Working with CPM154CM

Sean O'Hare

Sean O'Hare

Joined
Jul 24, 2003
Messages
1,183
Okay now I know most of you are forgers and haven't the time of day for stainless but....

I finally got some time today working with CPM154CM and although I haven't tested its edge holding I have to say I like it! Not the serious PITA that S30V is in terms of getting a good finish with. Of course it most likely doesn't hold the same edge but I think for me this is going to be a great alternative to S30V. Not all my customers want S30V as many find it difficult to resharpen.

Anyhow that's just my 2 cents.

Take Care,
Sean
 
Ive used it several times now and love the way it grinds and finishes. I wish I had some feedback on edge holding also but time will tell. Maybe somebody here has spent some time in the field and will share? It seems to good to be true.
 
I just finished a blade with it , ground it all after HT ( Paul Bos ) ,and like it much more than S30v. I will be using a lot more of it.
 
Yes, I would like some reports too but I am sure properly heat treated it is superb. Never made a blade of it. CPM S30V, good as it is, is not the bell weather of blade comparison.

Bruce, your knives are too good to be used. Nobody's going to take a chance on smudging one of yours. Yours are shown, kept on walls, in drawers, inside hide away books and in safes.

rlinger
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Bruce, Post me one of your knives and I'l take it on my next hunting trip :D

Personally, I don't think any knife should be just locked in a drawer or a safe. Maybe left on the mantlepeice, but if it comes to hoarding something in a vault, Just get gold!

A knife, even one of the pretty damascus showpieces I've seen on here, are made to be used, admired yes, locked up like fort knox no.

Just my humble 2 cents worth.
 
Of course I hope all know I meant that as an ultimate, well deserved, compliment. I have had the nerve racking opportunity of heat treating a couple Bruce Bump blades. I was on pins and needles. I can say that now. I would not have told him that then. The man is good. Getting back to the main thread: The 154CM is going to be rock good and I would not hesitate one instant in making a blade of it. With a good steel for our needs, the secret is patience in learning the heat treat.

rlinger
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Let's clarify things . There is 154CM, there is CPM154 ,then of course there's S30V .154CM and CPM154 have the same chemistry but the CPM version is better with smaller and more uniformly distributed carbides .More expensive but holds edge better and for the maker easier to grind and polish .Not quite as wear resistant as S30V but you wouldn't send it back !!
 
I now use CPM 154 for my stainless knives (used to use 154CM). It is a good steel, easy to work, takes a great edge,polishes well, and I have not heard any complaints from a user yet. The HT is straight forward with no tricks.Any good HT shop can do it.
I Purchase it in sheet from Crucible, and laser cut to get the max yield. It is reasonably priced - especially for the quality knife it makes.Pop's sells it at a good price in bars. I've used up all the S30V I purchased several years ago, and won't be purchasing any more.
Stacy
 
For stainless, CPM-154 seems to have the highest slicing edge retention possible before you start getting in to stuff that is difficult to sharpen (i.e. S30V). It fits a good niche that way.
 
rlinger said:
Of course I hope all know I meant that as an ultimate, well deserved, compliment. I have had the nerve racking opportunity of heat treating a couple Bruce Bump blades. I was on pins and needles. I can say that now. I would not have told him that then. The man is good. Getting back to the main thread: The 154CM is going to be rock good and I would not hesitate one instant in making a blade of it. With a good steel for our needs, the secret is patience in learning the heat treat.

rlinger
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Click to expand...

Roger thats a heck of a good compliment. FYI those two blades you did for me came out great. The pimped out dagger is a ''safe queen" but the hunter is used every season with outstanding performance. He is super happy!
 
I have seen a lot of people mention this metal and its heat treating process not being overly difficult. But i have yet to see any details of the process to HT. How does it compare like 1095 or other non-stainless high carbon steels?
 
It requires precise temperature and time control -not for the inexperienced !Check www.crucibleservicwe.com for HT [same as HT for 154CM] Good candidate for plate quenching. Cryo will get 1-2 points harder.
 
Most of the threads about HT'ing 154CPM I have seen seem to end up with (I believe) Butcher Block's recipe of cooking and quench plates. Like 1950deg for 45 then quench plates, then LN2 or dry ice, temper, back to the cold, then temper one more time (dont quote me on that).
 
You can use quench plates but the specs also say quench iun still air. Unless it's very thin you shouldn't have a warpage problem. If you do, it can easily be hand starightened before it completely cools. From there cool to room temp, then cryo as part of the quench. After that you can do the temper cycles. Making it too hard drops its ductility. I work it around 60-61HRC with no customer complaints at all.

I use very little ATS34 anymore and have gone to 154CM for my bigger knives and blades. I still use D2 for the smaller blades. ATS34 and 154CM are virtually identical, unless it specifies CPM154. Either ATS34 or 154CM are excellent steels. I'll be heat treating 28 blades of 154CM in the nextr week. The first 9 will be this evening.

Gene
 
Yep! Eazy to heat treat, and isn't as prone to edge chiping when ground thin, at high Rc. Gene, I'm wondering about the still air. The spec's I have here call for 2 bar of pressure. That is 28 lbs of moving air. Any thoughts? Mike
 
I lucked up on some of the first CPM 154CM to come out and have used it almost exclusively since...it seems to grind and polish much better than plain ol 154CM, et. al. ....I love it.

My HT formula:

1900 for 30 minutes, air quench (under a fan on "high" setting) and then temper @ 375 for two hours - three times. As was suggested to me...the third temper makes a bigger difference than I would have imagined with respect to edge holding. Final Rc averages between 60 and 61.

My two cents worth....

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Hank Hammond
 
Living by the sea and being having spend time as a commercial fisherman I would like to start making some stailess knives and this sounds like the stuff to use. Anyone got a source or 1/8 and 3/16" I tryed the link to crucible above and it didn't work for me. Google got me Crucible materials but a search there showed no CPM154CM or cpm154 .Thanks
 
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