I can't say I've tried to take a clad sld, or skd11 or 12 knife through a progession. However I have ground and polished cpm d2 knives I've made.
Skd11 is equall to aisi d2, skd 12 is equal to aisi a2. Cpm d2 is just a powder metallurgy version of d2 (you get smaller carbides that equals better toughness, if heat treated correctly, while keeping wear resistance).
With that out of the way, the cpm d2 was considerably harder to polish than any carbon steel, it ate through belts faster as well. Although not as bad as 10v. A2 was a good bit easier to work with in my memory. But it's been a bit longer since then.
One thing to consider though, is part of why makers use soft cladding is to make grinding, and polishing easier for themselves, and the end user when thinning. While I was working with it, I only had the hard steel to deal with, and none of the softer cladding.