How good is Cold Steel's CTS-XHP ?

MythrilBlades

MythrilBlades

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Jan 18, 2017
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Does anyone have first hand experience with this new steel they began using? How is the heat treat, edge retention, and hardness?
 
Fabulous steel! Especially with the DLC coating. Seems finer grained than S30V or D2 and easier to sharpen (on diamond hones). Edge-holding is exceptional, judging by my American Lawman and Recon 1 -- check out the video comparing AUS8 and CTS-XHP. I would expect to see this still on other makers' knives.
 
its good, sharpens better then s30v and very responsive to touch ups, has a good "bite" to the edge off the strops. Not the toughest steel or most corrosion resistant but decent for what it is. Its not going to cut as long as s30v though but its close enough. I like it, but not enough to overcome my design preferences when it comes to a folder.
Design comes before steel.


I'd say its in between cpm d2 and s35vn

definatly in that "goldly locks" range of super steels that are easier to sharpen. Of course if you are using an Arkansas stone, have poor angle control and let the knife get so dull you can't cut butter then it will be impossible to sharpen regardless hahaha

I'm not going to go buy cold steel knives just because they have cts-xhp but its good stuff and better then aus-8 :D
 
I've only used it on some Spydies and I love it. Domino and Chaparral are 2.
Easier to sharpen than s30v, also holds an edge just about as long.
Really good steel.
Joe
 
Both end user tests:

[video=youtube;W7D98zJE1bM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7D98zJE1bM[/video]

[video=youtube;sTsnCDMH2Cg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTsnCDMH2Cg[/video]
 
Ive used a swift in the woods,stayed sharp didn't need touch up .I was whittling,and hacking small branches for the most part. not anything real elaborate but it held an edge well.
 
They do a fantastic job on their XHP steel. Not sure what one poster above is on about, because their CTS-XHP is very corrosion resistant. I've done water tests on one of my beater code 4's, zero staining or surface rust after leaving water sitting on the blade for a long time.
 
Cold steel broken skull baby

I got some corrosion on the edge That's what I'm "on about" hahahaha :D

Makes since if you look at the chemistry of the steel. 1.60 carbon and 16% chromium. haha

In fact it's so wet where I live I get spotting with m390 and zdp189. which have 20% chromium
We have to look deeper, its not just the chromium number, its the relationship with how much is "free chromium" not bonded with the carbon, which forms a thin oxide layer in the steel. This helps prevent oxygen from stealing carbon and making "rust"

While its sweet that you did a water test there are more variables

such as temperature, concentration, pH, impurities, aeration, velocity, crevices, deposits, metallurgical condition, stress, surface finish and dissimilar metal contact.

so mine got rust, your's did not, that's fine, just realize its not so simple :D hahaha
 
Yes i understand the composition side of the steel, i was just speaking in very lay terms. As you said, you even get spotting with M390, which is VERY hard to induce under normal conditions. You are in a very small percentage of people that live in such extreme conditions. For anyone living in 95% of climates Cold Steels XHP or M390 is very hard to spot or rust as long as you simply wipe down the blade before bed if it's been wet or exposed to other elements. Sounds like a few Spyderco's in H1 might be good down your neck of the woods :)
 
Mick_1KRR said:
Yes i understand the composition side of the steel, i was just speaking in very lay terms. As you said, you even get spotting with M390, which is VERY hard to induce under normal conditions. You are in a very small percentage of people that live in such extreme conditions. For anyone living in 95% of climates Cold Steels XHP or M390 is very hard to spot or rust as long as you simply wipe down the blade before bed if it's been wet or exposed to other elements. Sounds like a few Spyderco's in H1 might be good down your neck of the woods :)
Click to expand...

banished to the world of premium dive knife steel! Nooooooo! :D ;) hahaha
 
as good as it gets, just as their DLC. Much better corrosion resistance than AUS8 and way longer edge holding, while almost as easy to sharpen IME

20161223_092621_zpsfffirdb5.jpg
 
DeadboxHero said:
Cold steel broken skull baby

I got some corrosion on the edge That's what I'm "on about" hahahaha :D

Makes since if you look at the chemistry of the steel. 1.60 carbon and 16% chromium. haha

In fact it's so wet where I live I get spotting with m390 and zdp189. which have 20% chromium
We have to look deeper, its not just the chromium number, its the relationship with how much is "free chromium" not bonded with the carbon, which forms a thin oxide layer in the steel. This helps prevent oxygen from stealing carbon and making "rust"

While its sweet that you did a water test there are more variables

such as temperature, concentration, pH, impurities, aeration, velocity, crevices, deposits, metallurgical condition, stress, surface finish and dissimilar metal contact.

so mine got rust, your's did not, that's fine, just realize its not so simple :D hahaha
Click to expand...

I'm a little surprised you get some noticeable corrosion "spotting" with M390. Not so much surprised with ZDP189. Even with 20% Chromium, when you have a whopping 3% carbon, a LOT of that Chromium gets tied up in carbide formation (ZDP's wear resistance), and not much "free" chromium to aid in corrosion resistance. ZDP is said to take a patina...not nearly as easily as the carbon steels, but still.....
 
Their CTS XHP functions similar to RWL-34/CPM154 in my experience.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
samuraistuart said:
I'm a little surprised you get some noticeable corrosion "spotting" with M390. Not so much surprised with ZDP189. Even with 20% Chromium, when you have a whopping 3% carbon, a LOT of that Chromium gets tied up in carbide formation (ZDP's wear resistance), and not much "free" chromium to aid in corrosion resistance. ZDP is said to take a patina...not nearly as easily as the carbon steels, but still.....
Click to expand...

Me too, it was a benchmade 765 ti mono lock. noticed very small orange rust spots, it cleaned off very easy but I was a little shaken in my beliefs :D hahaha
 
At 3:25


https://youtu.be/W7D98zJE1bM

He describes the edge as "getting toothier then smoother" in a repeat cycle... I could be wrong, but this sounds to me like a micro-folding of the edge breaking off repeatedly and folding again each time (perhaps in segments, other segments folding at different stages)... I do not do these types of rope tests, so I was curious if there is another explanation for this cycle... Any edge micro-folding to me does not sound good, as it means the edge height is lost rapidly...

Gaston
 
My understanding as well. I have had zdp189 rust fairly easy. M390, never seen a spec of rust, patina or anything. I swim with my folders, s30v, s35vn, zdp189 just to name a few have showed corrosion.
samuraistuart said:
I'm a little surprised you get some noticeable corrosion "spotting" with M390. Not so much surprised with ZDP189. Even with 20% Chromium, when you have a whopping 3% carbon, a LOT of that Chromium gets tied up in carbide formation (ZDP's wear resistance), and not much "free" chromium to aid in corrosion resistance. ZDP is said to take a patina...not nearly as easily as the carbon steels, but still.....
Click to expand...
 
I only have Experiances with the code 4 and American lawman. No complaints at all so far. I did have a spec of rust on the uncoated code 4 but cleaned right off pretty easy. None on the DLC AL though. Great affordable EDC knives. Awesome lock!!! Love the Tri-Ad
 
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