Gladius Machete disaster

N

nedril

Joined
Aug 11, 2011
Messages
4
I just bought a Cold Steel Gladius Machete from Cold steel.co.uk.I just cannot believe how wrong everything regarding this purchase went

The machete I received looked only partly finished, it was full of machining and filing marks, Paint stain over the "edge", which was unfortunately full of burrs, blunt and unusable. The point seemed to be malformed with the meeting of the two edges being asymmetrical and hence the point is not at all pointy but slightly rounded.

but it gets worse today I tried to clean the glue remains from a sticker they put in the blade the entire finish came down! It was just a fine layer of what looks like acrylic paint. My hands became black and there were black stains all over my clothes! But the remains of the sticker still remain in the blade. The sticker glue is stronger than the blade finish!!

I contacted the seller and he replied "We do not consider a non-removable label as being a defect with the product,
the machete is a tool and a label does not affect the performance and
attributes for what that tool is for. If you have taken it upon yourself to
remove the label and the rest of the protective coating off the blade, thus
ruining your clothes in the process, I fail to see how we are responsible
for that."

So buyer beware Cold Steel is now using the new and patented technology the "non-removable label" if you try to take it out the entire finish of your blade will melt down with it.

I am curious if any of you had encountered any of these "non-removable labels" or if perhaps mine was part of a prototype batch for this groundbreaking technology.

Be safe and beware out there.
Nedril

TL/DR: I bought a Cold steel Gladius machete that was so defective that its finish just melted away when I tried to clean the label glue, vendor says this is OK and to be expected.





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This sounds very unusual

We use an anti-rust coating that is pretty darn durable. It's made to withstand tough conditions but it's not indestructible - it is after all, a coating. What chemical did you use to try and remove the label?
The label on the Machetes will usually come off with a little WD40 without any problems.

Everything about this particular case is weird.
I would suggest contacting our customer services team. They may be able to advise further
 
Cold Steel Knives said:
This sounds very unusual

>We use an anti-rust coating that is pretty darn durable. It's made to withstand tough conditions but it's not indestructible - it is after all, a coating. What >chemical did you use to try and remove the label?
>The label on the Machetes will usually come off with a little WD40 without any problems.
>Everything about this particular case is weird.
>I would suggest contacting our customer services team. They may be able to advise further
Click to expand...

I used a tad of alcohol of all things...

Well the customer service at Cold steel.co.uk wasn't at all helpfull it seemed that their were having a laugh at my expense. I contacted Cold Steel Customer services but they have not replied yet... the more I think of it the more I think I got a fake...

Regards,
Marcos
 
"Cold Steel UK" is actually an official CS distributer called Bear Arm Inc. Their domain name seems to cause some confusion.
They do stock legitimate CS products, I would be very surprised if the product is fake.
I don't work in a department that deals with distributers, but I have only heard good things about Bear Arm.
I'm sorry to hear that you feel that their response was inadequate.

The quickest way to reach our customer services team here in the USA would be to call 800 255 4716
They will be able to advise.

I don't have any experience with alcohol and our Machete coatings. It's a baked-on coating that does hold up to a lot of abuse, but as I said before, it is a coating and it could be compromised. It's not indestructible
I always recommend WD40 for removal of the labels. It'll come off just fine.
 
This is really weird, dude. I have five Cold Steel machetes and I plan to buy several more. Most of them had pretty terrible edges, but that's easily fixed with a file, and I've had no problems with them since, all of them being well designed and great performers. Coating is durable for me. A little Goo Gone and the stickers come off nice and easy, with the coating completely unaffected. I suggest you do what the Cold Steel guy here said.
 
I don't have any Cold Steel Machete but I do have a Bushman and it has solid good black coating. When I heard about baked-in coatings that is when it struck me. The coating in the machete did not seem to be baked... as I said it was just a thin matt layer of a paint like substance not the hard coating of the Bushman. When I put a dab of alcohol on it the thing just melted.

As for Cold Steel UK they may be legit, and my machete just a defective one but I am afraid that their customer service is subpar.

To be honest I wouldn't mind if it were any other brand but I am (was?) a big CS fan.I tend to be very brand loyal. My first proper knife was a CS push dagger I bought in the 80's it came with a leather sheat, I cant remember the name, but it is a beauty. I proudly own many CS products, my 6" Ti-Lite with aluminum handle is one of mi favorites as it iare my Mini Tac kiridashi and the push dagger... several spikes... etc.

So, for me it is not the money or the trouble is the dissapointment.

And I understand that any brand can have a defective item get through their QC but being mistreated that way by the customer service just hurts.

Nedril
 
I just bought a CS Latin Machete to wack down a bunch of weed, thistle, locus and cedar trees on my property. 4 hours and 2 blisters later, I was very suprised that non of the finish was removed from the blade. Of course there were rub marks on the blade, but it performed flawlessly. Excellent performance especially for a $16 machete.
 
Well, I do belive that most of CS products are of good quality and that I perhaps was unlucky to get a lemon but this is how my machete looked after rubbing it with some alcohol, the blotch in the middle of the blade are the remains of the label that were completely unaffected

sComxP8.jpg
 
It may not be your intended result but I have to say the Gladius looks good with the coating stripped.
I still think you should talk to our customer services team, but I think that looks pretty awesome
 
I agree it does look pretty nice with out the finish! Thats what I would of done to mine if I had one. But yea cold steels cs in the usa is great give them a ring.
 
Rubbing Alcohol will pull the black coating right off. I use the 92% to remove the coating from them when I first get it. The 70%ish will remove it but takes more then the 92%. Not a fan of the black paint or whatever it is exactly. Edited to add your blade looks about like the one I got but is was about what I expected for the price point and was happy with it. Give them a call.
 
that looks like a counterfeit not at all what Cold Steel puts out.the sticker would never take off paint, although thet do paint the entire machete in some models and the edge is dull in some models. the edge doesnt look like their machined machete edge, the corners of the point are rounded and on the real cold steel it has sharp corners. I do believe this is a fake.
 
zeuqramjj2002 said:
that looks like a counterfeit not at all what Cold Steel puts out.the sticker would never take off paint, although thet do paint the entire machete in some models and the edge is dull in some models. the edge doesnt look like their machined machete edge, the corners of the point are rounded and on the real cold steel it has sharp corners. I do believe this is a fake.
Click to expand...


He used alcohol to remove the sticker. As I said above alcohol will 100% remove the black coating used on the machetes. Not saying it should and it be a great blade coating but it does. Got that trick from a couple of people over on the Wilderness/Outdoor gear forum who used it on their Cold Steel macketes to remove the coating. Corners on mine where just as rounded. My wife got mine from the Cold Steel website as a gift so pretty sure they did not sell me a counterfeit lol or I would hope not at least!
 
tried the alcohol on my machetes from a confirmed Cold Steel dealer and that didnt happen. wow their quality control must be lacking if you got a rounded edges. yeah they pursue finding counterfeits.
 
zeuqramjj2002 said:
tried the alcohol on my machetes from a confirmed Cold Steel dealer and that didnt happen. wow their quality control must be lacking if you got a rounded edges. yeah they pursue finding counterfeits.
Click to expand...


Interesting I guess. Google and forum search both come with alcohol removing the coating either on purpose or on accident. So it happens. The 91% works a lot faster then the 70%. Guess they could up the CQ on them and charge a more but for less then $30 shipped...guess I don't expect as much as some. Also looking at pictures from people that got them when they first came out I saw that it was fairly common so was not surprised or upset by it.
 
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I left the label on mine. It's a yard tool! ;) The coating on my Kukri machete is pretty good; especially considering the price. No problems so far. The edge did roll pretty bad where I was chopping 1- 2 inch tree limbs. I have never used a machete so I don't know if it was operator error or the machete.:o
 
whilst i understand the disappointment,
it's a fact the common machete made any where round the world aren't going to be top end in fit and finishing.
they are always going to be a low end but completely functional tool.
if rusting is going to be a problem,
consider reapplying black chalkboard paint periodically.
 
My kukri machete had some blemishing under where the label was. Doesn't really bother me too much since it's for utility not to look pretty. If it was a San Mai, I'd have been PO...
 
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