Who knows the HRC of Cold Steel GI Tanto?

G

gd1944

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Sep 10, 2009
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Who knows the exact HRC of Cold Steel GI Tanto? It's the 1055 carbon steel.

Thanks!

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Cold Steel website declares "1055 steel at Rc 60-64 depending on the exact carbon content"
 
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gd1944 said:
That's incredible! Is there a web link to it? I can't find it on their site. Thanks in advance.
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That's because they do not leave them that hard, I do believe that is the hardness before temper. As far as I know CS does not yield those specs.
 
Then, if 1055 is declared by CS as HRC 60-64, what hardness do they declare of Carbon V and SK-5? Is that data authentic?
 
That is bizarre, giving the hardness of your steel before it's tempered. Why would you even test your blades for hardness before you temper them? To make the number seem higher than those published by other manufacturers? A 1055 blade at 60-64 HRC would snap in a light breeze, methinks. I'm guessing the final hardness of those blades is somewhere around 55 HRC.
 
From the link above (which is the FAQ), I found that Cold Steel declares their SK-5 High Carbon Steel as HRC 56, is that near the truth?

Q: What is SK-5 High Carbon Steel?
SK-5 is the Japanese equivalent of American 1080, a high carbon steel with carbon between 0.75%-0.85% and 0.60%-0.90% manganese. As quenched, it has a hardness near Rc 56 and produces a mixture of carbon rich martensite with some small un-dissolved carbides. The excess carbide increases abrasion resistance and allows the steel to achieve an ideal balance of very good blade toughness with superior edge holding ability. Due to these characteristics, this grade of steel has been used traditionally for making a variety of hand tools, including chisels and woodcutting saws, and has stood the test of time and use over many years in many countries.

If the RC 56 of SK-5 is true, why do they have to lie about the 1055?
 
I need substantial data, who can provide that? Anyone has a Rockwell tester or something?
 
All I know is that it is one tough SOB and torture tests put it up among the toughest knives ever tested. This test was not done by CS. I have had one for several years with the cord wrap, I am going to pick up a new one with the scales on too.
 
I found this thread because I was wondering about the 1055 steel in my Cold steel Barong Machete.

I was hoping to find out if anyone had any experiance with the durability and strength of the machete (my Dad's old machete was pretty soft but that was the 70's and who knows what it was).

This is from the Cold Steel site:
1055 steel is right on the border between a medium and a high carbon steel, with a carbon content between 0.50%-0.60% and with manganese between 0.60%-0.90% as the only other component. The carbon content and lean alloy make this a shallow hardening steel with a quenched hardness between Rc 60-64 depending on exact carbon content. These combination of factors make this one of the toughest steels available because, when quenched, it produces a near saturated lathe martensite with no excess carbides, avoiding the brittleness of higher carbon materials. This steel is particularly suited to applications where strength and impact resistance is valued above all other considerations and will produce blades of almost legendary toughness.

So I was interested if anyone has used the Cold Steel machetes and found the statement about strength and impact resistance to be the case or at least satisfied in the performance.
 
The Cold Steel site only gives the "as quenched" hardness. Meaningless BS.

Once it is tempered it will be on the order of 50-54HRC.

But it will be tough.
 
Flatlander1963 said:
I found this thread because I was wondering about the 1055 steel in my Cold steel Barong Machete.

So I was interested if anyone has used the Cold Steel machetes and found the statement about strength and impact resistance to be the case or at least satisfied in the performance.
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there was a youtube video on a destruction test of a CS kuhkri style machete that shares the same thickness and approx. (i would fairly safely assume i think) as the barong style machete, maybe check it out. Its the reason i bought a few CS products.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_m4xErfJXw

EDIT: damn got suckered (actually i just wasn't paying attention) into an off topic post. Sorry.
 
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I wish I could remember where I read it (I'd post the link if I could), but I do recall reading that their 1055 is somewhere around 52-54 RC.

The pre-tempered # of 60-64 RC is a misnomer. You can't compare that to other manufacturers hardness ratings. I'm sure CS knows that, but figures the buyer/reader won't think too hard about it & think their knives are MUCH better than the others.

I'm not saying CS's knives aren't any good, their FBs are tough (I really like their old ones in Carbon V), but their marketing is suspect.
 
CL01 said:
I wish I could remember where I read it (I'd post the link if I could), but I do recall reading that their 1055 is somewhere around 52-54 RC.

The pre-tempered # of 60-64 RC is a misnomer. You can't compare that to other manufacturers hardness ratings. I'm sure CS knows that, but figures the buyer/reader won't think too hard about it & think their knives are MUCH better than the others.

I'm not saying CS's knives aren't any good, their FBs are tough (I really like their old ones in Carbon V), but their marketing is suspect.
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I'm sure their right ;)
 
I don't know the hardness, but I can also attest to the fact that the GI tanto is a tough piece. I really don't use it for anything but throwing, which is the easiest way to break a knife. I have bounced it off of concrete, rocks, and hardened steel without breaking it, with full strength throws.

I took off the top guard. I think I am going to attach micarta scales to it. For the price it can't be beat as a leave it in your truck, or let the kid take it camping blade.

They really need to make it in a clip point, or spear point design, so it has more belly. That would make it more useful. From using it and cutting etc, it does not seem overly soft.
 
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