154 CM

25 per side is rather chonky... I'd do 20 per side and you still have a very tough edge, then pull it thru some wood to remove any microburr - it's pretty simple
 
Just checked the KME. It's set to 23 degrees, so I guess you could say it's 46 deg inclusive? Trust me, it has no issues slicing newspaper. It cuts easily and cleanly, and you can "wave" the knife thru it. It's possible there are more levels of slicing paper, or others' standards are more picky than mine...
 
When I got into knives around 1999 154CM was king of the hill for stainless (I always and still do love D2). It was edging out 440C as the super steel. S30V was a still a couple years out.

I’ve carried 154CM for 2 decades and always considered it an average steel. It will dull noticeably quicker than S30V. Having said that, 154CM is the king of initial sharpness. Holy cow can this steel take an edge! VG10 is close…
 
154CM is a decent crucible steel that fell out of favour because of super steels, but it's making a comeback. If you're planning to sharpen your knives at some point, 154CM is nicer to have than a lot of knives with some of the harder super steels.

With some steels, like 154CM, VG10, and N690, it's sometimes as much about who is using it and for what knife models as it is the properties of the steel itself. Companies using it as steel for their above average/better knife designs mean that it's likely getting better attention to detail than their D2 budget knives.

154CM is very similar to 440C, but other than Buck knives made in the US, there aren't a lot of large production companies I'd look on favourably in their use of 440C, but if the same large production company made something with 154CM I'd likely hold that knife in higher regard, because of how those companies and knife models use it.
 
NPT said:
Just checked the KME. It's set to 23 degrees, so I guess you could say it's 46 deg inclusive? Trust me, it has no issues slicing newspaper. It cuts easily and cleanly, and you can "wave" the knife thru it. It's possible there are more levels of slicing paper, or others' standards are more picky than mine...
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The angle setting of a fixed sharpener like the KME is a relative setting. The actual angle is going to vary based in the blade's width and height. You would need a digital angle cube to find out the true angle you're sharpening at.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong; 23 degree setting on a kme = 23 per side for a 46 degree inclusive angle... That's a pretty stout angle, and as Tokerblue pointed put, it's going to be somewhat "relative" to the knife itself, so could even be closer to 47, 48... (I believe BM claims 30-35 degree inclusive angles on their knives out of the factory).

My bet is that obtuse of an angle is doing you no favors in regards to longevity, and, if you add a micro-wire edge to that, it would certainly appear razor sharp at first and then dull rather quickly.
You can try a 19-20 degree setting to get a better angle and then strop it thoroughly and see of that helps, or you can try to send it in to BM for a factory sharpening and see if it does better than your results, and compare?
 
I tell you a short story about 154CM. I have been carrying it since the 90’s on many different Benchmade knives. It was always a great steel and I had a high opinion of it.

After the S30V craze hit and then the M390/204p/20CV stuff went common enough that a lot of my daily carry knives were no longer 154CM, the 154 knives all of a sudden went dull quickly. By the 2010’s I had some sort of Chris Reeve in my pocket most of the time and it was S35V. Many Spyderco’s also shared a lot of pocket time so I could try out all their awesome steels. Rex45, Cruwear, S90V, S110V, etc, etc.

I have a 1999 or 2000 Benchmade 940 that makes it into the daily routine now and then. It’s always surprising now how quickly it goes from shaving sharp on the wicked edge to dull over a month or so of usage.

I don’t think it’s any different than it ever was but my expectations of a knifes edge has definitely changed. The new stuff is just a lot better.

Same thing happens with how fast cars and motorcycles are. In 1993 I had a CBR900RR (116hp)and it was SUPER fast. After many track bike upgrades over 30 years later I jumped on a 1998 CBR900RR and it was just not as fast. Except it really was, I had just gotten used to the 200hp bikes like the Panigale or S1000RR.
 
WedgeAntilles said:
Either way, not the same steel.
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They are the same steel. They are just cast differently. In a steel like 154CM, the only major difference will be that CPM 154 will generally be tougher due to the more even distribution of carbides compared to 154CM.

BTW those charts on sites such as BladeHQ are generally inaccurate. I would rather trust knifesteelnerds.

Have a read of this(if you are interested in a more scientific approach to rating different steels):

knifesteelnerds.com

Knife Steels Rated by a Metallurgist - Toughness, Edge Retention, and Corrosion Resistance - Knife Steel Nerds

Steel Metallurgist Larrin Thomas uses tests of knife steels to rate the steels and explains the factors that control performance.
knifesteelnerds.com knifesteelnerds.com
 
154cm is good user steel, and relatively easy to sharpen in the field, I slowly got rid of all mine with the exception of my tops rapid strike
But not because of the steel,
I have no issues with the steel, it's good to me
A good Heat treatment is always important
 
I've read that 154CM can contain anywhere from 0-0.4% Vanadium. If true, I wonder if that would account for the differences in opinions about it.
 
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