Anyone else prefer 154cm to super steels

I prefer 154CM, CPM 154, VG-10...even 440C. They're all great for user blades. And I'm pretty good at sharpening knives and I actually enjoy doing it. But I can get a razor edge on these steels in short order whereas it's simply not fun to get a dull supersteel knife back to sharpness. And, yes, they all get dull if you use them.
 
I like 154cm a lot. Benchmade has the heat treat dialed in on it and I hate to see it go. I agree with what a lot of the users say - 154cm is a great user steel. While it does dull quicker than most of today's super steels it is easier to get an edge back on. I dig it.
 
Reitwagen said:
I don't like the super prices of the super steels. For my use, I don't really realize the benefit in relation to the cost. I'd rather just sharpen my knives a little more often.
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Exactly! I will never understand the obsession with expensive steels.
 
dirc said:
an important point to note is that super steel (bar stock) prices are much lower than super steel knives

most folding knives have a 3.5" blade, so overall they need a 4" x 1.5" bar of 0.125" steel.

a piece of m390 in that size only costs about $15
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Milling and working the steel costs more.
 
knarfeng said:
If all else is equal, I prefer PM steels. But seldom are all other things equal.
If I like the design and the blade steel is 154CM, I'll buy the knife. The choice of blade steel is not enough to cancel the sale.
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What about 8cr13mov or 3cr or.......... just STAINLESS steel?:confused::eek::D
 
I like 154cm alright and I have a benchmade 555hg with 154cm steel coming in BUT I think 154cm is a user steel. It's not one of those steel that can take a super shiny or mirror finish edge(at least I haven't been able to do so) although it can get pretty sharp. Edge retention is great and is way better than the crmovs or aus 8 but i think personally s30v has better edge retention.
 
154cm is probably in general my favorite steel that I've tried so far. admittedly, I haven't had an exceedingly wide range of experience, but it just seems well balanced between ease of sharpening and it's holding capability. I work in a warehouse and there are some days where I do enough cardboard cutting two rival those ridiculous tests the people perform on YouTube with no problem and other days where I don't cut more than a couple pieces of shrink wrap, but 154cm blade can be touched up on the cardboard or my coffee mug without a problem and with just that will normally Hold an edge with no problem throughout a given week unless I do very little cutting in which case obviously it could hold it it's much longer LOL. I have been primarily using a 2018 Bradley Kimura 902 in 154 cm the last couple weeks and overall after the little bit of adjustment for the odd edc ergonomics and blade angle, it's been working perfectly well. After seeing this post I may run a comparison between that and the s30v buck 110 Auto elite that's been living on my belt as well.
 
Bobchicken1201 said:
What about 8cr13mov or 3cr or.......... just STAINLESS steel?:confused::eek::D
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Depends on the rest of the knife.

One of my favorite knives is a Taylor, Japanese-made knife made in ~1980, which is before Japan became known for high quality cutlery. It's a butter bean pattern, except it has a small sheepsfoot blade on it, instead of a second spear point. Nice stag. Decent fit and finish. Unknown stainless blade steel. Likely 440A-ish or 420HC-ish. Have no idea on the hardness. But it sharpens up nicely, and holds the edge well enough for my daily needs. I'm tickled with the knife because of the unique combination of stag and blade styles. YMMV
 
Insipid Moniker said:
Who pissed in your Cheerios? The point of the thread is to discuss the relative merits of older, ingot steels in an enthusiast bracket that's often dominated by PM steels, as far as I see it.
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No, thats the point you gave this thread yourself. The OP simply stated he uses the softer steels because of his lack of sharpening ability and knowledge. He didn't say it was because of any other values than simply sharpening which he is self admittedly not good at. What is wrong with saying learn to sharpen.....

Pretty simple line of logic bud.
 
Dr Rez said:
No, thats the point you gave this thread yourself. The OP simply stated he uses the softer steels because of his lack of sharpening ability and knowledge. He didn't say it was because of any other values than simply sharpening which he is self admittedly not good at. What is wrong with saying learn to sharpen.....

Pretty simple line of logic bud.
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And he listed merits that he felt 154CM had over PM steels besides ease of sharpening and asked others for their opinions. Reading the whole thing is helpful.
 
Sorry guys maybe I should have explained better. First I admit I’m not patient and don’t have fancy sharpeners. Also I do love nice steels. As we all do. But I’ve noticed 154 for me seems to hold an edge almost as well yet doesn’t require diamond rods to sharpen. I can use a porcelain coffee mug window of truck or basic 10 dollar sharpener and a few swipes good as new The better steels take a bit more and better knowledge and for me the trade off isn’t much more noticeable. Still with that I do own a lot of fancier knives and just ordered a spyderco para 2 in s30v. My point was even some lower steels perform close to as well. I upgraded my mini grip with new grips rather than spend extra for g10 and better steel. She’s perfect now. I’ll post pics shortly
 

Mini grip with new grips from AWT. Got my new reylight pineapple V3 today. So far perfect edc flashlight. Not that this thread I started was for that but thought I’d share. Very well built. Bright and as u can see small and fits nicely in the pocket.
 
I've got an earlier T.A. Davison with ATS-34, so yes, I like the steel.
 
I still love 154cm and prefer it over alot of harder/super steels. It's a perfect balance imo. Stays sharp long enough, its stainless, sharpens extremely easy, and doesn't chip. And now days much more affordable compared to it's competition.
 
My preferred steels are the M390 analogs, Elmax, and S35VN. 154CM is perfectly fine, and a great worker steel. Given current pricing, I just don’t have a reason to buy it, unless it’s on a design I really want. I’m happy with it on my BM 551, and that was the knife I chose when I bought my brother his first good knife.

Good? Yes. Preferred? No.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
And he listed merits that he felt 154CM had over PM steels besides ease of sharpening and asked others for their opinions. Reading the whole thing is helpful.
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All he said beyond that was "doesn't seem to chip as easily". An extremely short statement with zero other information.

About 100,000 other threads exist talking about powered vs ingot steel and hard vs softer steel on this forum. Why not just use the search function? The almighty beloved Knarfeng has given feedback on this question a multitude of times.
 
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Insipid Moniker said:
I don't find super steels take any more time for a basic sharpening. They're a pain to reprofile and I can't maintain their edge with an unloaded leather strop as easily, so I enjoy less-than-super steels in my day-to-day, but if you have the right abrasives basic sharpening doesn't take long.
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D2 is actually one of the biggest pain in the butt steels to reprofile even with diamonds I find.
 
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