Is CPM 154 Steel Good for Knives? [Complete Steel Guide] (2024)

Don’t confuse CPM 154 with 154 CM steel, CPM154 is a developed version of the 154CM Steel, benefiting from the CPM process of Crucible, many costume knife maker finds their ease in using the CPM 154 Steel thanks to it balance properties, which attracted my intention. Therefore I decide to make a CPM 154 Steel Review.

So, If you’re reading this right now, it means you want to know more about the CPM 154 Steel, you came to the right the place, cause I was in the same position as you, and I did a bunch of research about it, and I answered some common questions (like What is it? What is its chemical composition? What is its hardness? How hard is it? Is it good or no ? and other questions) So let’s Dive in!.

What is CPM 154 Steel?

• 1,05% of Carbon: It improves hardness and wear/corrosion resistance, but a high amount of it decreases strength.

• 14% of Chromium: For tensile strength and Edge retention, and enhances corrosion resistance and wear resistance.

• 4% of Molybdenum: Increase Machinability and strength.

• 0,5% of Manganese: Increases hardness and brittleness.

• 0,8% Silicon: Improves Strength.

• 0,03% of Phosphorus: Increases strength.

• 0,03% of Sulfur: Increases machinability.

• 0,4% of Vanadium: Improves wear resistance and hardenability.

• 4% Tungsten: Improves wear resistance and hardness.

The chemical composition of the CPM 154 is a mixture of high carbon, Chromium, and Molybdenum, which makes CPM 154 a stainless steel with high wear resistance and corrosion resistance.

According to Crucible, the Rockwell hardness of the CPM 154 is 58-59 HRC.

To understand more the terms “Rockwell Hardness” or “HRC”, please read the following blog post.

According to the chemical composition and the HRC of the steel, the CPM 154 Steel has the following features:

CPM 154 Edge Retention: CPM 154 offers a great Edge Retention due to the high Chromium and Carbon.

CPM 154 Corrosion Resistance: With 14% of Chromium, CPM 154 offers great Corrosion Resistance, but not the best compared to other high-end steels.

CPM 154 Wear Resistance: Great wear resistance due to the 1% of Carbon.

CPM 154 Sharpness: The rule says the harder the steel, the harder to sharpen it, CPM 154 is hard so sharpening it should be a hard task.

CPM 154 Toughness: CPM 154 offers good Hardness, good corrosion resistance, therefore it will have a decent toughness (You can’t get the 3 in one place).

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In this section, we’re going to compare our steel with other steels, and for this, I use four criteria; Edge Retention, Corrosion resistance, Ease of Sharpness, and Toughness, and I use a scale or note from 1 to 10.

420HC Offers lower edge retention, close toughness and the same level of corrosion resistance compared to the 154CM Steel.

M390offers higher edge retention, better toughness and higher corrosion resistance compared to the 154CM Steel.

So since we went this far reviewing the CPM 154, the question is: Is it a “SUPER STEEL”? In my opinion, if we compare it to other high-end steels, I might say yes, but it comes in the last position compared to other high-end steels, and the Steel is called “Super Steel” once it can bring that balance between wear resistance, corrosion resistance and hardness, which CPM 154 was successful at it. So if you’re planning to use a CPM154 steel for your knife, or even buy a CPM 154 knife, go for it, you won’t regret it.

As always, If you have another opinion about this type of Steel, please leave a comment below, I’ll gladly discuss knives with you.