Any Luv for CPM 154

Rebel Nimrod

Rebel Nimrod

Joined
Jan 23, 2014
Messages
740
Has Spyderco ever used CPM 154? I know it’s an older “super steel”, but I have been using it in a recent run by Buck knives and really enjoying the way it performs. Not the greatest at anything, but good at everything. I think Ankerson and Phil Wilson have spoken highly of it. I am a more recent Spyderco fan and have not heard of them using it.
Edit: just remembered Sal used it in the Respect. He must think it’s pretty tough?
 
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My good friend Jerry Halfrich, a well respected knife maker out of Texas, uses CPM-154 almost exclusively.

The reason, he has told me for years, is "balance". He believes that it has the best balance of properties of any of the steels he's worked with.

You often hear much the same about CPM Cru-Wear and its balance of properties. Not the best at anything, but good at virtually everything.

There's something to be said for steels with such attributes.
 
CPM-154 and S35VN are my favorite all around folder steel before entering super steel territory.

They require very little maintenance and have a nice balance between edge retention and toughness.
 
Rebel Nimrod said:
Has Spyderco ever used CPM 154? I know it’s an older “super steel”, but I have been using it in a recent run by Buck knives and really enjoying the way it performs. Not the greatest at anything, but good at everything. I think Ankerson and Phil Wilson have spoken highly of it. I am a more recent Spyderco fan and have not heard of them using it.
Edit: just remembered Sal used it in the Respect. He must think it’s pretty tough?
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The Darn Dao is also CPM154, and there were Manix and Native sprint runs in CPM154.
 
Rebel Nimrod said:
Has Spyderco ever used CPM 154? I know it’s an older “super steel”, but I have been using it in a recent run by Buck knives and really enjoying the way it performs. Not the greatest at anything, but good at everything. I think Ankerson and Phil Wilson have spoken highly of it. I am a more recent Spyderco fan and have not heard of them using it.
Edit: just remembered Sal used it in the Respect. He must think it’s pretty tough?
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154cm is fairly tough. Its powdered form cpm154 should logically be tougher. (All heat treat dependant of course) I actually don’t think CPM154 is that old a steel. I am not sure if it would be considered a “super steel” at all. Even today s30v isn’t really a super steel, although at one point it was. Super steels of today are more like Maxamet, HAP40, Rex121 etc. Though supersteel is a loose term so it really depends how a person wants to use it.

CPM154 seems to get alot more love from custom makers than production companies. It has shown up in a few production knives. Personally I love it but 154cm is one of my all time favourite steels.

I haven’t seen much info on how the steel performs. However cts-40cp is the powdered steel version of 440c and if I remember correctly it did waaaaaay better in edge retention than 440c to the point I was shocked by the results. Therefor maybe cpm154 will do a whole lot better than 154cm.

154cm has alot of big fans so I imagine there would be alot of love for cpm154 if it was used more often.
 
uxo2 said:
Early Saber grind Manix2 had 154.
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It had 154cm not cpm154.

BellaBlades said:
CPM-154 and S35VN are my favorite all around folder steel before entering super steel territory.

They require very little maintenance and have a nice balance between edge retention and toughness.
Click to expand...

You and me both. I have been a huge fan of 154cm and actually preferred it to s30v. S35vn is my favourite of the s—v family because I found it behaved somewhat like a bridge between 154cm and s30v.
 
I would try another cpm 154 knife if it was made by Spyderco. Seems like they run their steels at higher hardness to maximize wear resistance at the sacrifice of a little toughness. Which makes sense since they make mostly folders and you shouldnt do fixed blade things with folders.

I had a Bark River Bravo 1 in that steel and in the little (very little) work I did with that knife, it lost its edge exceptionally fast. Maybe it was an anomoly, but it soured me on that steel. At the time I was buying Bark Rivers, they seemed to run all of their blades at 58HRC no matter what. They were focusing on toughness. Which may be why that Bravo didnt hold and edge for squat
 
I wouldn't mind a new Spyderco in CPM 154. I've actually never had the chance to try the stuff. Now 154cm, yes, but CPM 154 is supposed to be a step above it. It's actually a rare steel to see in production knives. I see a ton of customs sporting CPM 154, it seems like it is a favorite among that area.
 
I'm really liking it for stainless fixed blades. Spyderco's Darn Dao is gorgeous, and I have high hopes for the Respect. Have a Osprey Knife and Tool custom on the way, and Chris mostly uses CPM154 as well.
 
Spyderco also used it for the outer layer in their composite Golden blades with s90v through the middle if I’m not mistaken.
 
Anyone have any idea why cts-40cp sees such performance improvement over its ingot form 440c if cpm154 doesn’t see much over 154cm?
 
Here's a quote from Jim Ankerson:

Also noteworthy: Any of the mid range steels that are currently used will offer similar performance to S30V: S35VN, XHP, Cru-Wear, ELMAX, M390, 204P. I still believe CPM 154 is the best all around EDC steel in the mid range however so if it ever gets into a Production Spyderco it could really be something. Given the choice I would choose CPM 154 over any other steel in the mid range.
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I really like CPM154 ... it has a good balance of ease to sharpen ... toughness and edge retention ... and corrosion resistance ...

there are steels that do better at each of those but just a few that I've used that have a very good balance of all of those ... CPM154 ... Elmax ... and S35VN would be the three IMHO that give me that good balance.
 
In our race to the Maxamets of the blade world it seems we may have left behind some gems that might actually serve us better in real world use
 
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