Bk24 edge retention?

F

f250

Joined
Aug 9, 2014
Messages
295
Ok so I'm really not sure if this is a issue where my expectations are unrealistic, or something else. I've had my bk24 (d2) for a while, haven't used it much. I used it this past weekend in the stock plastic sheath and I noticed it would go from a perfect shaving sharp edge to having noticeable rolls/dull spots on the edge within an hour or so. Almost no use apart from light cutting tasks and sheathing/re sheathing it. It didn't have a bur or wire edge, it had a clean apex to begin with. I've read about some issues with the sheath dulling the edge.

Does this sound like a sheath issue or do I need to adjust my expectations? I dont have any previous experience with d2, but I thought it had better edge retention than 1095? I cleaned and processed 12 fish with my bk15 and it still shaved afterwards. It seems to me that my bk24 isn't holding an edge at ALL.

I'm trying it in a leather sheath this week to see if my issue goes away.

Thoughts?
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I use a leather sheath and mine cuts and cuts like crazy. It is said that the plastic sheath problem has been fixed but it seems like both of mine (14 & 24) dulled in the stock sheath.
 
It's likely the factory sheath, there's a video on YouTube where a guy runs his edge over kydex and the factory plastic, the glass reinforced nylon killed the edge, the kydex didn't
 
The older plastic sheaths are indeed known to dull the edge. Mine does. Don't know about the new 'locking' sheaths.

D2 is good steel and has good edge retention.

The last time I used my 24 was last Thanksgiving prepping veggies. It did well but that wasn't exactly 'hard use'. ;) A few passes on a strop or the Sharpmaker was all it ever needed.
 
It's not the knife. The 24 is one of the all time greats at cutting and holding a wicked edge. I use mine every day and don't go anywhere without it, but it lives in kydex. :thumbup:
 
That's all I needed to hear. I fell in love with this knife this weekend, and now that I put the little clip on the spine to make the tip more delicate, it's like this knife was made for my hand.

I'm going to throw away the factory sheath, and stick with the leather one and make a Kydex one for pocket carry. This is exciting! I was starting to think that the knife wasn't all it was hyped up to be, which was really disappointing.
 
The older sheaths were the culprit. The new locking ones are the solution to that problem. Although kydex or leather as said will do much better for most. I have seen the 24 in one of those lesther pocket sheaths look pretty comfortable.
 
The thing is, im pretty sure this sheath is one of the newer styles. The blade locks in place and it's only 8 months old. Not that that really matters that much, something is obviously dulling the blade without any heavy usage.
 
f250 said:
The thing is, im pretty sure this sheath is one of the newer styles. The blade locks in place and it's only 8 months old. Not that that really matters that much, something is obviously dulling the blade without any heavy usage.
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The new ones actually have a little folding "lock" that you put over the "guard" at the front of the handle. If that's like you're talking about, it probably shouldn't be dulling the edge that easily.
 
f250 said:
The thing is, im pretty sure this sheath is one of the newer styles. The blade locks in place and it's only 8 months old. Not that that really matters that much, something is obviously dulling the blade without any heavy usage.
Click to expand...

Could be a lot of things...

If the sheath is dulling the edge, I'd expect it to get better with time once a groove is worn in. One way to test that is to resharpen, then cut cardboard for a bit without sheathing it to see how long it takes to get to a similar level of edge wear. If it lasts longer than before, it's likely the sheath.

If not, it could be the factory edge. High carbide steels are difficult to grind, so the edge may have been overheated while grinding. Typically, this gets better as you sharpen back into "fresh" steel. I haven't had that particular problem with Beckers, but you never know.

Another might be your sharpening method. I know you mentioned that you're sure you had a clean apex, but what grit are you sharpening at? D2 doesn't really excel at high levels of polish, instead it benefits from a toothier edge. That "razor edge" you get after sharpening goes away rather quickly, but the "working edge" that it settles into lasts quite a while. Also, you could try sharpening at a lower angle than you do with 1095 if the edge is getting rolled or chipped.

I'd say you're headed in the right direction already if you try another sheath. It's a simple test that doesn't take too much effort, so it's good to rule those sorts of things out first. After that, I'd say adjust your sharpening method in a few ways and see what works for you. FWIW, I found D2 to have much better edge retention than 1095, and that was specifically comparing the BK14 vs. the BK24. I wouldn't worry too much, you'll find the reason sooner or later, this sort of thing is what makes knives interesting.
 
Well, I was mistaken. My sheath doesn't have a locking lever on it so that would make it the old style.

Calc, you bring up a lot of interesting points. Specifically about sharpening, I've reprofiled the edge, and it is probably in the 15-18 degrees per side range. I think that should be good for d2 from what I've read. I have experimented with refined edges versus toothier edges on this knife and I've ended up just sharpening on a medium dmt diamond stone (800 grit I think) then going straight to the strop for bur removal. That seems to produce the best edge for me on this steel.
 
The sheath may take away the initial hair splitting edge but shouldn't roll or ding the edge. I would experiment a bit with some different materials and edge geometries before blaming steel.or heat treat.
 
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