About Cold Steel Knives |
| Good looks are important, in knives as much as in life! Perfect fits, clean lines, precise grinds and beautiful polishes all add value and satisfaction when you buy a knife. Often the true beauty of a knife only becomes apparent when the knife is used! Solid, dependable performance will give years of faithful service and happy memories long after the "newness" is gone. That's why at Cold Steel we believe that all our knives should perform. All of our knives must deliver extraordinary performance for their asking price, in other words, they must deliver "more than their money's worth". In order to achieve this goal, we are vitally interested in all the elements that are critical to performance. When it comes to the blade, these include profile, thickness, blade geometry, edge geometry, steel and heat treatment. Every one of these factors is studied in great detail to arrive at the optimum combination for a specific use. In the knife is a folder, we concentrate on the locking mechanism to ensure the strongest, safest construction. For handles, we strive to develop the perfect mix materials and ergonomics to offer the most comfortable secure grip available. And , above all, we TEST what we make! Rigorous testing is the only way to ensure we get the level of performance we demand! We stand behind our knives 100%. We subject them to the highest standards in the industry and strive to make each one as perfect as possible. Right now our return rate for defects is one half of one percent. This is remarkably lower than the industry standard. While we are growing in popularity, and producing ever larger quantities of knives, we are determined never to forget that we live or die by a single word, QUALITY. Our fixed blade sheath knives have a 5 year warranty to the original owner against defects in materials or workmanship. Our folding knives are warranted for one year. If you ever have a warranty problem with one of our knives, please return it with you original receipt and a short note and we will be happy to evaluate the problem and resolve it. (Note, do not send your knife back way of the U.S. Post Office. We recommend you send it U.P.S. insured.) Most of the tests shown on these pages and in our PROOF video are dangerous and should not be duplicated. These destructive tests constitute GROSS ABUSE of a knife. Duplicating these tests or altering your knife will void your warranty. Our warranty does not cover abuse. For example, do not use your knife as a prybar, axe, chisel, screwdriver, or saw. Keep in mind that our serrated knives are designed to cut fibrous materials like rope; not wood, bone, wire, or metal. And remember, ALL knives eventually wear out and must be replaced. TOP OF PAGE This steel is a traditional style Japanese laminate. Hard, high carbon stainless forms the core and edge of the blade, while two layers of tough, spring tempered stainless support and strengthen it. The resulting blade possesses the best qualities of both types of steel. This laminate is 25% stronger than the incredibly tough AUS 8A stainless in the original Tanto. The tell-tale sign of genuine San Mai III® is a thin line near the edge that runs the entire length of the blade. This line is created in the grinding process as the layers of steel in the blade are exposed. The distance the line is from the edge varies from knife to knife because every piece of San Mai III® steel is unique. Like our AUS 8A stainless, San Mai III® is treated in modern, precise conveyor furnaces and subjected to a sub zero post hardening process. This improves the microstructure of the steel by eliminating retained austenite. The resulting blades are more elastic and have better edge holding characteristics than standard stainless steels. Carbon V® An exclusive carbon alloy steel, formulated and extensively treated to achieve exceptional properties. Carbon V® was developed and refined by using both metallurgical and performance testing. Blades were subjected to the "Cold Steel® Challenge" as a practical test, and then they were sectioned, so that their microstructure could be examined. In this way we arrived at the optimum steel AND the optimum heat treatment sequence to bring out the best in the steel. We buy large quantities of premium high carbon cutlery steel with small amounts of elemental alloys added in the smelting stage. These elements enhance the blade's performance in edge holding and elasticity. The steel is then rolled to our exact specifications to establish optimum grain refinement and blades are blanked to take full advantage of the grain direction in the steel. The blanks are heated in molten salt, quenched in premium oil and tempered in controlled ovens. Then they are ground. The new blades are then subjected to expert heat treatment, involving rigidly controlled austenizing temperatures, precisely defined soak times, proper selection of quenching medium and carefully monitored tempering times and temperatures. This heat treatment sequence results in blades which duplicate and often exceed the properties of the most expensive custom forgings. AUS 8A Stainless The words "stainless steel" are misleading, because, in fact all steel will stain or show discoloration if left in adverse conditions for a sufficient time. Steel is made "stainless" by adding Chromium and reducing its Carbon content during the smelting process. There is a serious performance trade-off with stainless steel: As the Chrome increases and the Carbon decreases, the steel becomes more "stainless". But it also becomes more and more difficult to sharpen, and the edge-holding potential is seriously impaired. This is usually why most stainless knives are rarely razor-sharp and quickly lose the little edge they have. In contrast, at Cold Steel® we use AUS 8A, a high carbon, low chromium steel that has proven, over the last 15 years, to be the ultimate compromise between toughness, strength, edge holding and resistance to corrosion. AUS 10A Stainless Five years ago we discovered AUS 10A, a high carbon stainless made in Japan. We tested AUS 10A, along with every other Japanese-made stainless suitable for knife making. Some steels showed promise, but weakness became apparent when we flexed them in a vice and began cutting rope. The only equal to our AUS 8A in strength and toughness was AUS 10A; however, the big breakthrough was that it exceeded 8A by an honest 20% in edge holding ability, giving it a wide performance advantage over ATS-34, ATS-55, and 440V. 420 Sub Zero Quench Cold Steel® has always sub zero quenched the blades that we have manufactured in Japan, and we are now adding this often omitted, yet crucial, process to the heat treating sequence of the new blades we are making in Taiwan. Typically, stainless steel blades suffer from retained austenite after they have been heated to critical temperature and then air or gas cooled. The big drawback of this procedure is that it doesn't get the blades cold enough to assure complete transformation from an austenite to martensite grain structure. Only by freezing-sub zero quenching-stainless blades to 120 degrees below Zero (Fahrenheit), will the austenite be completely transformed to martensite. This, in turn, assures the blade will be as hard, strong, and wear resistant as it can possibly be. 5150 is a medium carbon, low alloy steel that is particularly well suited to the hot forging process. This steel has the properties to harden well, making it ideal for heat treating blades that have a very thick cross section such as tomahawks, axes, etc. After the quenching process, blades will be completely hardened at Rc 55-60. The combination of carbon and alloying elements also produces an extremely tough and impact resistant steel in the hardened and tempered condition which is essential in a tool which is hafted and or thrown. |
