ATS 34 vs. 154CM

EasEWryder

EasEWryder

Joined
Sep 29, 2002
Messages
628
I recently picked up another BM710 and noticed that I got a 154CM blade and passed up the ATS34. I know the ATS34 will go through a car hood (don't ask) without damage to the blade, but I'm not into that sorta testing... Anyone have any knowledge to drop about the pros and cons of ATS34 vs. 154CM? Thanks
 
As far as I know, ATS-34 and 154CM are virtually identical...ATS-34 is made by Hitachi in Japan and 154CM is made by Crucible Metal (or is it Crucible Particle Metallurgy??) in the USA...I would imagine that availability, price, or the desire to be "made in America" prompted the switch :)

RL
 
Wow. Thanks. I feel much better... Actually a lot better knowing that. Do you know any website that disscusses these things...?
 
There has been alot of discussion about this very topic over the last few years. Actually, 154CM has been around for years. One of its biggest advantages is that it is available in sheet stock which lends itself to the production knife manufacturing process (CNC Machining) more efficiently then bar stock. This provides a cost savings benefit to companies like Benchmade that use it to produce blades.

My understanding also is that it has actually been around longer then ATS-34 and recently regained popularity due to sheet stock availability.
 
Originally posted by EasEWryder
Wow. Thanks. I feel much better... Actually a lot better knowing that. Do you know any website that disscusses these things...?
Click to expand...

Glad to help :)

Actually, I did a search on Bladeforums for "154CM AND ATS34" and I got HUNDREDS of hits...here are a couple of useful threads:

http://www.bladeforums.com/features/faqsteel.shtml

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=116193&highlight=154CM+AND+ATS34

and a good quote:

"From the Benchmade Catalog:

154CM: Carbon-1.05, Chromium-14.00, Maganese-0.50, Molybdenum-4.00, Silicone-0.30, HRC-58-60

ATS-34: Carbon-1.05, Chromium-14.00, Maganese-0.40, Molybdenum-4.00, Phosphorus-0.03, Silicone-0.35, Sulph- 0.02, HRC-58-60"

RL
 
Here is a table of steels from the KnifeArt.com articles section that lists the components of both ATS-34 and 154CM:

table

You might want to check out some of the other articles at KnifeArt as well.
 
actually RL, it's Crucible Steel. Crucible Particle Metallurgy is their trademark name for the the "CPM" series steels (CPMS30V, CPM420V, CPM440V, CPM3V etc.)
 
ATS-34 contains .1% less manganese then 154CM (no big deal.) ATS-34 also has a small amount of sulpher and phosphorus which is used for eas of machining. So basically the two metals are the same except one is of Japanese origin (ATS-34) and the other (154CM), is American.
 
Crucible first developed 154CM as 440MOD, substituting 4% Mo for 4 of the 18% Cr in 440C. They developed this to get red hardening qualities for jet engine turbo fans.
ATS 34 is the later Japanese copy. There has been debate as to which is better steel, but they are both essentially the same thing.
 
Essentially ATS-34 and 154CM are equally good cutlery steels with near identical properties as a cutlery material.

The key is in the heat treatment.

As with all steels.

Properly heat-treated ATS-34 or 154CM is wonderful.

Improperly heat-treated ATS-34 or 154CM is crap.

Not so much the steel as it is how the steel is heat treated for the catagory of knife made.

GW
 
Thanks for all the info everyone... I haven't touched my pc in a month... A lot of my questions answered, so thanks all.:)
 
My emerson CQC7 154CM takes a better edge than my SOG x-ray vision in ATS34. Maybe it's the heat treat, or, more likely my (lack of) sharpening skill....:rolleyes:
 
ATS-34 and 154CM are practically the same.

Originally posted by spyken
Maybe it's the heat treat, [...]
Click to expand...

That's most likely the explanation for the differing performance. Heat treat influences the way a blade performs about as much as the choice of steel.
 
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