BM D2 sharpening

edctac

edctac

Joined
May 7, 2011
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I recently picked up a mini grip in D2, it wasn't as sharp as I wanted it to be so I gave it a pass on my sharpmaker. It didn't work, and the edge rolled. A few days later I fixed it, but I still can't manage to get it sharp. It has a decent toothy edge, but won't pass the paper test. Am I doing something wrong, or am I just not patient enough for D2? Is the edge just too obtuse, should I reprofile and then put a micro bevel on it? Any help specific to D2 is much appreciated. I really like this knife, as a backup/smaller EDC but I would like it to be as sharp as the rest of mine.
 
Have you tried the sharpie trick. colour in the edge to see if your hitting the edge.

You could sharpen 30incl and put a 40 micro.

when you look at the edge under a high power light, theres probably a burr, thats why its dulling so fast , A leather strop will make it sharper and get rid of the burr :thumbup:
 
Razorsharp-Travis said:
Have you tried the sharpie trick. colour in the edge to see if your hitting the edge.

You could sharpen 30incl and put a 40 micro.

when you look at the edge under a high power light, theres probably a burr, thats why its dulling so fast , A leather strop will make it sharper and get rid of the burr :thumbup:
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Am I losing my mind, here, or did you post that exactly backwards?!? Wouldn't it be a 30* micro bevel on a 40* primary? I don't see how to put a leaner angle on the edge of a more obtuse one w/o just scratching the shoulder.

OP - I have a BM in D2. I wasn't totally happy with the edge either. I went to work on my EP, starting with the 120. I was sure I got to the edge, so I moved through the stones and when I was finished..... it was exactly the same :-( my guess is I made it to the edge with the 120 but jumped off the 220 too soon an just polished shoulders. I can say D2 is way too hard for the SM. Well, atleast for me, I would never have the patience it would take to wear D2 down on the SM. That would be a long job :-(
 
Here's the thing:
Benchmade knives are typically sharpened to about 25 degrees per side, or 50 degrees inclusive.

The sharpmaker shouldn't be able to touch the thing. Even the Medium ceramic is only 15 microns in abrasive grit size, which is in the general neighborhood of my 320 MX belt on my Worksharp. On a dull edge I might be able to raise a burr if I spend about 5-10 minutes on that belt. Trying to reprofile an edge with the Medium ceramic is an exercise in futility(along with your arms:thumbup:).

I would suggest clamping P60 grit sandpaper to the rods for reprofiling.
 
zignal_zero said:
Am I losing my mind, here, or did you post that exactly backwards?!? Wouldn't it be a 30* micro bevel on a 40* primary? I don't see how to put a leaner angle on the edge of a more obtuse one w/o just scratching the shoulder.
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Unfortunately, yes. Reprofiling to a thinner angle makes it possible to set a wider angled micro bevel to the very cutting edge.

I would be hesitant to thin the edge anymore if it is already rolling in use.

As far as sharpening D2 on the Spyderco Sharpmaker, that should not be a significant problem. I have reprofiled a BM 710 to 30 degrees with no trouble, but there was some time invested. I used the 204D diamond rods for that chore then moved on to the regular brown/gray and white stones to finish the edge.
 
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I have used a sharpmaker for "touch up" of an already sharp knife. However, IME, the SM is virtually useless for sharpening a dull knife, and even more so for reprofiling a blade of any decent steel.

The use of sandpaper will help considerably, but you are still facing a daunting task.

If there is a trustworthy professional sharpener in your area, have him re-profile the blade to 15 degrees per side and maintain it with the SM.
 
ChapmanPreferred said:
Unfortunately, yes. Reprofiling to a thinner angle makes it possible to set a wider angled micro bevel to the very cutting edge.

I would be hesitant to thin the edge anymore if it is already rolling in use.

As far as sharpening D2 on the Spyderco Sharpmaker, that should not be a significant problem. I have reprofiled a BM 710 to 30 degrees with no trouble, but there was some time invested. I used the 204D diamond rods for that chore then moved on to the regular brown/gray and white stones to finish the edge.
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Me too. My BM710 will cut shapes & circles out of copy paper but it took MANY MANY hours with a Smaker and diamond rods to even make a dent in their D2 (which is good stuff IMO).

I took a good week or more of couple hours sessions to get through the D2 and to a 30* backbevel - then started all over (without diamond rods) to get the 40* working edge. Man I spent a long time on it. Then stropped for hours (many) to blend the two bevels together nicely. It's worth it if that's all you have. Now that I have some DMT diamond stones it wouldn't be that big if a deal. On a SharpMaker - reprofiling a BM710 D2 is a daunting undertaking. ;)
 
if you give up on trying to get it sharp get with me. i can help you get it sharp or i can sharpen it for you. you might want to try a convex edge. i have a knife i made from d2 and i put a half convex edge on since its a chisel grind. i touched the edge by accident one day and it cut my finger but not bad.
 
richard j said:
if you give up on trying to get it sharp get with me. i can help you get it sharp or i can sharpen it for you. you might want to try a convex edge. i have a knife i made from d2 and i put a half convex edge on since its a chisel grind. i touched the edge by accident one day and it cut my finger but not bad.
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Richard, do you still make knives or are you always talking about the same one? No disrspect intended, I just never hear anything but that same story and the links to you cutting some newspaper.
 
i still make knives but i dont post every one i make. that particular knife is the only one i made from d2 and its for jatmat. normally i only use 1075.
 
richard j said:
i still make knives but i dont post every one i make. that particular knife is the only one i made from d2 and its for jatmat. normally i only use 1075.
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Do you have pics of any more of your creations or any that you might currently have for sale or commission to buy? Thanks man! :thumbup:
 
ChapmanPreferred said:
Unfortunately, yes. Reprofiling to a thinner angle makes it possible to set a wider angled micro bevel to the very cutting edge.

I would be hesitant to thin the edge anymore if it is already rolling in use.

As far as sharpening D2 on the Spyderco Sharpmaker, that should not be a significant problem. I have reprofiled a BM 710 to 30 degrees with no trouble, but there was some time invested. I used the 204D diamond rods for that chore then moved on to the regular brown/gray and white stones to finish the edge.
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That's exactly what I'm saying! Well, about the micro bevel, not about using a SM for reprofiling D2. Not with ya there.
 
Just keep trying ot sharpen it. I have a fullsize grip in D2 and it takes a while to sharpen. If you have any hand stones try using those. Thats what i use to sharpen mine. It takes a while to sharpen D2 so i suggest putting on a movie or something and just keep at it. Reprofiling the edge might help.
 
I've not found a micro-bevel to be useful on D-2. D-2 is an excellent cutlery steel, and with a decent 15 degree per side straight bevel, a micro bevel is not needed.
 
I use diamond stones (coarse through superfine) and it generally takes me less than 15 minutes to sharpen my D2 knife if it's really dull or chipped. Regular sharpenings take about 5 minutes or less. Diamond stones are not cheap but once you get into the "supersteels" like D2 that are very abrasion resistant they are an attractive alternative to spending hours sharpening with less effective abrasives. I sharpen at about 15 degrees per side and then strop briefly with yellow chrome compound on leather
 
I just reprofiled the edge on my D2 Mini Grip to 36* inclusive yesterday. The Edge Pro really makes it easy, but can imagine that it would take a long time on the SM. I like to keep my D2 toothier than other steels. It just seems to cut much better off of the 320 EP stone than with a 3k EP tape finish.
 
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