VG-10 & 154cm: Which do you like better....

VG-10... seems to me to hold a better edge. But I can't really tell, I have one fixed blade and 2 folders in VG-10 and just a folder in 154CM... the blade design and heat treatment play a big role on a steel performance.
For my daily uses and bushcraft I don't find the steel to be that important (considering we're talking about decent steels). The knife overall is much more than the steel itself. I even use titanium for diving and... even bushcraft!
 
being japanese i have to say VG-10, plus it was the first super steel i was introduced into so that was a major turn of events for me and my knife obsession
 
I have had three different experiences with VG-10.

In my G-10 Endura, the VG-10 blade seems (I hesitate to say) soft? It takes a good edge, and holds it fairly well, but not as well as some of my other knives.

In two kitchen knives, the VG-10 seems much much harder. It also chips, whereas the Endura only rolls. I personally prefer that the edges roll, rather than chip.

My experiences with 154cm have been fairly good, on two BM knives. The blades can get, and retain, tree-topping sharp edges for a good while. I'd say that the razor edge lasts longer than on my Endura, but I don't feel that my kitchen knives' use is comparable enough to my pocket knives for any kind of comparison of edge holding.

Enough rambling--both are pretty good steels.
 
I don't have a vg-10 knife currently but I've had great experience with 154cm, It holds a wicked edge for quite awhile.
 
I have more experience with VG-10. I only have a few knives with 154cm. Both steels work well. If I had to pick, I would probably say VG-10.
 
Definitely VG10. It takes a more aggressive edge in my experiences and seems to hold it longer. 154CM has never seemed overly impressive to me. I would, however, like to try CPM154 and see how much the powder steel process improves its performance. I've read nothing but positives. For now, I've still yet to find a stainless I like better than VG10. I wonder why nobody has tried to produce a powdered metal version of VG10 yet (or have they)?
 
I like both but prefer VG 10, sharpens more easily, hold an edge well and seems more stain resistant.
 
J.Davey said:
For now, I've still yet to find a stainless I like better than VG10. I wonder why nobody has tried to produce a powdered metal version of VG10 yet (or have they)?
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I may be incorrect, but for some reason I thought that VG-10 is a powder metallurgy steel.

154cm is not, but CPM 154 is.
 
Bohler N690 has the same elemental composition as VG10. I'm not sure if its a powdered metallurgy steel but I think it may be.
 
Of the two, I prefer VG-10. VG-10 is just about my favorite stainless steel out there. I like the edge it takes: polished, but still a little toothy. And it's an absolute joy to sharpen.
 
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I prefer VG-10 over 154CM. This is a biased preference since many of my higher end production knives from Japan tend to come with VG-10 and 154CM blades tend to be on mid priced knives. So I tend to associate VG-10 with better knives.

I know this has nothing to do with how the two steels perform because I've never had problems with either one. But if a higher end knife came with a 154CM blade, I would be a bit disappointed.
 
J.Davey said:
Definitely VG10. It takes a more aggressive edge in my experiences and seems to hold it longer. 154CM has never seemed overly impressive to me. I would, however, like to try CPM154 and see how much the powder steel process improves its performance. I've read nothing but positives. For now, I've still yet to find a stainless I like better than VG10. I wonder why nobody has tried to produce a powdered metal version of VG10 yet (or have they)?
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I've only taken a few senior level chem E courses, but just from taking a look at the ratio of alloys, I wouldn't think that the increase in the properties of the steel would be very great.

Aside from iron and 95-1.05% C, the only remaining alloying metals are:
14.50-​15.50 Chromium, 0.90-​1.20 Moly, 0.10-​0.30 Vanadium, 1.30-​1.50 Cobalt, and 0.50 Manganese. (With a little bit of phosphorous maybe?)

Obviously the PM process will homogenize the steel, and distribute carbides much more evenly--which will lead to all around improvements in the steel.

What I'm wondering is this: are these improvements great enough to be worth the cost of the PM process?

Running 154cm through the PM process, thinking from my limited knowledge, allows for a very high (4.0%) Moly percentage to be alloyed into the steel much more evenly. Other than that, the ~14% Chromium is very close to VG-10's 14.5-15.5% Chromium and both steels have approximately the same amount of Carbon.

If anybody knows more about this, I'm very interested.
 
Definitely VG-10. It can be brought to a wicked sharp edge much quicker than 154cm (Fallkniven vs Benchmade HT), and VG-10 edge behaves like a razor, although 154CM keeps a mediocre edge longer.
 
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