D-2 Steel

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hotrodKelley

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Hello Everyone. I would like to know if D-2 is a good knife blade steel in a knife around the 8-10 inch blade length, 1/4 inch stock. I have heard stories that it is somewhat brittle and can possibly break? I have always thought it was a great steel to use, but then I hear these stories, and don't know what to think. I would like to know: 1) Can this steel be used for hard use/survival type knife steel? THANKS, Aaron
 
in a word kelley.... yes..... d2 is a good all around steel, and most of my tooling is done in d2.... or a2 so i would find it hard to think it would easily break.... infi it isnt but its not 1095 either
 
kabar is using it in their d-2 extreme series of fixed blades so apparently they arent too worried about it breaking.,,,VWB.
 
3V would be good. I personally don't think that i could break a D2 blade with use.
 
I wouldn't worry too much about it breaking, it is fairly tough.

But! D2 is a high carbon high carbide steel that makes great abrasion resistant thin slicers. All that carbide is doing nothing for you on a big thick beater knife except making it difficult to sharpen.

Impact strength actually starts to go down at softer tempers

D2 shines around HRC 62 and a thin edge, which does not sound like the knife you're talking about.
 
I recently replaced some carbide blades with D2 on my paper cutting equipment and have around 400,000 cuts on them and going strong. D2 is about 1/4 the cost of carbide inserts so looks like it will be the steel I will be using for awhile.
 
Not to hijack, but I have a D2 question. I have heard it called semi-stainless, due to it's resistance to staining without being one of the new "super steels," but is it a good shoice for a slipjoint edc? I'm sure it would be fine for opening boxes, cutting rope, etc., but if I cut up and apple with it is it going to stain?
 
bjr said:
Not to hijack, but I have a D2 question. I have heard it called semi-stainless, due to it's resistance to staining without being one of the new "super steels," but is it a good shoice for a slipjoint edc? I'm sure it would be fine for opening boxes, cutting rope, etc., but if I cut up and apple with it is it going to stain?
Click to expand...

D2 is called semi stainless, because it falls about 1% short in chromium content to actually be considered a stainless. You shouldn't have any trouble with it staining unless you never wipe it off.
 
I will interject an old saying of the knife world and try to explain it:
"D-2 takes a poor edge and holds it forever"
The truth is that D-2 takes a great edge when sharpened to the right kind of edge. As Nathan and Dave pointed out, it makes a great slicing edge. It is hard and tough, so sharpening is slower. Because of this ,many new makers would make a too thick rounded edge that never cut well. With a thinner edge and proper geometry, a D-2 blade will cut for a L...O...N...G time between sharpenings. As Matt said, D-2 is stainless for practical purposes, but it will rust or stain if left wet or contaminated with acidic substances.
Stacy
 
Thank you, gentlemen. For the toughness, relative ease of HT, and for the semi-stainless properties, it looks like D2 is going to stay my steel of choice.
 
bjr said:
Not to hijack, but I have a D2 question. I have heard it called semi-stainless, due to it's resistance to staining without being one of the new "super steels," but is it a good shoice for a slipjoint edc? I'm sure it would be fine for opening boxes, cutting rope, etc., but if I cut up and apple with it is it going to stain?
Click to expand...
D2 is Tony and Reese Bose's "standard" working steel for their slipjoints (and fixed blades too for that matter). It's also Bob Dozier's standard steel, period. I have D2 folders by all these guys, and they work superbly.

It can pit if really neglected, but you kinda have to work at it -- even so, in my experience, it's pretty difficult to actually get it to stain.

I've found it fairly easy to sharpen really, though a fine or very fine diamond "stone" is a must (the Fallkniven DC4 combo fine diamond/ceramic whetstone is just about perfect for D2). However, it's a steel you really want the edge geometry to be right on from the beginning.
 
the one i had held a great edge. i acted more like stainless than plain carbon steel. but it would show discoloring spots someitmes after cutting up a tomato or something high in acid juice. it was not rust just colored spots. they were easily removed with brasso. d2 is a great steel.,,,VWB.
 
bladsmth said:
I will interject an old saying of the knife world and try to explain it:
"D-2 takes a poor edge and holds it forever"
The truth is that D-2 takes a great edge when sharpened to the right kind of edge. As Nathan and Dave pointed out, it makes a great slicing edge. It is hard and tough, so sharpening is slower. Because of this ,many new makers would make a too thick rounded edge that never cut well. With a thinner edge and proper geometry, a D-2 blade will cut for a L...O...N...G time between sharpenings.
Click to expand...

What would be appropriate geometry & edge angle for using D-2?
Are we talking hollow or flat grind with 15 or 20 degree edge?
Does D-2 ever work well with a convex grind or edge?
Is the K-bar D-2 fighting/utility an appropriate good example of D-2 usage?

(I'm not a maker, I'm just wanting to be able to recognize the qualities of a good knife in D-2 when I see one:))
 
SteelIsReal said:
What would be appropriate geometry & edge angle for using D-2?
Are we talking hollow or flat grind with 15 or 20 degree edge?
Does D-2 ever work well with a convex grind or edge?
Is the K-bar D-2 fighting/utility an appropriate good example of D-2 usage?

(I'm not a maker, I'm just wanting to be able to recognize the qualities of a good knife in D-2 when I see one:))
Click to expand...

I think the edge should be fairly thin to start with. And sharpened between 10 to 15 deg per side. This works with a hard temper (deep freeze and two 515 tempers get you around 62 HRC). This is a D2 blade that pops hair off in mid hair (my EDC)

That is a thin edge at an acute angle. That is not how I would sharpen a K-bar or fighting knife (not that I own a K-bar or fighting knife). That is how I'd sharpen my pocket knife or skinning knife, good candidates for D2.
 
Nathan has it. A low angle and thinner edge are the best use of D-2. If you want a thick edge and higher angle, you don't really need D-2 for the job. A hollow grind will bring the thickness down, so that is a good grind for the edge. A long flat grind will also do the same. You will read posts from timer to time about D-2 chipping. That is mostly a product of improper HT . The new CPM D-2 should really be good stuff from what I hear.
Stacy
 
Ya know, re-reading my last post, it occurs to me it gives the misimpression that D2 is a good steel for taking a very fine edge. It isn't.

The two reputations that D2 has are:

1: It takes a lousy edge and holds it forever
2: it is brittle

D2 is probably my favorite steel, so I'm quick to want to defend it against these partially earned, but mostly not true reputations. But with a poor heat treat and bad edge geometry, they are true. With a good heat treat and a fine edge geometry it combines high strength (not the same thing as toughness) and good abrasion resistance to make a blade that, for me and my common uses, has better edge retention and cutting ability than anything I have tried.

Also, to say that D2 is only 1% chromium point away from being a true stainless is missing the truth a little bit. Yes it has lots of chrome, but much of it is tied up in chromium carbides (due to the huge carbon content), meaning that it does not have the stain resistance you might assume from such a high chromium steel. It is pretty good, but it ain't stainless.

The large volume of chromium carbide is a major defining characteristic of D2. This is where a lot of the abrasion resistance comes from. It is also what makes it difficult to get a super fine edge. To over come the difficulty sharpening, it is best to start with a fairly thin edge. I like a thin hollow grind. This allows a minimum amount of steel to be removed between sharpenings.

Corrosion resistance and toughness go down with higher tempers. It retains austenite at lower tempers. So I think it works best with a deep freeze as part of the quench and a fairly hard temper.

This thin, hard, high strength steels shines with a fine edge angle. That makes a great cutter with good edge retention, which is why I love it.

Makes a lousy straight razor and a even lousier thick heavy knife, and there are way better steels for making a pry bar.

Makes a good skinner, box cutter, drywall scraper, fiberglass tape cutter etc. I use it around the shop to deburr plastic and metal parts and have even hammered through small nails (don't try that with S30V)

I've heard the new CPM D2 isn't much different.
 
From crucible:
http://www.crucibleservice.com/eselector/prodbyapp/tooldie/cpm3vt.html

Unfortunatly they won't give figures for plain carbons

. .
Steel; HRC Charpy C-notch Joules
----------------------------------------
CPM 3V @ 58 113
CPM 3V @ 60 95
CPM 3V @ 62 53
S7 @ 57 165
A2 @ 60 53
D2 @ 60 28
M2 @ 62 27
CPM M4 @ 62 43

from pages:
L6 @60-68 CC-notch (J): 58
L6 @58-60 CC-notch (J): 52

D2 @59 CC-notch (J): 30
D2 @58 CC-notch (J): 30
D2 @55 CC-notch (J): 26

So yes, compared to S7, A2 or L6, D2 is pretty brittle.
 
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