Advice needed on sharpening D2 Stockman

Big Dave

Big Dave

Gold Member
Joined
Dec 18, 1998
Messages
548
Hi,

My Queen #26 small Stockman arrived today. Cool knife. I'm pleased with it. I like the fit and fishish too. I'm quite impressed. Now if I can only get the damn thing razer sharp.

One reason I got it was to try out D2.

I have the Sharpmaker and diamond stones. I ran it about 40 times (maybe more) on the flat surface of the diamond rod and then did 80 or 120 times on the corner of the Gray (med) stones. Then moved through the standard process but doing at least 80 strokes during each step.

The blades are still dull. Can you guys give me some advice on how to sharpen D2 with a Sharpmaker?

I didn't realize D2 was so hard.

Thanks,
Dave
 
I have had good luck sharpening my Queen D2 Mountain Man and My TAK in D2 starting with the 120 grit stone on my EdgePro, so I'm surprised you can't get satisfaction with your Sharpmaker diamond stones. You may have to stick with the diamond stones a little longer, especially if the angle from the factory isn't the same as the Sharpmaker. You will effectively have to reprofile the edge with the diamond stones. A 5X loupe works well for me to get a close look at the edge and see how it's progressing.
 
Take a close look at the edge to see if you have reprofiled the original bevel yet. Mark it with black marker, make a few swipes on the stone, and then look to see if the marker is removed from the very edge. If not, you still have some work to do.

I have a number of the Queen D2 knives, and a lot of the blades needed reprofiling because they came very obtuse. I started with extra-coarse DMT and worked my way up all the way to stropping on green compound, and it will take an outstanding razor edge when you finally get it right. After that, resharpening should be relatively easy because you are only resharpening your edge. But until you get your edge reprofiled properly, it can take some work.

Also check to see if you are just rolling a wire edge back and forth; this can happen if you press hard on the diamonds. Run your thumb across the edge, moving perpendicular to the blade, from the spine to the edge. As your thumb goes off the edge you will feel any wire edge as a little roughness. Do this to both sides, and if there is a wire edge you will notice a difference between the two sides. The best way to get rid of the wire edge is with a strop, but working lightly with the diamond stones will also do it.
 
Although we usually move sharpening stuff to the maintenance thread, reprofiling those obtuse Queen blades in D2 is always a chore.

lambertina and Zuchus both have given great thoughts on lessening the chore. It is a little bit of work, but once you get those angles down keeping the knife sharp is a breeze, just by stropping once in a while most of the time.
 
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I use the DMT Aligner from extra course to extra fine

Hair shaving off the jig..

email me for full instuctions how to use a DMT Aligner ...
 
Thanks for the replies guys. But, I think I've had enough. I spent at least 2 hours farting around with the main blade and it's still not reprofiled completely. One reason I bought the knife was to try out D2. Now I know that this steel is not for me.

It really makes me appreciate the 440C that Mike Alsdorf uses on his knives and how he grinds them flat. It makes the maintenance so easy.

Just out of curiousity Neeman, how long did it take you to get your #26 shaving sharp?

Thanks,
Dave
 
Using the DMT Aligner,
It took me 1/2 hour to sharpen a Swing Guard, which has a large blade.
And it came off the jig hair shaving sharp.

I suppose using the jig I could sharpen a #26 small stockman in less than 1/2 hour, small blades are fiddlely, but little material to rebevel.
 
neeman said:
Using the DMT Aligner,
It took me 1/2 hour to sharpen a Swing Guard, which has a large blade.
And it came off the jig hair shaving sharp.

I suppose using the jig I could sharpen a #26 small stockman in less than 1/2 hour, small blades are fiddlely, but little material to rebevel.
Click to expand...

I tried using a Lansky system once, and it did not work at all for small blades, like the pen blade and copling blade on a Queen #48, or for that matter the sheepfoot and spey on the #26. The clamp would get in the way of the hone and there was no way to use the system.

Does the DMT aligner system get around that somehow?
 
Does anyone have specific recommendations for stropping the Queen D2? Can I purchase a strop somewhere and the stropping compound?

I actually have pretty good luck sharpening Queen D2 using Norton India stones and finishing on a black Arkansas stone. But sometimes I do feel the wire edge.
 
I have a few Queens (all users) and had them sent to Bark River for convexing. After a great-deal of time, effort & frustration I couldn't get a workable edge on either of them - They came back from Bark River with the famous barkie convex - scary, scary sharp.
 
have you guys looked into the paper wheels? it doesnt matter how hard the steel is, you can sharpen it on the wheels. you can buy just the paper buffing wheel to remove the burr worked up on the sharpmaker and to maintain the sharp edge. here's one of my knives sharpened on the wheels slicing newspaper http://www.myculpeper.com/richardj/MLNA0018.AVI
 
Are there any forum members that do a sharpening service?
Thanks,
Dave
 
knifeaholic said:
Does anyone have specific recommendations for stropping the Queen D2? Can I purchase a strop somewhere and the stropping compound?

I actually have pretty good luck sharpening Queen D2 using Norton India stones and finishing on a black Arkansas stone. But sometimes I do feel the wire edge.
Click to expand...

After getting as far as I want with diamond stones (ending with x-fine DMT) I will strop first with a succession of 600, 1000, and 2000 grit sandpaper laying on a thick piece of leather. Then I either first use the black Bark River compound on leather, or go straight to the green. You can buy the Bark River compound from a number of vendors - knivesshipfree.com, dlttradingcompany.com both have it. You can then make your own strops.

A really high quality green strop that you can buy is here:

http://www.knivesplus.com/KP-STROP8-STROPBLOCK.html

It is much nicer than the picture, and puts a fantastic final edge on anything. For light touchups, you can skip the sandpaper sequence.
 
I like the queen knives but they come with some of the worst edges I have seen on a quality knife. I bought a Queen sodbuster and it was dull with a thick/obtuse edge. I sharpened it on my 11.5 inch long Norton India combo stone. I used the coarse side to thin the blade and finished it on the fine India side. After getting the proper burr I increased the angle by a few degrees and lightly stroked the knife on the fine India 4 or 5 strokes per side and removed the burr. This is how Wayne Goddard recommends on sharpening and it works great. I also, use the Norton stone he recommends and I love this stone! The Sodbuster D2 blade took a excellent edge. I just wished Queen would do a better job on the edge.
RKH
 
It is going to take some time on the Sharpmaker, even with the diamonds. That is the case with almost all the high ware steels not just D2. Don't even try to use the brown rods stay on the diamonds until you get a burr along the edge on both sides. I'd suggest doing 80 strokes on one side then switch and do 80 on the other side, keep doing that on the diamonds until a burr is formed along the edge on both sides. This could take more than a few times depending on how thick the blade is at the edge. I'm guessing the sheepfoot is going to be the easiest and quickest to do. Once you've gotten a burr then remove it by taking alternating 1 stroke per side with the same diamond rods until the burr is gone. Then you should be able to use the Sharpmaker as you do with your other knives..
 
I kept working on it some today. I did thousands of strokes on the diamond rods and still didn't get the tip just right. It really needs a grinder of some sort and will be sent for professional sharpening.

I wonder why Queen doesn't do a better job on their edges?

D2 is some tough stuff.

Thanks for the advice,
Dave
 
I started collecting Queens.
I really like Queen, but their edges always need rebeveling...
So I knew it was worth the investment to buy the DMT Aligner
Now they do it witha Magna, which uses the double sided folding diamonds.

I start with Extra course for the removal.
The rest is just history...

It is so much easier and faster than by hand, and much more accurate.
Off the jig, I have not gone to stropping.
 
I have several Queen D2 users.

Before I got my 1x30 belt grinder, I would send them to Mike Stewart, who puts a killer convex edge on them.

Now I do it myself.

Mike's are still much better! ;)
 
I have some Queen Cutlery knives in D2 and all have come woefully blunt.

This is a great pity as the Teardop linerlocks I have are some of my favourite knives, but I can see no excuse in sending out blunt knives to the customer and expect them to spend a lot of time on re-profiling and sharpening. I too spent an age on the Sharpmaker with poor results with D2, I then used a small diamond stone and got some sense out of the knives but this too took a long time. I don't find D2 easy to sharpen and I really don't find it stays sharper than other steels either.Moreover, it doesn't develop a nice uniform patina like carbon or stay as bright as stainless, it gets this unattractive spotting and mottled parts if used on acidic foods. Can't see the point I'm afraid, SAK, OPINEL CASE, ROUGH RIDER all send out sharp and easy to sharpen stainless knives.CASE, BÖKER,GREAT EASTERN et al also send out very decent carbon steel blades that are sharp out of the box.Spending a long time sweating and cursing trying to get a brand new knife sharp is not my cup of tea. Nor should a new knife have to be sent away somewhere else and at expense when it should not be leaving the factory blunt in the first place.
 
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