D2: Experimental?

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MichaelScarn

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Oct 27, 2008
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I was watching a customtacticals review on youtube when I heard him say that D2 was an experimental steel by Crucible.

Is that true, and if so, does anybody have any news about it?
 
Ingot D2 is a near-stainless tool steel that has been around for quite some time. Crucible experimented with applying their powder metallurgy technology to the manufacture of D2, resulting in CPM D2. Spyderco bought up most of the experimental run, producing a Sprint Run Military and Paramilitary with it. Initial reports were that the performance gains were too small to make it commercially viable, and the project was dropped. It could have been re-evaluated and put into production, but I have read no confirmation on that, so I don't think it has.

The CPM D2 has a finer grain structure, better carbide distribution and slightly better corrosion resistence than regular ingot D2 in my experience, but the difference is not major (at least at my sharpening skill level).
 
I think Kershaw cranked out a run of something in it as well. That could all be out of the same experimental batch, or they could have decided to put it in production.
 
D2 has been used in the tool and die industry for many decades. Most likely tank parts from WWII were formed on D2 Dies. It is very hard and wear resistant, and is used in stamping dies for metal parts. D2 hardly "moves" (shrink, warp, expand, etc) during heat treating compared to other tool steels, so you are able to machine it in it's annealed state and then harden it.

To answer your question: CPM was not even around when D2 was created. What CPM did was grind regular D2 into a powder, then melt the powder to uniformly distribute the alloys that make up D2. This is called CPM-D2

NEW STEEL ALERT: The steel companies we purchase from at my shop have been heavilly advertising a new steel called DC53. It is a Japanese steel that is supposed to be a direct replacement for D2 and can replace M2 in certain circumstances. It is supposed to be as wear resistant as D2, but it can be hardened higher to achieve greater strength and has a finer grain structure than D2. Sounds like it would make an interesting knife steel.
 
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The CPM normally have more lateral strength but what I have heard about the CPM D2 was that it finished without the orange peel of normal D2.
 
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