IS Cold Steel's Carbon V brittle?

[Tom271]

I have been looking into buying some old cold Cold Steel carbon V blades and since the prices on these are pretty high i am wondering if they are worth the price. I have heard some stories of these blades shearing at the hilt. I have also seen stories saying this is some of the best steel ever. Since these knives are pretty old i am sure time has revealed more data points. I am wondering how brittle this steel is?

P.S I own a carbon V SRk and beat the hell out of it with no problems. Also have a never used Peacekeeper one in carbon V. After reading some post on here i began to wonder how my peace keeper would hold up if i ever used it.

 

[The Zieg]

Not in my experience. Should hold up just fine. Carbon V Trailmasters are known to be sharpened pry bars. I had one with stag handle, leather sheath. Wish I hadn't sold it.

Zieg

 

[kvaughn]

I have an old CarbonV Trailmaster that I've used hard for years with no trouble. However, I hand convexed the edge and don't baton with it.--KV

 

[Thomas Linton]

Compared to what?

 

[LG&M]

Carbon V is not a brittle steel. No more so then Kabars 1095CV. I would not worry about using one, I would also not buy one to use. For the money some want for CS carbon V you can get a better/ as good current production blade.

 

[jbmonkey]

those earlier knives had a hard 90 transition from the blade to tang. made it a stress point. the newer ones have a radiused transition and that stopped that issue. so not really a steel issue more a design issue of that hard 90 transition and stress breaks.

 

[Tom271]

Compared to what?

Good question, i am really wondering if these knifes had a bad heat treat or not.

 

[Tom271]

those earlier knives had a hard 90 transition from the blade to tang. made it a stress point. the newer ones have a radiused transition and that stopped that issue. so not really a steel issue more a design issue of that hard 90 transition and stress breaks.

I seen problems with the recon scout but nothing else on any other models.

 

[G. Scott H.]

I've seen a couple of pics in the past of Carbon V Cold Steels that broke during batoning (both can be seen here: http://www.bladeforums.com/threads/looking-for-pics-of-blade-failure-in-cold-steel.526346/) but I've also seen a few similar pics of most other brands too, like so:

As you can see, not exactly cheap, poor quality knives, but people managed to break them. I would be a bit hesitant to baton an old Recon Scout or Trail Master in Carbon V, due to the 90* transitions jbmonkey mentioned, but I'd have no problem using any of the old Carbon V knives for any other imaginable purpose. As far as the Peace Keeper I, being a dagger, I don't think you have to worry about strength at all. It's probably strong enough to poke holes in hundreds of people before you eventually snap the tip off between someone's ribs. I honestly wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

[Tom271]

I've seen a couple of pics in the past of Carbon V Cold Steels that broke during batoning (both can be seen here: http://www.bladeforums.com/threads/looking-for-pics-of-blade-failure-in-cold-steel.526346/) but I've also seen a few similar pics of most other brands too, like so:

As you can see, not exactly cheap, poor quality knives, but people managed to break them. I would be a bit hesitant to baton an old Recon Scout or Trail Master in Carbon V, due to the 90* transitions jbmonkey mentioned, but I'd have no problem using any of the old Carbon V knives for any other imaginable purpose. As far as the Peace Keeper I, being a dagger, I don't think you have to worry about strength at all. It's probably strong enough to poke holes in hundreds of people before you eventually snap the tip off between someone's ribs. I honestly wouldn't worry too much about it.

Do all the carbon V knifes had the hard 90* transition? Im looking at getting an ODA. Great info by the way.

 

[sac troop]

Cold Steel Carbon V was made by the original Camillus Cutlery. According to people from there it was 0170-6C steel subjected to a double quench tempering process.
I agree with LG&M, IMHO I doubt you'd be able to make much if any distinction between the differences in Carbon V and 1095CV.

 

[G. Scott H.]

Do all the carbon V knifes had the hard 90* transition? Im looking at getting an ODA. Great info by the way.

That I don't know. I think the SRK, for example, has always had a somewhat radiused tang/shoulder area, but I don't know about other models.

 

[jbmonkey]

That I don't know. I think the SRK, for example, has always had a somewhat radiused tang/shoulder area, but I don't know about other models.

good point. assumption is always a bad thing to do and i was assuming.

 

[jbmonkey]

I seen problems with the recon scout but nothing else on any other models.

yep true.

wasnt really thinling it through just thinking recon scouts. carbon v in general is good steel, so if i was the op, i wouldnt worry really.

 

[mete]

90* inside corners are poor engineering !! Just asking for trouble. --But I've seen examples all my life ! My work in 'failure analysis ' as a metallurgist makes a job very easy when I see 90* ! Once I actually measured the radius , .004 " .That concentrated the stresses very fast - 100 hours on a truck water pump !

 

[Alberta Ed]

Lynn Thompson invested a lot of time and effort into designing the heat treat for Carbon V, according to what I've read. My experience with this steel has made it one of my favorites -- a couple of Master Hunters, SRK and a pair of Twistmasters.

 

[Tom271]

Here is a Randall 14 with the same 90* angle as the cold steel. These knives many consider to be some of the best. Could the few stories about the recon scouts breaking be lemons and in no relation to the angle?

 

[Tom271]

90* inside corners are poor engineering !! Just asking for trouble. --But I've seen examples all my life ! My work in 'failure analysis ' as a metallurgist makes a job very easy when I see 90* ! Once I actually measured the radius , .004 " .That concentrated the stresses very fast - 100 hours on a truck water pump !

Interested in what you think about my post about the Randall.

 

[Charlie Mike]

In 2015, Darrel Ralph gave me approx 20-30 pounds of Camillus Carbon V. Some of you guys own knives I've made from that steel. I haven't got any complaints yet!

 

[Fanglekai]

Here is a Randall 14 with the same 90* angle as the cold steel. These knives many consider to be some of the best. Could the few stories about the recon scouts breaking be lemons and in no relation to the angle?

A formula for bending stress: Max stress = K *(M*c)/I
where K is the stress concentration factor, M is the bending moment, c is the distance from the neutral axis, and I is the second moment of inertia (aka area moment of inertia), for a rectangular beam it's (b*h^3)/12.

K is calculated from the radius of transition/height and the width/height. For the case of a shoulder fillet, as the radius of transition decreases the stress concentration factor K increases exponentially. The width/height ratio doesn't have as much of an effect. A larger shoulder fillet radius decreases the stress concentration factor K, which reduces the max stress. The max stress occurs at that 90 degree transition, so that's typically where you'd expect to see the knife break, barring some other issue.

Long story short, the geometry is super important and 90 degree transitions are bad no matter who the manufacturer is.