CM154 vs ATS-34

[alex1951]

Which one of these is the better blade. What is the designation for blade hardness from Hardest to weakest?

 

[Walt Welch]

They are the same steel (although you may find slightly different elemental compositions on various charts); the difference is in that 154CM is cleaned by AOD (Argon Oxygen Decarburization), and thus is the cleaner steel of the two, which was not previously the case (AOD is a recently adopted procedure).

The surface hardness of steel is measured by the Rockwell C scale. This involves pressing a diamond penetrator ('brale') into the steel with a standard pressure, then measuring the indentation created.

For the technical details, go HERE

Click on technical information, then Rockwell Hardness.

Hope this helps, Walt

 

[blademan 13]

Good vs. bad heat treating will reveal more differences between these steels than the designation alone. My initial foray into the world of ATS-34 was strictly with Benchmades. This was strictly a hit or miss gamble. Some sucked, some were OK. I was not overly impressed, and pretty much learned to despise stainless in general. But if I was not seeing good results with my blades, why were so many custom makers using it? I have sinced learned through my experience with my MT's using similar 154-CM, and with multiple customs blades using ATS-34, is that I really like this steel. Much easier to sharpen and better edge holding as well.

Don't base a buying decision on steel type alone. But they both are generally better than 420

 

[The General]

I have noticed that MT, Puma and MOD can get a 154CM blade WAY outperform ATS-34 by Benchmade and Gerber.

Though my BM ATS-34 blades have held up very well...



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