Cpm 3v

J

Johnny Canuck

Joined
Dec 4, 2016
Messages
43
Hello,

I am considering buying the new Cold Steel 3V Tai Pan with CPM 3V.

My understanding of Chromium / Stainless Steel is it weakens the blade, particularly lateral strength. Is this not the case with 3V?

I thought high carbon without stainless steel would be the best for a combat knife?! In addition, with 7.5 Chromium, is that enough to prevent rusting? If so, they should use it for kitchen knives too ;)

Any other information or suggestions is appreciated!

Thank you,

JC
 
With cpm 3v toughness is good, edge holding is ok and it is more corrosion resistant than most tool steels
It's a good all around choice
 
In my opinion, CPM 3V is the perfect steel for a camp knife. I camp a lot and have a few knives for that purpose. My #1 best camp knife is in CPM 3V. I also have camp knives in 1095 & 52100.

The 3V holds an edge forever, not so with the carbon steels. And I don't hold back from any task with the 3V.Ihave complete faith in its toughness, including chopping & batoning, which I do often.

Mine is a Bark River Bravo 1.5 by the way.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 
3V is fantastic! With a good heat treat, it is probably my favorite all around hard use knife for whatever you want to use a knife for.
 
ATJ999 said:
3V is fantastic! With a good heat treat, it is probably my favorite all around hard use knife for whatever you want to use a knife for.
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Pretty much this. ^^^
My Fehrman Peacemaker is the best general use 4 inch fixed blade I've ever owned.
 
I love 3v, if my 3v knives are sharp when I use them in the field I don't really need to bring anything with me to sharpen them when using. Maybe strop on pant leg if needed.
 
Check out this YT video of Guy Seiferd's SurviveKnife in his GSO series. I've owned four of his knives, and they are outstandiing. I tried to find Guy's original video where he batons through thick branches, using a sledge-hammer to slam the blade through. This CPM-3V is one tough baby. Highly reco'd, particularly in one of the SurviveKnives GSO series.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N89Az_WqC94
 
Johnny Canuck said:
Hello,

I am considering buying the new Cold Steel 3V Tai Pan with CPM 3V.

My understanding of Chromium / Stainless Steel is it weakens the blade, particularly lateral strength. Is this not the case with 3V?

I thought high carbon without stainless steel would be the best for a combat knife?! In addition, with 7.5 Chromium, is that enough to prevent rusting? If so, they should use it for kitchen knives too ;)

Any other information or suggestions is appreciated!

Thank you,

JC
Click to expand...

12.5 to 13 is supposed to be the magic number for if a knife is stainless

But it's more complicated, it's the ratio of carbon to chromium and how high the heat was before quenching and also what tempering temperatures that determines how much chromium is left free to form a oxide layer to stop the oxygen from reacting with the iron, which is how your body delivers oxygen in your body snd why your blood is red, Iron

Also, the chromium does more then just stain resistance.

It is used in low amounts to increase the strength of the alloy like in 3v by increasing the hardenability, which doesn't make the steel harder, it just allows a finer grain to get full hardness which is difficult without the additional chromium in small amounts

3v is not as ductile as a lower alloy steel like 1060 ,1080 etc

But it has the best blend of high strength, toughness and wear resistance for some of the best edge holding on larger knives.

Just not my steel. Since I'd rather trade that toughness for more strength and wear resistance for the types of knives and tasks I do.


In the end, don't overthink it, just buy that knife and be happy.

Shawn
 
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As others have said, if the 3v is heat treated nicely (by many accounts CS qualifies with their 3v) it is a pleasure. Its "claim to fame" is that it is extremely tough while also able to hold an edge quite well. Of course tougher steels exist--think S7--but their edge holding is not in league with their relative toughness.

You should be fine with the Tai Pan as far as 3v not being "stainless." Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe CS uses DLC on their blades so with minimal care, corrosion shouldn't be a big deal.
 
Even with the "industry standard" high temper, 3V has exceptional toughness, excellent find edge stability and very good wear resistance. According to those who have used it, the low temper increases the fine edge stability at slightly higher levels of harness (increased wear resistance and reduce chance of chipping) and offers a bit more corrosion resistance.
 
jdm61 said:
Even with the "industry standard" high temper, 3V has exceptional toughness, excellent find edge stability and very good wear resistance. According to those who have used it, the low temper increases the fine edge stability at slightly higher levels of harness (increased wear resistance and reduce chance of chipping) and offers a bit more corrosion resistance.
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I "think" wear resistance is actually said to be better with the higher temperature tempers (all the carbide precip with secondary hardening), whereas the lower tempers offer better fine edge stability (reduce chance of chipping because of that better toughness) and better corrosion resistance due to the free Cr. Some of the knife makers who make chopping/camp style knives prefer the low end tempers, as wear resistance isn't as important as apex stability in those type of knives. And to ramble a little here, I used to think that wear resistance was the more important of the two (toughness vs wear resistance) in a kitchen knife, but I really don't think that is the case any longer. Better to have the toughness for the fine edge stability, as you're more likely to need toughness when using a kitchen knife as it contacts bone or even the cutting board. Whereas there aren't a whole heck of a lot of abrasive stuff in food, otherwise we wouldn't have many teeth left. High hardness and maximum toughness are probably more important in most knife cutting tasks than all out wear resistance.
 
Stuart,it may be a push with the abrasion resistance because with the low temp, you may be able to run the hardness a bit higher. You are right about kitchen knives in that fine edge stability is king.
samuraistuart said:
I "think" wear resistance is actually said to be better with the higher temperature tempers (all the carbide precip with secondary hardening), whereas the lower tempers offer better fine edge stability (reduce chance of chipping because of that better toughness) and better corrosion resistance due to the free Cr. Some of the knife makers who make chopping/camp style knives prefer the low end tempers, as wear resistance isn't as important as apex stability in those type of knives. And to ramble a little here, I used to think that wear resistance was the more important of the two (toughness vs wear resistance) in a kitchen knife, but I really don't think that is the case any longer. Better to have the toughness for the fine edge stability, as you're more likely to need toughness when using a kitchen knife as it contacts bone or even the cutting board. Whereas there aren't a whole heck of a lot of abrasive stuff in food, otherwise we wouldn't have many teeth left. High hardness and maximum toughness are probably more important in most knife cutting tasks than all out wear resistance.
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I like 3V but as others have said, people should just buy, which ever steel they feel confident with.

DeadboxHero said:
Just not my steel. Since I'd rather trade that toughness for more strength and wear resistance for the types of knives and tasks I do.
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And thats just fine.

Which steel do your then prefer over the 3V and for which tasks, that you do do?
 
BladeScout said:
I like 3V but as others have said, people should just buy, which ever steel they feel confident with.


And thats just fine.

Which steel do your then prefer over the 3V and for which tasks, that you do do?
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I like smaller blades so I want a higher working hardness.

Gimme cruwear, 4v, M4, 10v

All have good toughness (not as much as 3v) but more strength, wear resistance.
 
jdm61 said:
Stuart,it may be a push with the abrasion resistance because with the low temp, you may be able to run the hardness a bit higher. You are right about kitchen knives in that fine edge stability is king.
Click to expand...

You "may" be able to have an actual higher RC number with lower temps on the tempering. Read "may", as I cannot find data on the low end tempers for 3V. However, generally speaking, the secondary hardness is preferred for higher wear resistance, regardless of the steel (that has SH like D2, etc). Because of the carbide precip. Generally speaking, if you want wear resistance at the cost of toughness, go with the 1000F range tempers, whereas if wear resistance is not the main goal, but toughness is, then the lower range ~350F is ideal.
 
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