Anybody ever worked with, used or owned a knife made of CPM M4? I'm thinking of trying a new steel in a higher wear resistant category then the 440C and AEB-L that I've been using. Any thoughts or other suggestions would be great thanks.
I've never worked with it, but it has very good edge retention and toughness. Its just not stainless. Would depend what kind of knife you want to use it for, but ive heard its a really good steel.
Yes not stainless a concern, but D2 was always called a "semi stainless" and Knife Nerds's new rating system gives D2 4.5/10 for corrosion resistance and CPM M4 4/10. It will be interesting to see what level of neglect is required to mess up the blade. My first knife is made of O1 and I accidentally left it in the sheath a year after deer season, pulled it out of the sheath covered in deer bits and it was fine. O1 had a .5/10 of the Knife Nerds list so I'm hoping 4/10 will need minimal care and cleaning.
M4 is carbon steel, the one issue is it rusts very easily and it's very hard to finish when it's hardened. Cerakote or similar may help with corrosion.
