154CM question?

Flatsman007

Flatsman007

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Apr 13, 2010
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Well I got to thinking and had to ask myself, with all the talk about infi, sr101, and sr77 heat treatment, does Scrap Yard or the Swamp have a special heat treat that improves 154cm? Does anybody have any insight into this subject?
 
I belive that swamprat ratman deux is made of 154cm and imo that should be the best heat treated 154 cm on the market
 
Every knife company uses a specific heat treat for each type of steel. Busse has a "super secret" heat treatment process that they put all their blades through. I wish I could provide more details, but they call it a secret heat treat process for a reason
 
verisharp said:
Every knife company uses a specific heat treat for each type of steel. Busse has a "super secret" heat treatment process that they put all their blades through. I wish I could provide more details, but they call it a secret heat treat process for a reason
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Wasn't it called "transverse wave tempering" or something like that? I dunno. Someone with some real knowledge will come along shortly I'm sure.
 
Busse's 154cm performs well especially for smaller EDC blades. With it they can offer a nice satin finished, stainless, and high performance blade at a very reasonable price. I don't know if they treat it themselves or have it done. I would love to see the Bussekins do more with it. I'd start with a remake of the Vex and SS4 in 154cm. Fills a nitch in their steel line-up that I don't think gets enough attention.
 
Bob Loveless pioneered the use of CM 154 for knives even though the alloy was designed for use in jet engines. The high purity 15% Cr/4% Mo (154) steel alloy was supposed to have good corrosion resistance at elevated temperatures (think turbine blades) If I remember correctly, the heat treatment was not too complicated but was enhanced by the incorporation of a sub zero stage. Crucible Metals (CM) did not like to sell small quantities in various sizes back then, so the Japanese slid into the picture with a look-alike ATS-34.
 
I wish BusseKin would come out with a larger knife made out of CM154 myself. I have always like that steel and I work in the turbine industry. It would be great to see a stainless line right along with INFI, SR-101 & SR-77.
 
Generally Jerry's heat treats emphasize maleability at high hardness, or as close as a steel can get to that. With his treatment of D2 a rat hunter was able to sustain usability under a lot of hammer blows, both to the edge and spine. The edge dented and mashed and the spine only took one major chip/breakaway. For being 58rc thats pretty decent for d2. I don't know how he does this, but part of it is extensive use of cryogenics to relieve as much stress from the blade as possible.

So if you want the highest possible wear resistance, you may have to look elsewhere with 154cm, somewhere that goes for 62rc+. Jerry's will be the most likely to avoid damage at any given rockwell, but it may not go to the extremes you may be looking for. The one instance so far where that may not be the case is with the scrap yard sr101 scrapivore at 62-64rc.
 
If Jerry would ever go with some SS my guess is that he would use the best x15-tn and heavily modify it to obtain a Super SS
RussMo said:
I wish BusseKin would come out with a larger knife made out of CM154 myself. I have always like that steel and I work in the turbine industry. It would be great to see a stainless line right along with INFI, SR-101 & SR-77.
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