Review ColdSteel Master Hunter 3v ( Taiwan )

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old4570

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ColdSteel Master Hunter 3v ( Taiwan )

Purchased for my 60th Birthday ( A while back ) . ( $230 ish Oz Bananas )
Anyways , wanted one for a very long time and finally had an excuse for shelling out large ( knife large - Deep end of the pool for me )
The edge was FUBAR to the naked eye ! I just had no idea how FUBAR it might be ?

I put the knife to the rope for a 50 slice fail with the factory edge . Since I slice in 50's , this is about as bad as it can be !
There could be a reason for the 50 slice fail ?
Looks like that seeing eye dog has found a new company to work for ! ( Seriously - the edge was shit )
I reground the edge with the white wheel ( 80 grit 250mm ) and it took about an hour to clean the edge 90 to 95% ..
The tip is still quite FUBAR .. TO clean it up 100% , a lot of material needs to be removed . ( See pictures - taken after much grinding - followed by more grinding )

Some tool lingered near the tip long enough to make hollows in the edge ..
Most factory knives FUBAR the tip or near the handle .. This 3v was FUBAR both ends to the extent of one hour on the grinder to clean most of the edge .
It blows chunks when the factory does not have some one who knows how to make a bevel / edge ..

The other FUBAR ... The thickness of the blade is not even ..
Right near where the blade starts to curve toward the tip , the blade swells .............. ( *&^&$#&^#@(*&$ ) F this N that !
Oh dear !

Anyways ! I reground the edge / bevel 80 grit ..
The factory angle was 15.5 degrees ( Against the flat of the edge ) .. Wow , that's rather tight for a factory edge ..
And the factory edge did not feel good on the rope .. ( FYI )

Now reground ! It felt fantastic ! I tried to regrind closer to 16 degrees ? ( Yeah , I tried )
But the knife felt good on the rope right till the edge rolled ( and still felt good ) .
I did a quick wood strop and the knife was slicing paper .. ( Edge roll )
Stropped back rather well as well ... ( 16 degrees ? )
I havent checked the video as yet , so ? How many slices on the regrind ?
50 Factory - So the regrind did what ?
 
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Hmm that's a real sh#tshow. Interested to see how it does once you have finished rehabbing it.
 
That's weird.

I have one from Taiwan in CPM-3V that came with the DLC coating and I've had great performance deboning deer with it.

It completely broke down three axis, and showed no deformation.

I don't have one of these newer models to compare it to though.
 

Ok , here we go !
750 Fail with a rolled edge ..
Stropped back on wood and stropped back strong once I put the knife to the strop .

750 is an excellent result !
That factory edge was just amazingly FUBAR !
 
old4570 said:
Hu?


..... did you watch the video ? Or read everything ?
Click to expand...
Looks to me like a minor defect that could have been easily rectified by just sharpening. I've received knives with edge angles that were far too obtuse and required reprofiling the entire edge, easily accomplished with a fine file, then a succession of hones from coarse to fine. I'm a bit surprised though that yours made it through inspection -- I can't remember any Cold Steel knives in my collection of more than a dozen that weren't quite sharp, although they all benefited from a touch-up.
 
Hmmmm , I haven't filed a knife in ..................................... Well ..................... since I was a ..................... ? ( Hell , I can't remember )
I'm sure I used a file at some time ... 1970's ... When I was a early teen ..
Cos we had nothing else .

Honestly dont remember when I got my first stone (?) , that will just have to remain a mystery ( Cos I don't remember )

Anyways , a lot of sharpening methods will actually follow the imperfections .. ( For better or worse ) & Most people will simply not notice !
But this edge was so bad , it even showed up on the guided system ..
So I went straight to the grinder ( wet stone ) , and it was really bad ..
I mean if your going to test / review knives .. Then it might be relatively important to let people know how great the factory edge was / how sharp it was / and how well it performs !
Yes , I am aware of the fact that some people are not interested in how well a knife performs ( edge retention ) , or in Value for money !
But a small minority might and it's that small minority ( myself ) that I am catering to . ( Maybe a few more than just me ) .
Oh , and those pictures , were after about 30 minutes of wet stone grinding .. The edge was far more Uber FUBAR than those pictures to begin with ...

And ........... I like to remove as little steel as possible when sharpening / or correcting ..
 
I liked your close up pic of the factory edge, could you post one with your final edge? I like the before and after pics for comparison, thanks!
 
Hmmm , there is still FUBAR near the tip ..
After 1 hour of grinding , it was still NQR .. ( Light gentle careful grinding )
I cleaned it up till the FUBAR would not interfere with the rope slice ..
But I should be able to take a picture or two ...
 
Yeah , the conditions for taking pictures are poor .. Wet / rain / overcast .. ( http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDR022.loop.shtml#skip )

So the pictures are / so so !

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Yeah , needs more light .. & A flash would not help / cos it causes it's own problems with steel .
So don't know if and what you can see ? But I can see ( I guess cos I know what I am looking for ) ..
Just really poor conditions for close up photography ..
Needs tighter aperture and faster shutter speed ( or more light )
 
That looks like a very sharp tip and edge now, sorry to hear it came sub-par. I grabbed a 3V SRK from Midway to play with Coldsteel's 3V, I kind wish I would have gone with the master hunter instead as it looks like a more preferable general use knife.
 
Midway no longer ships out of the USA .. So I missed the SALE they had on the 3V Hunter .... This was the best I could do local !
 
Cold Steel does not sharpen knives like they did in the 90s, even the Kukri's would shave back then. I still buy the SRKs because they are cheap but they all need to be sharpened correctly.
 
I also had a 3V Master Hunter that was sharpened by Mr Magoo, sent it back. Last few Cold Steels I have purchased have been disappointing, I remember when I could always expect a decently sharpened knife from them. I refuse to spend the time to correct something that was not done properly from the factory, Cold Steel has taken a dive in quality and I don't think I will ever purchase another from them.
 
Get to the Point said:
I also had a 3V Master Hunter that was sharpened by Mr Magoo, sent it back. Last few Cold Steels I have purchased have been disappointing, I remember when I could always expect a decently sharpened knife from them. I refuse to spend the time to correct something that was not done properly from the factory, Cold Steel has taken a dive in quality and I don't think I will ever purchase another from them.
Click to expand...

The last fixed blade I got from CS was a SanMai trailmaster about 4-5 years ago and it came nearly razor sharp.

I just received 6 Finn Wolf Folders(group buy for some friends). Every single one was razor sharp and all blades were centered. I usually buy a couple of CS folders annually. I have never had an issue.

My CPM3v Warcraft Tanto has an acceptably sharp edge on it, but no where near as sharp as my AUS8a and SanMai fixed blades.

I just ordered a Trailmaster in A2, so we will see how that edge comes.
 
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