Thoughts/Experiences with CPM M4?

michaelm466

michaelm466

Joined
Mar 5, 2009
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Just wondering about members experiences with this steel and comparisons to other premium steels out there.
 
Super steel. Well balanced ( toughness& wear resistance) that loves to get and stay sharp. Use a strop for this steel. It works great and can make a big difference. Can use it from large size, high performance competition fixed blades, down to small ,thin, very sharp folders.

My kind of stuff! Joe
 
ikiddp9 said:
Does it rust easily?
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Very. I did a small test spot with salt water on the handle and it started rusting in minutes.

But....

It's like 1095 but way better on the toughness and sharpness scale. I sharpen mine up on the sharpmaker, and I left it at a 30 degree angle. Takes a great edge and holds it.
 
How does it compare in actual use to other well respected super steels, like s30v or another tool steel like d2?
 
J.Mattson said:
How does it compare in actual use to other well respected super steels, like s30v or another tool steel like d2?
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I'd say it feels like it holds an edge better then both, with better toughness then both.

Of course, it's not stainless in any sense of the word. Don't get it wet if you want it to stay pretty. ;)
 
Wont spend anymore money on another steel that will not do anything substantually better then what i own now.
 
The Mastiff said:
Super steel. Well balanced ( toughness& wear resistance) that loves to get and stay sharp. Use a strop for this steel. It works great and can make a big difference. Can use it from large size, high performance competition fixed blades, down to small ,thin, very sharp folders.

My kind of stuff! Joe
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+1:thumbup:What he said:)
 
I run it through my formal test

http://playground.sun.com/~vasya/Manila-Rope-Results.html

out of 27 steels it toke 4th place - after Dozier D2, Yuna ZDP189, Swamp Rat SR101. with ZDP and SR101 it has pretty same results, it is only behind Dozier D2 I think. Best CPM S30V (from Buck) is clearly behind.

This is very good steel. As I heart it is used in some ABS competition knives as well. I would recommend it, I is not stainless of course.

Thanks, Vassili.

You can not say which steel is better - it is very important who manufactured knife. Like Dozier's D2 is on top, but only Dozier's D2 all other can not performs as well as his D2.
 
The rust issue is exactly why I won’t buy a folder made with this steel, (or any non-stainless steel).
Pivots tend to collect water and corrosive contaminants anyway.
For a small increase in edge performance you get a large increase in wear/corrosion in the pivot area.

Fixed blades aren’t so bad. You can coat the steel and only have the edge exposed. I might consider an M4 fixed, but never a folder.

It doesn’t make sense to me, but then, I use my knives outside a lot and they get wet and dirty. If a person never used their M4 outside I guess it wouldn’t matter.
 
bearcut said:
The rust issue is exactly why I won’t buy a folder made with this steel, (or any non-stainless steel).
Pivots tend to collect water and corrosive contaminants anyway.
For a small increase in edge performance you get a large increase in wear/corrosion in the pivot area.

Fixed blades aren’t so bad. You can coat the steel and only have the edge exposed. I might consider an M4 fixed, but never a folder.

It doesn’t make sense to me, but then, I use my knives outside a lot and they get wet and dirty. If a person never used their M4 outside I guess it wouldn’t matter.
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Lots of tool steels aren't stainless because rust isn't an issue. What is an issue is the cutting performance and edge retention. "Pretty" drill bits don't get points when it stops cutting before the other one. Even stainless steels will rust under wet and muddy conditions.
 
Josh K said:
Lots of tool steels aren't stainless because rust isn't an issue. What is an issue is the cutting performance and edge retention. "Pretty" drill bits don't get points when it stops cutting before the other one. Even stainless steels will rust under wet and muddy conditions.
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Yes, but not like tool steel.
 
Josh K said:
True, but the tool steel will still hold a better edge then most stainless steels.
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This would seem to be true, however ive found most modern stainless steels hold an edge as long as i need, and require little to no attention at a lower price point.
 
donny bee said:
This would seem to be true, however ive found most modern stainless steels hold an edge as long as i need, and require little to no attention at a lower price point.
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If that's all you need then great. :) I like my D2 Para well enough, not that S30V isn't something I like.
 
knifenut1013 said:
M4 is a great steel, sharpenes easy and gets stupid sharp. It forms a chainsaw like burr as the edge wears down and just keeps cutting.

I used my M4 mule team to cut some 3/4 manila rope, it was pretty dull after but when in use it didn't feel like it was dulling at all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHp4E22wuSM&feature=channel_page
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I would suggest you to cut it the way it does not hid wood base. Because you are not only cutting rope but as well pressing hared your edge into that wood and to my experience this damage edge way more then cutting manila rope. You may just make small cut with saw into your wood base and eliminates this problem very easy. Cut where edge will go after cutting rope.

But you will have to have much more rope in that case...

Thanks, Vassili.
 
I carried a reground M2 Ritter for a couple years, nothing more than light surface discoloration while working outside, on vehicles, directing traffic in the rain, training in the field, and on hurricane duty. I kept the pivot rust free with proper maintenance, nothing more than a little tuf-glide on occasion.
 
My Krein Ultimate Caper in M4 gets sharper than any of my other knives and holds the edge better than my S30V and CPM D2 knives, and seems right there with ZDP, only gets sharper faster and easier. It is my favorite steel, and if you use common sense and wipe down the blade after use you will have little trouble with corrosion. It is an excellent steel, and from what I hear is WAY tougher than S30V or D2, but my knife is a thin precision cutter so I haven't put it to the "toughness" test aside from seeing it takes thinner edges that don't chip out.

Mike
 
nozh2002 said:
I would suggest you to cut it the way it does not hid wood base. Because you are not only cutting rope but as well pressing hared your edge into that wood and to my experience this damage edge way more then cutting manila rope. You may just make small cut with saw into your wood base and eliminates this problem very easy. Cut where edge will go after cutting rope.

But you will have to have much more rope in that case...

Thanks, Vassili.
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I like to think of my testing a "real world" if I wanted to just cut the manila rope by itself I would do freehang cuts. I know if I were to use a jig so that it was just cutting the manila rope my results may be different. If your in the woods or at work having a rope cutting jig in your back pocket would not be convenient.
 
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