Why 154CM?

J

jeffbird

Gold Member
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Feb 3, 2011
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660
Looking at some nicer premium built traditionals and 154CM/CPM154 seems to be the steel of choice.

Why is 154CM so popular with so many newer and improved steels available?

I'm not knocking 154CM, my first custom in the 1970's was 154CM and it is a nice steel, but things have come a long way in the last fifty years.

Just curious.
 
Jolipapa Jolipapa Sorry to hear that! I'm lucky enough to have two of the 2018 Forum Knives, one for use one for store. I find them exceptionally keen slicers, shave arm hair no problem, all I did was sharpen with a diamond rod then strop.
 
Perhaps because the "newer and improved" are actually neither....

I'm waiting for the steel that holds an edge for at least 20 years, and then only requires a stern glance to re-sharpen it.

Until then, VG-10 is about as advanced as I can appreciably notice any difference, in "new" steels. If I want tough to sharpen, I'll go with D2.
 
hornetguy said:
Perhaps because the "newer and improved" are actually neither....

I'm waiting for the steel that holds an edge for at least 20 years, and then only requires a stern glance to re-sharpen it.

Until then, VG-10 is about as advanced as I can appreciably notice any difference, in "new" steels. If I want tough to sharpen, I'll go with D2.
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amen, i remember buying a user queen single blade trapper once in d2. It came sharpened and boy was it sharp, but I had no abilities to keep that edge, not with my lansky crock sticks anyway.
 
I have a lot of customs both slipjoints and fixed blades that are of this class and I can agree that they cut, sharpen up and hold edges just fine compared to more premium labeled steels. With the care that most makers like Bret Dowell, Rick Menefee, the Bose family, to even include the Case/Bose knives and many makers that have studied and learned from them, you’re getting very dialed-in heat treated blades that can hold their own against the new flavors.
 
hornetguy said:
Perhaps because the "newer and improved" are actually neither....

I'm waiting for the steel that holds an edge for at least 20 years, and then only requires a stern glance to re-sharpen it.

Until then, VG-10 is about as advanced as I can appreciably notice any difference, in "new" steels. If I want tough to sharpen, I'll go with D2.
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My sentiments exactly----until I read dantzk8 post and realized how much time etc I have in the whole sharpening thing. I'm fine with old Schrade steel I guess.
 
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hornetguy said:
Perhaps because the "newer and improved" are actually neither....

I'm waiting for the steel that holds an edge for at least 20 years, and then only requires a stern glance to re-sharpen it.

Until then, VG-10 is about as advanced as I can appreciably notice any difference, in "new" steels. If I want tough to sharpen, I'll go with D2.
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:thumbsup: 🤔:thumbsup:
John :)
 
black mamba said:
154CM is very close to the same recipe as ATS34, and I can tell you some of the S&M knives in ATS34 from the early 2000s are harder to sharpen than Queen's D2.
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ATS-34 is very unique to me, in the character of its burrs. At least in the handful of knives I've sharpened in that steel, the burrs have always been stubbornly strong and more challenging to clean up, even at higher hardness (60+ HRC, give or take), which usually makes burr cleanup easier with most other steels. Burrs aren't easily 'flipped' or weakened in the usual manner to remove them, with ATS-34. So, I've always focused instead on removing them with careful, measured abrasion on the stones, to thin them to an extent they become insignificant. That speaks a lot to the character of the steel itself, and (I think) to edge strength and toughness. Edges seem to remain very stable & strong after it's all refined & fully cleaned up. If 154CM shares some of that character, in addition to its similar composition to ATS-34, then I can see (maybe) why many makers might prefer it. At moderately high hardness, like high 50s HRC, VG-10 can sometimes look very similar in it's character at the edge and burr stubbornness. But even VG-10 seems to get easier to deal with, in terms of managing the burrs, once hardness goes much above 60 HRC or so.
 
dantzk8 said:
I don't wait for such a steel. It would be boring. I like my sharpening stones as much as my knives and i like to use them. it's an interesting part of the hobby.

Dan.
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Yep.... I was being just a touch sarcastic there.... 😁
 
Interesting responses. As noted in my first post, I think 154CM and the CPM update are nice steels and if that is all that existed, that would be a fine place to be.

However, there are steels that outperform it for edge retention, while still being easier to sharpen to a fine edge with M390/20cv being my favorite for an EDC pocket knife. Then there are S110v, 10v, K390, 15v, and Rex 121 that are on a whole other level for edge retention, but trading off some toughness, and which are undoubtedly more challenging to sharpen. I still have and use some "simple" carbon steels too. Guess it depends on picking the tool for the task.

The comments about D2 being hard to sharpen are surprising to me.

DMT or Atoma plates are what I use for steels that are "harder" to sharpen and then clean off any burr on a leather strop, jeans, cardboard, or even a hard Ark, depending on what is handy. D2 is quick and straight forward on diamond plates.
 
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