There is a new 154CM Tool Steel being made by Crucible Specialty Tool Steels in Syracuse New York.
It's being made by Crucible's Particle Metal process and I've had it in my shop long before the announcement was made public.
The new stuff is the same chemical composition of alloys as the old 154CM but made in a way that the carbide distribution within the matrix of the steel is radically changed.
Some of the mechanical properties of the new Particle Metal 154CM compared to the old traditional melted and rolled 154CM are:
Ultimate tensile strength is higher, more tranverse bend fracture strength and using the same heat treat, at least one more point hardness on the Rockwell "C" hardness scale which should mean a bit more edge holding.
I haven't yet been able to do the edge holding tests.
Because of the superior fine grain structure, the ability to high polish this steel with no macro grain structure showing is incredible.
I wanted FS to hear this stuff directly from the guy who makes it because there will be a test to see if she listens to him like she does me.
The poor guy came back looking pretty ragged after speaking to her...
Edited to add:
CPM S-30V remains King when it comes to toughness and edge holding because of it's vanadium content which 154CM does not have.
The reason for the new Particle Metal 154CM was to provide a superior tool steel for custom knives which could be mirror finished which is almost impossible with CPM S-30V and its vanadium carbides.
Vanadium carbides are so hard they are off the Rockwell hardness charts and one has to use the Vickers Scale of hardness to measure them. This is why it's very difficult to grind and high polish the CPM S-30V.
It'll cost ya now !
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