CTS-BD1 Questions

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Fuori

Joined
Oct 13, 2014
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(Bringing back this old thread for a question)

It's interesting both the Cold Steel Aus8 and Manix 2 Translucent have been mentioned. If I own a Recon 1 and a few other Aus8 knives like the Rat am I going to be missing anything if I don't buy a Manix 2?
 
No need to resurrect a thread from the toilet, I don't think I need to explain why. Here is your own thread. To answer your question, yes you would be missing a Spyderco Manix LW in BD1 steel.
 
^pretty much what be said.

Will it cut better, or do anything extra special that your current Knives don't do; no. It'll slice and cut just fine.

But

You'll be missing a new knife, which by the question itself, is a knife I'm guessing caught your eye and you're interested in owning?

As for "where does bd1 fit in" blade steel wise, it would stack up somewhere along the lines with a really clean primo batch of 440b and a sandvik 14c28n in my opinion. Very similar performance wise, and a slight upgrade from aus8, IMO, but not a huge upgrade... It's a really good, clean, Evrnly distributed grain basic stainless (thanks to carpenters technology), but certainly not a "super steel".
 
strategy9,

Thank you for the response to the OP as I have owned, do currently own and enjoy a bunch of AUS8 knives, to include some that are being discontinued in AUS8 so as to "upgrade" to BD1. I too wonder if this was a classic case of change for the sake of change - an difference without a distinction or whether there was a quantum performance difference that I would be missing. Like I said, in the price range I purchased my more recent AUS8 knives, I have been satisfied.
 
If you like aus8, then enjoy your aus8. It does take a wicked sharp edge. Bd1 might hold it a bit longer due it being a pm steel, but nothing mind blowingly different. It's in that same "group" of quality basic stainless steels, and user preference will be the key deciding factor from one to the next. Like me, aus8 is not my favorite, bit I love sandvik 14c28n, buts it's all personal preference.

The may have come with cost for the producer, bd1(carpenter) being an American steel, and aus8 being japanese, maybe they cut a good deal? Idk though it's just speculation.
 
SALTY,

regarding Cold Steel switching to Carpenter CTS-BD1 from the previous Japanese AUS-8A:

Cold Steel has been moving their Japanese production to Taiwan for several years now.

(Most likely this is because of economic factors too numerous to get into here.)

This is probably why they switched steels too.

However, Carpenter CTS-BD1 is not a powered-process steel. If it was, it would be more expensive than it is.

(It isn't listed as such in the Carpenter Steels web page link listed below.)

So far, in my experience, Carpenter CTS-BD1 has slightly better edge-holding than AUS-8A.

Where it really preforms better is in the corrosion-resistance.

I have had almost every steel get some rust spots from front-pocket carry during hot summer days. Even high-chromium-content, powered-process ones.

I have had a Spyderco Lightweight Manix 2 for a couple of years now and it hasn't rusted at all on me yet. It doesn't take as fine an edge as AUS-8A will though.

I recently picked up a Cold Steel Voyager in Carpenter CTS-BD1. It came with a very sharp edge compared to the previous AUS-8A version did. I haven't carried it enough to see how the edge-holding will be though.

Here is a link to a Carpenter Steels Website:

http://www.cartech.com/techarticles.aspx?id=3940
 
GCG199,

I appreciate that intel dump. I've got a few less expensive beaters that I use for purposes where risk of damage or loss is elevated. Among those, my favorites are the RAT-1s that I have as well as a recently acquired CS Large Voyager clip point. AUS8 has served me well in these knives but I am attentive the keeping the edge keen and wiping clean/dry soon after use. I also wipe with mineral oil as soon as practicable after use as per habit given my affection and history with 1095 fixed blade knives. In all candor, I could tolerate some oxidation and more frequent sharpening given what I paid for these knives but keeping the edge keen and the blade clean makes for a happy relationship.

I have better knives in better steels but it's fun carrying and using <$40 knives (oftentimes <$30) as they shine in the "I don't care about it" catagory. These types of knives often come in AUS8. I have some S30V knives but seem to favor VG-10 and BG-42 for some reason. back to the point though I have been happy with my AUS8 knives given price point and wondered if I was giving up much compared to CTS-BD1.

Thanks again for the info.
 
GCG199 said:
However, Carpenter CTS-BD1 is not a powered-process steel. If it was, it would be more expensive than it is.

(It isn't listed as such in the Carpenter Steels web page link listed below.)
Click to expand...

You are correct. I never looked into it, but rather just assumed it was as one of their newer "cts" steel. Thanks for clearing that up.
 
SALTY,

I agree with you on having cheaper beater knives for hard use tasks.

I have picked up at least five of the previous/discontinued Cold Steel AUS-8A knives because of the blow-out pricing.

But it is more than just the blade steel that is important to me. The Tri-Ad Lock really works well and they have some really ergonomic handles too.

One more detail to add:

Carpenter CTS-BD1 is a newer, American-Made version of a Japanese steel called GIN-1 or G2. This was used on most of the early 1990s knives by Spyderco that were made in Japan.

With the exception of a tiny amount of vanadium added, the composition is about the same.

Strategy9,

I had figured the same thing as well. As I did more research tracking down more information on Carpenter steels. I found out that was incorrect.
 
One thing about BD-1 that I enjoy is that it seems to really want to get sharp. It's quick and easy to apply a screaming sharp edge, which can make it a fun steel to sharpen and use.
 
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