110V contains around 25% more vanadium-rich and niobium-rich carbides than S45VN, which contributes to its exceptional wear resistance.

Independent CATRA edge retention testing shows S110V achieving around 170% relative to 440C steel when hardened to 63 HRC.

In comparison, S45VN is estimated to have 143% CATRA edge retention at 61 HRC.

S110V outperforms S45VN in slicing-edge retention due to its higher volume of hard vanadium and niobium carbides.

The higher alloy content of S110V allows it to reach greater hardness levels as well, further improving edge retention.

Therefore, S110V is capable of superior edge retention compared to S45VN, owing to its higher hardness potential and greater volume of wear-resistant carbides.

However, S45VN offers a better balance of properties, with decent edge retention combined with good toughness and corrosion resistance.

Corrosion Resistance

S45VN and S110V are stainless steels with good corrosion resistance, but S110V is better than S45VN. S110V contains more chromium in solution than S45VN, resulting in higher corrosion resistance. 

While S45VN has more Chromium elements in composition than S110V, most of the chromium elements are used up in the formation of carbides leaving very little Cr in solution to fight corrosion.

Experimental salt spray testing shows that S110V develops almost no visible rust even after 48 hours of exposure. In comparison, S45VN exhibits moderate surface rusting within 24 hours under the same test conditions. 

While S45VN has decent corrosion resistance owing to its high chromium, nitrogen, and molybdenum alloying, it is slightly outperformed by S110V steel.  

For knife applications where corrosion resistance is the priority, S110V is the better choice, while S45VN offers a more well-rounded set of properties.

Ease of Sharpening

The grindability and sharpenability of steel are closely related to its volume of hard vanadium and niobium carbides.

S110V steel contains around 25% more of these extremely hard carbides compared to S45VN steel. This makes S110V more difficult to grind and finish during manufacturing.

It also leads to greater difficulty and time required during sharpening for the end user. S45VN, with its lower alloy content and carbide volume, can be ground and sharpened significantly more easily than S110V.

Crucible notes that the carbide content of S45VN is quite similar to S35VN with S45VN exceeding by only 1%, so grinding and sharpening characteristics should be comparable as well.

S45VN is noted to be an improvement over S30V in this regard. Therefore, while both steels are considered wear-resistant grades, S45VN is markedly easier to sharpen and grind than S110V owing to its lower volume fraction of vanadium and niobium carbides.

For applications where ease of grinding or sharpening is critical, S45VN steel would be the preferred choice over S110V.

Conclusion S110V vs S45VN Steel

S45VN steel strikes a better balance between edge retention, ease of sharpening, toughness, and corrosion resistance compared to S110V steel.

For most EDC users, S45VN is likely the better choice over S110V. S45VN offers improved corrosion resistance over past steels like S30V, and S35VN along with similar or better edge retention. 

In terms of basic properties, S110V is better than S45VN, it achieves higher hardness, high wear resistance, and extreme edge retention thanks to its high alloy content.

However, S45VN stainless steel strikes a better balance between hardness, toughness, sharpenability, and corrosion resistance for EDC use.

S45VN steel offers good wear resistance along with improved toughness over the more brittle cpm-S110V steel. 

While S110V can attain crazy sharpness, it requires diamond stones and mastery to sharpen, in contrast, S45VN’s fine but not excessive carbide volume sharpens easily. 

For cutting, S45VN has sufficient edge retention with less hassle. Its tougher nature makes it more forgiving if dropped or used for light prying.