benchmade 806 d2 sharpening

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rctk1

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how hard is it to sharpen the steel on the bm 806 with the d2 blade? how well does it stack up against the model 710 with the 154cm steel. i plan on using the knife hard for hunting and for outdoor survival situations. thank you
 
that's the beauty of the 806's D2 steel: it's easy to sharpen and holds its edge for a LONG time. i touch mine up on my Sharpmaker, and it's never been a problem. D2 is obviously tougher than some of the lesser steels, even a smidge tougher than 154CM, but still sharpens up quite nicely. have no worries!

i also have the 710 in 154CM, and i'd say the 710 is only slightly easier to sharpen than the 806d2. they're very close.

abe
 
my 806d2 is easier imo than my timberline envoy with aus8 :barf: i try not to sharpen the 806 to much though, its my baby. i dont really use it for hard work sence im carrying 4-5 blades at a time. :p
 
If you keep the angle you will be fine. I found it a bit harder to sharpen than a 154CM blade. But that might be considered to the differing hardness.

I use stones and since i do that nothing, not even backbeveling, is a real hard job.

Considering toughness i never found a proof that D2 is tougher than other high alloyed steels. Maybe a bit because in a drop of hardness, but not really.

It took some time for me to get familiar with it but i like it very much in it´s strength and its rough edge.

So no worries to take that knife. I recommend ti instead, even though an M2 806 would be a dream.
 
Concerning the 806 models, the D2 is an excellent using steel providing that is has the proper heat treat. Coupled with it being at a 60- 61 Rockwell then the steel is very hard and tough. But it is no harder to sharpen than other comparable steels. I' ve used an extra/ super fine grit diamond dust bench stone with great success. I don' t let my blades go to butter knife sharp. It is best to keep it lightly touched up during regular use. And with D2 you will do that much less often. :)

The M2 version of the 806 (non Axis) is prone to onset of corrosion rather easily if one doesn' t wipe and clean it regularly. M2 is a high speed tool steel where there is about 1% of carbon but with a very low chromium content of only about 4%! I have found that of these 2 steels from the Benchmade line, the M2 requires an appreciably greater effort to sharpen.

N.
 
Interesting that you find the D2 blade easier to sharpen than M2. I have always thought that M2 was very easy to sharpen to a shaving sharp edge. In fact I find it easier to get my BM140 Nimravus shaving sharp than to do the same with any of my BM 154CM knives. Now, admittedly, this is annecdotal so refutations are welcomed!

As for D2, I have the 806D2 but don't carry it often due to size -- don't like the reaction I get when I pull it out in public so I stick to small knives around town (705, mini griptillian, and now the BM960). So it follows that I don't have much need to sharpen it. Of course the BM960 also sports a D2 blade so I should soon have reason to experience sharpening D2.

BTW, any comments on sharpening S30V and general comments on N690?
 
A look at a steel chart courtesy of Spyderco which provides additional specs of the 2 steels:

M2: 4.75- 6.50 Molybdenum, 2.25- 2.75 Vanadium, 5.00- 6.75 Tungsten
D2: 0.70- 1.20 Molybdenum, 1.10 Vanadium, 0.00 Tungsten!

All of the 3 elements listed above add to hardenability and toughness of the 2 steels. Note that D2 has NO Tungsten content at all! The comparison would indicate that M2 has the edge :) over D2 in toughness and hardness...

N.
 
I just put a great edge to my D-2 Mini Grip using my Edge Pro Apex. It was no problem at all though I did start with the coarse 120 grit stone and worked my way up in the stones. Being a new user of the Edge Pro, and too impatient to tape up the blade, I did remove some of the black coating on some of the higher parts of the blade closer to the spine.
 
mjoury, just a quick answer to your question on S30V and N690. I own Spyderco's S30V and sharpen at 15 deg. and finish at 19. (i do all stones at 15 and when done, pull a few light strokes with the finest stone at 19.) the edge will last a long time, granted i don't do much hard cutting. N690 is from Benchmade and is sharpened same way. the edge will go a good long time but not as long as S30V. N690 goes longer than BM's 440C (mini-grip) but is pretty danr good!

* now back to topic in progress :rolleyes:

* should note: S30V is flat ground and so is N690 and all blades are plain edged.
 
Just sharpened a bm806d2 last night for another forum member.

spent an hour on my stones thinning it down to a 30deg inclusive edge. The 500 grit AO made quick enough work of it, most of the time went into polishing the edge up.
 
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