i would like to start off by introducing my self i am a knife maker my self and i consider myself to be a steel snob. BUT!!!

i have been running into a big problem lately i just bought a benchmade rift and wanted to do some reaserch on the steel because i have never used 154cm steel.

just to give you an idea of what i know first. 154cm is a step up from 440c in toughness and wear resistants but slightly less stain resistant D2 is a big step up from 154cm in toughness and a slight step up in wear resistance but a step down in stain reistance.BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have resently come across a few bar graphs that show different, they have D2 steel and 154cm steel in the same graph showing 154cm steel as the same toughness and much more wear resistant then D2 steel this cant be true because all knife makers advertise D2 as a better steel and less rust resistant i have also seen numerus forum talk about D2 VS. 154cm and every one says D2 is better in toughness ande wear resistance.

is this just people talking and because they pay more for the steel they make it seem like the steel is better?? this hole time i have thought that D2 was a step up on toughness and wear resistants but not as stainless.

have i been wrong this hole time??????????

if so why is it that benchmade and other knife makers use D2 in there more expencive knives and 154cm in there cheaper knives????

is it all a hoax???!!!!!

this is one of the bar graphs i saw that shows D2 barely better then 440c and not as good as 154cm

http://www.dougritter.com/pop_up_cpms30v.htm

here is another website that says 154cm steel is pretty much the best all around steel for knives out today and just say that D2 holds an edge really well

http://popsupply.bizhosting.com/steel_117.html

i dont have the exact answer you are looking for as i am not a steel snob but i do own a few of each of the more popular current steels. It was always my understanding D2 is stronger overall then 154cm. Someone else will be along to give more details, but that is my opinion on it.

I think the more common steels in Benchmades higher end knives would be M390 of late, M4 and s30v.
Find more 154cm in knives meant for the field. I feel their are quite a few people on this forum that are not a fan of D2.

i hope someone can clear this up for me soon???

Meh I could hardly care what kind of steel it is so long as it's not some sort of generic stainless and it's a decent company making the steel like Bohler or Crucible or Carpenter.

hello chad,
just wanted to say hi...
I thought D2 was a harder tuffer steel, that is why its a bear to
sharpen. where 154cm is almost as tuff but has stain resistance and
ease of sharpening. seems if you where going to be in a wet climate with
high humidity and such a more corrosion resistant steel would be the
choice.
If you where going into a dryer climate, the D2 would be the choice.
so each steel has a benefit or a characteristic that makes it better
depending on the use, and the blade configuration.

for instance I believe D2 would be a poor choice on a knife such as the Onslaught. where as it could have been used on the 760bk LFTi.
but I believe M4 could have been used on both and am very glad they
did on the LFTi.

well, I guess I did more than just say, " hi"
so it goes on the forum so often...
welcome friend

Maybe the other steel was CPM154, the particle metalurgy version of 154CM?

Otherwise, I can't imagine a spec sheet showing 154cm tougher than D2...They've both been around forever, and it's kind of common knowledge that you get better performance from D-2, except for corrosion resistance of course.

quote:

Originally posted by Po - The Dragon Warrior:
Maybe the other steel was CPM154, the particle metalurgy version of 154CM?

Otherwise, I can't imagine a spec sheet showing 154cm tougher than D2...They've both been around forever, and it's kind of common knowledge that you get better performance from D-2, except for corrosion resistance of course.

+1

i have been doing a lot of reaserch on this and yes it was common knowledge that D2 was tougher and harder then 154cm steel but this was first derived from there names. it is a common misconception that D2 is better then 154cm because D2 is known as a tool steel which changes poeples views on it but what most people dont know is that 154cm was made for heavy manufacturing machines and machine blades.

also benchmade and most other knife makers want that happy medium from the steel that they use and what HRC does best for that steel and D2's happy medium is 60-62 HRC and 154cm's happy medium is 58-60 HRC which yes will make a harder edge and will also make D2 harder to sharpen BUT if you were to take 154cm and D2 to the same HRC both of them to 60-62 HRC 154cm would actually out perform D2 in cutting and strength but the reason they dont is because they want the happy medium for that steel. D2 is more like 154cm when it is tempered to 60-62 HRC just with better edge holding and this is why people think D2 is better because it is usually brought to a higher HRC which actually makes it much more brittle then 154cm.

common knowledge is not common anymore it is peoples views D2 does best at 60-62 HRC and 154cm does best aT 58-60 HRC but if D2 was brought down to 58-60 HRC 154cm would way out perform D2 in every aspect

This message has been edited. Last edited by: chad2,

Thanks Chad...and in the real world could I tell the difference in cuttting ability between the two? Hard to say, I just cut some old carrots and have trouble telling.