Just received my smoke jumper today( yeah, I know I'm late to the party). Really love the color,but the real reason I got it was the upgraded steel. What are some of the benefits of the cmp-154 over the base 110 lt steel? While we are here, any disadvantages?
Smoke Jumper vs Common 110 lt
- Thread starter Brent F
- Start date
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2011
- Messages
- 26,442
no real noticeable real world cutting use disadvantages other than sharpening. cpm154 sharpens very easily so I doubt you'll notice the difference much. just keep it sharp by touching up more often.
chart I found with both steels..cpm154 and 420hc.....
chart I found with both steels..cpm154 and 420hc.....
Last edited:
Only disadvantage I see is once you use it for awhile it will make you want several more knives made of cpm154 and not very many will be as inexpensive as the smoke jumper.
I bought mine from the first batch and love it. Sharpens up easy enough and holds a real nice edge. Really makes you wonder if you would ever need anything any "better" when you carry the smoke jumper for awhile. Only thing I would change is I wish Buck still stamped the better steels instead of laser etching them because after some use and cleaning etc, the etching fades alot.
I bought mine from the first batch and love it. Sharpens up easy enough and holds a real nice edge. Really makes you wonder if you would ever need anything any "better" when you carry the smoke jumper for awhile. Only thing I would change is I wish Buck still stamped the better steels instead of laser etching them because after some use and cleaning etc, the etching fades alot.
David Martin
Moderator
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2008
- Messages
- 19,520
Charts are often crafted by guys who have little real world experience. I would put cpm154 right with and somewhat above s30v in the above
departments. To me one of the best characteristics about it is it's ease of sharpening. You don't need diamond or special equipment. It can be
taken a couple points higher in hardness with no brittle issues. Then it's burrs are easier to deal with and clean off the edge. I really like this
steel. DM
departments. To me one of the best characteristics about it is it's ease of sharpening. You don't need diamond or special equipment. It can be
taken a couple points higher in hardness with no brittle issues. Then it's burrs are easier to deal with and clean off the edge. I really like this
steel. DM
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2011
- Messages
- 26,442
gonna agree with ya David. cpm154 is a great steel. it's one of favorite bucks uses currently.
heat treatment has a big effect on steel toughness, corrosion resistance, wear resistance etc. charts cant show all the variations between heat treats so all charts have to be taken with a grain of salt at best.
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2016
- Messages
- 3,050
Too bad Buck doesn't put out a chart that is based on their exclusive BOS heat treat process....
That chart above has no units for the 0-90 scale, so it's totally subjective. It shows that in someones opinion, 154cm is 2x tougher and wear resistant compared to 420hc, but not as corrosion resistant. Since it's subjective, Buck can't honestly put out a chart like that.
David Martin
Moderator
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2008
- Messages
- 19,520
Here is my 110 with this steel and Ti coated blade. It was offered at Bass Pro in 2008. DM
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2011
- Messages
- 26,442
that charts just a chart. I borrowed it here on bladeforums to help the OP get a rough idear.
buck could compare their own steels they use and with their heat treat in a chart with units or without if they wanted to.
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2018
- Messages
- 2,524
Yes I would say subjective. In my real world experience with using these steels with Bucks Bos heat treatment is very different than that particular chart jb posted. I would say cpm 154 is closer but not quite to s30v in all those categories and in some ways it seems tougher to me. The m390 which is the same as cpm20cv is much higher than s30v especially in wear resistance. It’s not showing edge retention but I think 20cv bests them all with except for s90v which I’ve never used. I’ve seen only one chart that corresponds more closely with what I’ve experienced that’s on blade hq site. I do like s30v it has performed very well but I’ve been very impressed with cpm154 on my knives, it’s kind of a toss up depending on what I’m using them for.
lambertiana
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2000
- Messages
- 8,430
Do you happen to know what Rc Buck targets for CPM154?
As time goes by I am slowly moving away from the super alloys with a lot of vanadium and toward simpler steels like CPM154. They may not hold up as well in endurance cutting of abrasive material, but in day to day use they have better edge stability.
David Martin
Moderator
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2008
- Messages
- 19,520
L
lambertiana
, I looked back through the last 5 Buck catalogs and they stated the target hardness for that steel is 59-61rc. DM
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2014
- Messages
- 740
Haha, BS on the toughness rating of that chart, I have never chipped CPM-154 and I have S30V (while cutting some small copper speaker wire, not abusive use). That said, it wasn’t BOS s30v though, it seems to do pretty well. Bottom line IMO CPM 154 seems to have a very stable edge, good in every category (not best in any) and one of my favorite steels!
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2011
- Messages
- 26,442
should test bos s30v vs. bos cpm154. bet bos s30v does very well and is very tough.
dont forget heat treatment. makes a very big difference on end results in every category.
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2018
- Messages
- 52
I have the regular 110 like that. If I had known they were going to stop producing them, I'd bought a couple of them.
Thanks for the replies gentlemen. It's kind of what I figured. I was curious because my only experience with a "super steel" is a spyderco Tasman salt 2 hawkbill in H1, but that is a dedicated canoeing knife. The smoke jumper is going to be a dedicated edc.