CTS-204P vs CPM-20CV

N4SIR

N4SIR

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Feb 22, 2008
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I am about to buy a ZT 0562cf and i am trying to figure out which steel is a better buy.
Both steels are considered "super" steels with small variances in composition etc

I read a few posts and threads and saw some complaints on this very knife with rolling of the edge and chipping in the CTS-204P and i know next to nothing about CPM-20CV

I figured why not ask the community how their knives fair in these steels

The knife will be primarily for EDC boxes cardstock light wood etc..
 
You really will not see a significant performance difference.
 
These two are even more similar than Coke and Pepsi. They are the same recepie produced by two different steel manufacturers.
 
They r both copies of the M390 in 99% of comparison so if u hear different reports imo its most likely the edge geometry, heat treat, etc.

Unless you have scientific equipment to measure super well u will not notice any difference
 
CPM20CV, M390, and 204P are all the same steel. The main difference that would affect performance will be heat treatment used and blade geometry.
 
All three of these steels are high-tech powder steels (molten steel atomized into fine particles, or powder, and then rapidly cooled), made with somewhat different processing. 20V is first generation powder steel. 204P is a second generation steel. M390 is a third generation powder steel. It's not easy to know how much difference these processing methods produce in knife steel.

All of these powder steel will feature fine grains and finer, more evenly distributed carbides compared to their ingot counterparts. They also have far less, if any, inclusions (think dirt in steel, like flies baked into outdoor bread).

According to an R&D exec at Carpenter, the first generation processing will produce a powder in the range of 500 to 1,000 microns. Carpenter claims its second generation processing will produce a finer powder than either first or third generation processing -- somewhere around 150 micron powder. But there is some debate.

You really have to get deep into the weeds to tell the difference by the time that powder steel alloy is processed into a knife blade.

Generally, knife companies will put out knife blades with a 2-point spread in hardness (such as 59-61 Rc). To my thinking, that simple difference is going to be far more important than the powder processing technique of this particular alloy. You could get a 204P blade at 61 Rc or a 20V blade at 59 Rc -- or vice versa. Two points will make a much bigger difference than the processing of that alloy at the steel mill, and you are not going to know what the hardness of your blade is within that range. It's a matter of chance.

So I don't think you can noodle out which processing technique for that particular alloy will make a better ZT 0562 blade for your particular uses.
 
thanks for the replies i already ordered a carpenter one i guess ill stick with that one :)
 
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