01 and L6 also rank pretty high as the best in carbon steels.
My opinion is that chromium does not do anything to enhance edge holding. 154 CM, with 14% chrome, dones not have enough chrome in it for it to be considered stainless, but it is a little bit more rust resistant than carbon steels.
I think 154CM, with it's 14% carbon will come very close to the edge holding ability of carbon steels, and will also take a very sharp edge.
There is something to do with grain size, and a course grain steel will not get as sharp as a fine grain steel. I don't understand it very well, but as I understand it, grains will not sharpen, so the finer they are, the sharper the blade can the honed.
That might be why the CPM steels are considered to be better than the non-CPM steels.
