154 CM is hard to sharpen compared to SR77 and most carbon steels. It's a lot like ATS-34, if you've ever sharpened it. I used to hate such steels for that reason. Diamond sharpeners will cut it fairly well. I use a belt sander now, and I maintain the edge with a BRKT strop. The upside is that both these steels will take a very sharp edge and hold it through a lot of use.