Much has to do with the geometry you grind...... there's a reason that the old Buck 110 folders had that overly excessive edge bevel....it was because in the beginning, the engineers chose 440C for the steel, and didn't give much thought to type the grind.....the first couple runs of those knives (way back when), had terrible issues with blades chipping badly and breaking.....because they were trying to do a flat grind, which simply wasn't strong enough for the combination of Rc and steel. Rather then change steels, they chose to change the grind to "sorta" (semi) hollow grind that left a huge amount of material thickness at the edge, which traded off sharpness and cutting reistance in favor of durability.
Most stainless steels have a VERY narrow target Rc hardness, meaning that you have to be pretty much right on to get a usable end product. They are not like carbon/alloy steels....you can can't widely differ the tempering temp and have it come out "right". What I have found is that staying close to the target hardness that is recommeded, and modifying the grind geometry is the best course of action when dealing with most SS.
I followed the evenheat info for 440c, foil packet at 1900 for 15min. I used 1" aluminum quench plates. I did not let the knives get below 150f and did x2 tempers at 325 for 1hr each.
When I read that, it prompted me to think about my own experiences when I first started experimenting with SS. There are so many variables when it comes to heating a blade, theres no way I could cover them here. Just think about what you're doing, and look at each step. I've come to understand that the recommeded heat treat procedures should be used as a Starting Point, and not absolute. When I first started using CPM154, I had issues with it not fully hardening.....using the recommended formula. What happened to me was I wasn't taking into consideration that the formula of 1900F for a 15min soak meant that the time started when the entire blade had reached that temp. DUH! After several trial and error runs, I settled on 1950F for 20 mins. That solved my issues with that particular steel.
Compared to carbon/alloy steels, SS is going to be "chippy", its just the nature of the beast. Personally I only use a limited amount of SS, simply because it sells, and customers want it. Personally, the only "advantages" I can see of SS over a carbon/alloy blade are.... (1.) Very low maintenance, due to the SS factor, and (2.) Bragging rights about having a blade made of the "latest and greatest" steel. In the end, I doubt you will ever get any SS to perform like a carbon/ally blade will....they are two totally different animals. What you mentioned about your testing (the chipping and the 10-20 degree break) sound about right for a 440C blade.