Cold Steel Fish Knife

midnight flyer said:
I think that it finally got old to knee jerk with venemous commentary on LT's circus style marketing every time Cold Steel was mentioned just got old.
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Na.....

That never gets old. :D
Sharperthansticks said:
I cook a lot of salmon, so I usually need to cut a big filet into multiple pieces. My kitchen knives, which are sharpened at 2x25degrees on my WorkSharp KE/Blade Grinder just can't get through the fish easily, so I purchased a Cold Steel fish knife. Being a snob, I don't even know what 4116 steel is (the steel the knife is made of), but I didn't care, since wear resistance against fish shouldn't be much of an issue at all. Wow, this thing is great! No struggle at all with this one, whereas I had to saw back and forth and back and forth and back and forth when using my kitchen knives, even though they were honed to at least 1500 grit. The blade on the Cold Steel is made out of quite thin stock, which just makes it a pleasure to use. It's 8" long and it comes with a sheath, too. I'm quite happy with this $23 purchase.
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4116 and it's equivalents are used a lot in kitchen knives. Being a snob is not an excuse for not knowing this :p It is very similar, if not the same as what is labeled 5cr out of China. It gets used a lot! Not bad at all in a kitchen knife.
 
I always wondered what the steel in Henckels knives are, considering how expensive they are, anyone know ? It couldnt be this 4116 can it?
 
goldie said:
I always wondered what the steel in Henckels knives are, considering how expensive they are, anyone know ? It couldnt be this 4116 can it?
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They make a lot of different knives. No doubt some are.
 
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Zwilling / Henckels is very discreet about the steel they use. They only advertise their patented hardening processes (Friodur and Cryodur). It's only a supposition, but they probably use 1.4116 / X50CrMoV15 (this is not Chinese alphabet soup, it's a DIN standard). It's quite the staple for German kitchen cutlery (and produced in Germany).
 
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herisson said:
Zwilling / Henckels is very discreet about the steel they use. They only advertise their patented hardening processes (Friodur and Cryodur). It's only a supposition, but they probably use 1.4116 / XC50CrMoV15 (this is not Chinese alphabet soup, it's a DIN standard). It's quite the staple for German kitchen cutlery (and produced in Germany).
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From what I can tell, 1.4116 is equivalent to the 5cr15mov steel people love to bash in budget knives. I think it is funny that this steel is fine in mid level kitchen knives but when it is made in China and used in cheap pocket knives people think it is a travesty and condemn companies like Kershaw for using it.
 
Kitchen knives prove themselves in the kitchen. No feelings involved, if they work, the steel is fine. A pocket knife is perhaps a more personal matter and there is also the jewelry thing : you want it to be "special". I could also add that I would largely prefer German steel with a precisely controlled heat treat to the "same", China produced with unwarranted composition and heat treat.
 
herisson said:
Kitchen knives prove themselves in the kitchen. No feelings involved, if they work, the steel is fine. A pocket knife is perhaps a more personal matter and there is also the jewelry thing : you want it to be "special". I could also add that I would largely prefer German steel with a precisely controlled heat treat to the "same", China produced with unwarranted composition and heat treat.
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I do agree. A trustworthy company in charge of the final product is important. I trust kershaw with how they heat treat though. That said, certain companies not telling us what their magical steel is, that is funny as well.

I also wonder about when a company calls their steel german 1.4116 but the product is made in China. Do we really think they are shipping german made 1.4116 over to China (or Taiwan) to make their inexpensive knives or are they just using 5cr and calling it german because well, the recipe for the steel is in fact german!
 
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Good question. It's in fact a part of the China "problem" : their steels are similar but not exactly identical. They have their own standards and also apply looser tolerances. So, even if it is the same recipe, you may get 1.4116 which is not exactly the same as its German equivalent. This said, I have little to no doubt that the German cutlery made in China will use the local steel. They can still label the knife with the DIN steel standard because, hey, it's supposed to be the same ! Interestingly, it's no longer a big thing to label the steel on the blade. By the way, it's not only Zwilling / Henckels that is so discreet about their steel : Güde and Friedrich Dick, too. Wüsthof, on the other hand, has an entire page on their website dedicated to the steel they use (X50CrMov15).
 
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goldie said:
Kinda what Puma was using?
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Puma did use it and also other "lowly" (for pocket knives, IMO) stainless steels like 440A and 440B. I have a small Puma knife in 440C, happily. I do prefer harder steels on an EDC knife.
 
herisson said:
For filleting, thin stock is key. Krupp 4116 is a steel very widely used in the German kitchen knife industry, and for a good reason. It's very stainless, easy to sharpen and holds an edge for a reasonable time. I have many knives in 4116 and I'm always surprised at how their edges hold up well while used for ungrateful tasks, like cutting on plates, bamboo boards, etc.
In my experience, performance wise, it's in the 420HC league.
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very nice
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herisson said:
Wow, wow, wow. Don't get over enthusiastic here. Cold Steel does offer some "great value for the price" items. Here under my gateway drug and first kitchen knife set (bought 8(?) years ago). Still in use, by the way, but relegated to the ungrateful tasks...
AVq1NvD.jpg


My strong opinion is that people with experience and discriminating tastes will migrate from those to higher end stuff or just start with KAI or Tojiro or whatever numerous offerings there are out there which overwhelm Cold Steel by far.
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:) Strongly . but respectfully , I disagree !

IMO , Cold Steel is still by far the best brand for overall value for basic functional performance . Bar none !

If you want a fidget folder or a specialty collector's safe queen , there are better options .

But for an extremely strong and durable knife , for work . play or SD at a bargain price ...Cold Steel stands out at least 2 or 3X the value . :cool::thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
DocJD said:
:) Strongly . but respectfully , I disagree !

IMO , Cold Steel is still by far the best brand for overall value for basic functional performance . Bar none !

If you want a fidget folder or a specialty collector's safe queen , there are better options .

But for an extremely strong and durable knife , for work . play or SD at a bargain price ...Cold Steel stands out at least 2 or 3X the value . :cool::thumbsup::thumbsup:
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Slow down there buckaroo. He's talking about kitchen knives, especially ones that use the budget steels, like the one in the OP. He's not taking a shot at your beloved cold steel.
 
eisman said:
I have had many Cold Steel products over the years. I have always thought they offered good value. My CS Kitchen knives are VG10, which is no longer available, and superior to many other knives I've used, including some very well known brands.
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I am not aware of Cold Steel ever offering any product in VG10 until this past year or so after shifting all production from Japan to Taiwan and replacing VG1. The Kitchen Series was Aus8, and the Kitchen Classics which replaced it was Krupp 4116. Could you let me know what series is written on this CS kitchen knife? Thanks.
 
KenHash said:
I am not aware of Cold Steel ever offering any product in VG10 until this past year or so after shifting all production from Japan to Taiwan and replacing VG1. The Kitchen Series was Aus8, and the Kitchen Classics which replaced it was Krupp 4116. Could you let me know what series is written on this CS kitchen knife? Thanks.
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The 2007-2009 catalogs show the K-series (K7, K5, etc) as VG-1...below is from 2009:

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