Opinions on Cold Steel

The mono-tempered CS blades are probably something like 50-52 RC to yield a compromise between edge holding and toughness. That's one of the reasons they use 1050 steel instead of the more knife-like 1095. The "50" in the AISI 1050 spec means 0.5% carbon. Likewise, the "95" in 1095 means 0.95% carbon. The higher carbon content of the steel means it can be hardened more during tempering. This is desirable in knives because they are generally not impact-use tools, but rather cutting tools. A sword will likely see some impact loading during its service and that's why they sacrifice hardness (and therefre edge holding) for toughness so it won't fracture on impact. If you shoot them an email they can might give you more specific info.

As an alternative, check out the Paul Chen line of oriental swords:
http://www.casiberia.com/cas_websit... Daggers&subcat=Japanese&subsubcat=Functional
They are all differentially tempered and some are 1000-layer folded steel. This is made from a 250-layer Swedish powdered steel alloy that is hand folded twice to give 1000 layers. The standard steel used by Paul Chen is a modern steel alloy that is hand forged.

He has everything from the Practical Katana at a street price of ~$130 to the Kami Katana at ~$1100. The following websellers have good prices on the Paul Chen stuff:
http://shopthroughtheages.com/paulchenswords.html
http://www.bladematrix.com/p-r-paul-chen.html

Another brand that has recently come to the Katana market is the Last Legend line of swords:
http://www.swordarmory.com/03kats/03dex.html

Good luck finding your sword set.
 
My opinion for what it is worth...

I have several CS that I purchased many years ago. SRK ( original parkerised finnish) Recon Tanto ( agian their first recon tanto, which was a bead blasted version of the original Tanto). And several others from 5 and more years back. These are all great knives and have been in use by me for years with zero complaint.

I fell by the wayside with CS when they went to the "epoxy finnish" on their black blades. I did purchase a one folder from their line with this finnish and with in one year of normal use it is all but gone from the blade.
I think this company has cut WAY to many corners in bringing potentialy great designs to the market. Blade thickness is less, finnish is not nearly what they used to do.
For the money, I stay away from current production CS and look for older "gems" that can be found as old stock or on EBAY. These older knives are great examples of what their original vision was.
 
I recently purchased (just before the holidays) a Cold Steel Recon 1 with the Tanto point. Just thought that I'd relate that you have to be careful with these knives. They will break if they are used to any extent. Open your Recon 1 and look at the blade stop. This is one of the screws used to hold the handle scale on. Very small screw, probably a #2-56 or something close in metric (since its made in Taiwan). After breaking this screw about a week ago, I shot off an email to Cold Steel, but haven't heard anything back. This coming week I will start the process of trying to contact their Customer Service department on the phone and see if I can get any response at all.

Mpotter
 
Never owned a CS folder. All of mine are Benchmade, Microtech, with the odd brand here or there. I have a CS SRK, and it went to Iraq wiht me. No problems at all, and it stays sharp. In their catalog, they say they are fiecr competitors with Bugei Trading Company for Japanese swords. This is truly laughable. A differentially treated blade is not only better, it is also the reason a hand forged Katana or Wakizashi curves. Since the spine and blade harden differently, the blade bends towards the spine. It is truly an art to get this perfect. CS Japanese swords are made with their production version of stock removal, in other words cut in that shape. Just take a look at Bugei's website to see some magnificent examples of blades. All that said, I think I may be buying a Magnum Tanto II soon. Then making something better than the crappy leather sheath it comes with out of Kydex.
 
About 420.

Most people think of 420 as a junksteel. However, recently it was anounced that the next generation Buck/Striders wil be made of 420.
All of a sudden there were a lot of positive thoughts on the choice over at the Striderforum on USN. Go figure!?!
 
Originally posted by Abadir
About 420.

Most people think of 420 as a junksteel. However, recently it was anounced that the next generation Buck/Striders wil be made of 420.
All of a sudden there were a lot of positive thoughts on the choice over at the Striderforum on USN. Go figure!?!

The "positive thoughts" were framed in terms of specifics:

- Corrosion resistance, which can be said of whichever brand/make that chose this steel.

- Cost, again, for any brand/make.

- Paul Bos's magical heat-treatment, which makes some of us who did not before appreciate 420 at least now give pause and makes us at least somewhat willing to first give it a try before dismissing it.....

And to be fair, more of the members there were less in favor of the use of 420 rather than thinking that they were going to be giving these offerings a chance.

Me? I'm in favor of at least handling the product before condeming it -- heat-treat is a make-or-break process; even the best steel can be ruined with poor treatment, and "lesser steels" can be much "improved."

Allen
aka DumboRAT
 
I own a lot of cold steel products and think they are a good product overall.people say they have quality control issues,which can be expected from time to time with any large company pumping out knives from china like they are.i have many knives with san mai steel and they look and perform phenominal imo.i also love the sk-5 steel in the trailmaster and the kukri ,i omn both and they have taken a tremendous beating and have absolutely no problems.
 
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