Carbon V?

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Northernedge313

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Jan 5, 2013
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So I got an unused Cold Steel SRK in Carbon V for $85 yesterday, and I like it a lot. I want to know how Carbon V holds up against tough use compared to say, 1095? Edge retention, toughness, all that good stuff.
 
Carbon is easier to sharpen and good retention.

Only drawback is more maintenence.

Carbon steel is also much smoother as a steel in my opinion.
As a chef, if I had 2 identical knives, one carbon and one stainless, id grab the carbon everytime.
 
Honestly I've never had an issue with rust on a carbon blade. If you don't do things that will cause it like leave it wet or dirty. Every time you store it spritz it with rem oil or wipe it down with one of those yellow gun cloths. Carbon Steel blades are easy to sharpen, take a great edge, and hold it well.
 
Carbon V and 1095 are both carbon steels. The op was asking how they compare to each other.
 
Carbon V is generally considered to be "a better 1095". It is reportedly the same steel that Case calls "chrome vanadium". I have two knivesin this steel and I wish Cold Steel had another producer of this steel. SK-5 and O-1 are pretty darn good, however, so I'm okay.
 
I used 1095 for years with no major problems. When Carbon V came along, I honestly did not see any difference in performance. Edge retention seems about equal. I'd say they are fairly close to each other for most outdoor purposes.

A few of my older CS prodcuts are large choppers in Carbon V and they have held up VERY well in the long haul. Tough as nails. Then again, I also have an old machete in 1095 which has been used and abused and then used again. It is also holding up well. In toughness, I'd give the nod to the 1095, but just by a slim margin.

Both steels will oxidize easily if you don't coat them with some type of oil. I've had each steel rust rather easily while on coastal excursions.
 
I've had my SRK Carbon V for many many years now. While I was able ta deer hunt it was on my belt. I used it ta cut through saw breyers and other vegitation with no issues. It's a tough knife and hold an edge a long long time. I've sharpened mine four times at 29 degrees. This is a more agressive angle but it works for I can use it ta clear out brush and triming shooting lanes.
Any how, congrats on the knife for ya got a great knife that'll last ya a great while. Just remember ta take care of and sharpen every once in a while. I just touch mine up from time ta time and it remains at the ready.
 
Want to say the original Carbon V Cold Steel offered was a variation of 50100 made by Camillus Knives. Then it got changed to something else, 1095 CV maybe? After Camillus went out of business I'm not sure. Carbon V is a Cold Steel trademark and can be whatever steel Cold Steel wants it to be.
 
It's good stuff in my experience. Most of the Carbon-V is actually 50100-b that Cammillus bought from Sharon Steel before they went out of business. It's basically 1095 with a little bit of chrome and vanadium thrown in to refine the grain and improve its industrial scale heat treating. On paper it looks like it should perform better than 1095 with the right heat treatment. In practice I have not seen much of a difference between 1095 with a good heat treatment and any of my Carbon-V knives. I made a chisel ground akuchi style tanto out of a 50100-b blade blank from the Cammillus fire-sale; and shipped it off to Peters Heat Treat. I had them run it at RC 63. The thing is easy to get razor sharp and takes a very fine edge. I can't say that there is much of a difference between it and the 1095 blades I've had Peters Heat Treat take up to a similar hardness though. The biggest difference is probably that it does not rust quite as easily. YMMV.

As always proper heat treatment is key. In a mass production knife 50100-b is probably easier to heat treat than 1095 (easier to avoid the pearlite nose when quenching it). Have a company like Ontario heat treat 1095 and compare the blade to a Carbon-V knife by CS and you'll see a difference. Compare Rowan's 1095 to An old CS knife? I doubt the Carbon-V will come out ahead.
 
The secret is from what I understand is that Carbon V and 1095CV-(used by KA-BAR) are the same steel developed by Sharon Steel back in the day... but always remember any steel is only as good as its HT and KA-BAR does a really good job on theirs, but I am sure comparatively 1095CV and Carbon V are about the same. So you got some good stuff there.
 
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Carbon V is a proprietary steel formulation created by Dan Maragni for Cold Steel.
When Camillus purchased it, a whole "heat" had to be purchased, approximately 40,000 lbs.
It was NOT 1095CV.
It was not 50100-b.
It did not come from Sharon Steel, they were already already out of business.
 
Phil Gibbs said:
Carbon V is a proprietary steel formulation created by Dan Maragni for Cold Steel.
When Camillus purchased it, a whole "heat" had to be purchased, approximately 40,000 lbs.
It was NOT 1095CV.
It was not 50100-b.
It did not come from Sharon Steel, they were already already out of business.
Click to expand...

TIL! Thank you for correcting me... CS branded it as Carbon V but the real technical name was 0170-6C? Kind of like 01 tool steel?
 
I made up the name 0170-6C as we could not use the name Carbon V.
Mystery Metal was already taken. :p
The name means nothing, but was based on a Sharon Steel product called 0170-6 that was an old alloy that shared some similarities with Carbon V.
 
It depends on when it was produced. There where a couple of different steel variations depending on when and who was producing it.

Below are my quoted bullets from when I was researching Carbon V in an attempt to discover what the Seki Japan made Carbon V was. Posted the question in the Cold Steel forum and have yet to receive a reply.

But anyway, Bullets from my notes while researching Carbon V.

Carbon V was originally 0170-6

It is 0170-6 cutlery Steel...It was developed in the 1950's by sharon Steel specifically for Knives.

It is an enhanced 1095. They added Nickel--Chromium and a trace of Vanadium. it was a patented steel of Sharon.

This was the original Steel chosen by both Lynn Thomson for his Trailmaster and Mike Stewart for the Old Mamba. Everyone used it until 1988.

Sharon Steel went Bankrupt in 1988. No mill would duplicate the steel because the patent was still in effect.

Source: STR quoting Mike Stewart


Time line from Paul Tsujimoto, currently Sr. Engineer at KA-BAR

Here is the correct time line:

1) Cold Steel Carbon V was first produced in the Alcas Factory (Cutco and KA-BAR) Mid 1980s, Carbon V was originally 1095CV/0170-06/50100B.

2) Cold Steel moved to Ontario early 1990s. Carbon V started out as 1095CV/0170-06/50100B but while at Ontario, Dan Maragni removed the small amount of nickel from the formula.

3) Cold Steel moved to Camillus approx. 1995. Carbon V stayed 0170-06 minus the nickel.

Here is the chemistry for Sharon Steel 0170-06 (From Sharon Steel ref.book)

C: 0.95-1.10; Mn:0.30-0.50; P:0.025max; S: 0.025max; Si:0.15-0.25; Cr:0.40-0.60; Ni:0.25; Mo:0.06; V:0.15-0.25.

This is also the formula for KA-BAR's 1095CV. .
 
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Phil Gibbs said:
I made up the name 0170-6C as we could not use the name Carbon V.
Mystery Metal was already taken. :p
The name means nothing, but was based on a Sharon Steel product called 0170-6 that was an old alloy that shared some similarities with Carbon V.
Click to expand...

This is fantastic, I am very happy you came and assisted. Its nice to be corrected and educated by someone who actually really knows! Thank you for taking the time.
 
iwouldhurtafly said:
This is fantastic, I am very happy you came and assisted. Its nice to be corrected and educated by someone who actually really knows! Thank you for taking the time.
Click to expand...

Thrilled to be part of the discussion!
Clearly pbcg has the definitive post. :thumbup::cool:
 
Phil,
Would you happen to have exact chemical compositions of 0170-6 and 0170-6C?
Just want to keep database accurate :)
 
I don't care what the real name of Carbon V is... I freakin love my CarbonV Trailmaster:)
 
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