Calculator › Steels › CPM-154
CPM-154 is the powder-metallurgy version of 154CM and, for twenty years, the default stainless for custom fixed blades. Fine carbides, good edge retention, respectable toughness, and it takes a high polish. It needs a kiln, foil, a plate quench and a cold treatment to do it justice.
| Good for | EDC fixed blades, hunters, kitchen knives; anything a customer wants in stainless. |
|---|---|
| Forging | Do not forge; stock removal only |
| Normalize | Not applicable — buy annealed |
| Austenitize | 1950–2000 °F, 30 min soak, in foil |
| Quench | Plates, then cryo or dry ice |
| Temper | 400 °F twice → 60–62 HRC. A 900–1000 °F secondary-hardening temper is possible but Crucible warns it costs corrosion resistance and toughness (sensitization) |
| Working hardness | 58–62 HRC |
Typical shop values. Confirm against your supplier's datasheet.
Hot-rolled or belt-ground bar 1/16–3/8 in thick, 1–24 in wide, 12–36 in lengths from NJSB; precision-ground 3/32–1/4 in, 1–4 in wide, 18/36 in from Jantz. Priced by the inch.
Suppliers: New Jersey Steel Baron Alpha Knife Supply Jantz
Stock removal: the bar is cut to blade + tang + clean-up, so the tang section and forged thickness below only change the finished-weight estimate. Switch to Forged and they change the stock length too.
Tang dimensions are estimated from the tang style until you change them. Measuring yours is worth doing — a forged blank's length depends on the tang's cross-section, not on what the tang is called.
Stock removal: fill factors only change the finished-weight estimate here. They set the stock length when the method is Forged. Grinding loss has no effect at all in stock removal — the bar is cut straight to the profile, nothing is drawn out.
The fraction of the blade's and tang's bounding box that is actually steel once the bevels are ground. Distal taper is factored in separately now (see "Distal taper" below, under What this assumed) and isn't editable here yet — these two fill factors are the ones worth replacing with your own measurements: weigh a finished blade, then adjust until the finished weight below matches the scale.
Steel is only part of the cost. Add abrasives, handle, heat treat and your time, and see the price that actually pays you.
Copy link to this calculationMagnaCut is tougher and more corrosion resistant at the same hardness and costs more. CPM-154 is the proven, cheaper, easier-to-polish choice. Either will make a customer happy.
Bar sizes for ten common knife patterns, weight per inch for every standard flat bar, and quick heat-treat numbers for the usual carbon steels. Print it, tape it to the grinder.