D2 has been a fantastic steel for 95 years!

Macchina

Macchina

Joined
Apr 7, 2006
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My first nice knife (got it in 2000 I believe) was a Benchmade AFCK in D2 steel. I carried it on many adventures and was blown away by the steel compared to the pot steels I had been using.

Fast forward 20 years and D2 continues to impress me! I have it in many well used knives but shown below are a few of my favorite renditions. Dozier does it best by far, his D2 outperforms any super steel I’ve used. Benchmade does a great job with it, and Queen kept this pretty soft but it still is fantastic. I am waiting on a Benchmade 940-1601 (carbon fiber and wood Cabelas exclusive) to arrive later this week, I’m excited because it has a D2 blade!

D2 has always had a reputation of being hard to sharpen, but I now realize this is because it was a century ahead of its time and sharpening tools were never up to the task until the last 20 years. Diamonds and ceramic made D2 a true favorite of mine. On diamonds I can achieve a razor edge on it much faster than S90V and it holds that edge forever.

D2 was patented in 1928 and underwent a few minor changes after that. It was first used in knives in the 1960’s and is still used significantly today. CPM-D2 appeared as of it would take the reigns away from its parent, but in my experience and many others it is mostly similar to billet D2 in actual use. It has toughness, edge retention, and much more initial sharpness capability than people with standard sharpening equipment have given it a reputation for.

D2 also benefits from being readily available and cheap. For example RAT knives would probably never have been as popular if a cheap super steel like D2 was not available to them.

This ends my ode to the steel that started it all for me and continues to be a favorite!

A few of my D2 knives:


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I only have 1.5 knives that are made in D2 steel....


One is a HK Benchmade, and a Killing knife I'm currently working on.

I was reading about how D2 is currently being overlooked, yet still a favorite among Makers.
I wanted to test it more. I'm fortunate having this
 
Based on the title, I thought the OP read Larrin's book. I'm still on the first chapter only because my time is so limited.
 
I have had 6 D2 knives, as I recall. I gave up on on it because the blades rust if I just take them outdoors on a hot, humid day.
 
Another Shepherd said:
I have had 6 D2 knives, as I recall. I gave up on on it because the blades rust if I just take them outdoors on a hot, humid day.
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Wow- I am sorry you had that experience. I have carried them in the rain and snow and only wipe them down at the end of the day. One has been my go2 outdoors knife and snowmachine bibs-knife for years. The only one I had any rusting on was from being stupid and cleaning fish on an excursion, and setting it back in the kydex before wiping it down and taking it out to clean it a day later. Still cleaned up nicely with Flitz, I have not used them around salt water. It is good we have so many choices
 
I also like D2. My sort of beater/chore knife for the past couple years has been a Petrified Fish something or another in D2 that's held a really good edge. It's really surprised me in how tough the edges have been and how long hey hold them. My first main D2 workhorse was an original Paramilitary sprint model with OD green G10 scales and a CPM-D2 blade that was really sought after when it came out. That was my main outdoor folder and it did really well for me for years. I even tried forcing a patina and it only took just the slightest off-grey in one spot, the rest of the blade refused to patina. I also got the Benchmade 940-1601 and carried it yesterday. I think you'll really like it! It feels super nice in the hand.
 
When you come across D2 done well, it's an amazing performer. I have some customs in D2 and they're easy to maintain with the right equipment. That said, I've only ever had to touch up or strop them back in very little time. No rust here either. Some patina, but nothing a metal polish can't handle.
 
Another Shepherd said:
I have had 6 D2 knives, as I recall. I gave up on on it because the blades rust if I just take them outdoors on a hot, humid day.
Click to expand...
This is suprising to me as well. I have rusted many knives (mostly 1095), but have also somehow had an S30V blade and a 154CM blade get covered with rust when I sweated heavily with them in my pocket.

None of my D2 blades have ever "rusted". I have noticed my Dozier get black spots (non-active oxidation) on it after a week of hunting and food prep with it. These are easily cleaned off and don't cause pits.
The Queen shown above is used heavily with food (apples, as a steak knife, etc) and has a light patina but has never rusted.

I find the hazy patina that D2 can take on to be quite pleasing. Though it's nothing like the patina a 1095 knife is capable of, it does serve to remind me I'm using a semi-stainless steel which is a somewhat unique classification of steel.
The funny thing about D2's stainless properties is it was never designed to be "stainless" in any way. The addition of chromium and other oxidation-reducing alloys was solely to help with hardness and toughness for use as a tool steel.
 
Macchina said:
This is suprising to me as well. I have rusted many knives (mostly 1095), but have also somehow had an S30V blade and a 154CM blade get covered with rust when I sweated heavily with them in my pocket.

None of my D2 blades have ever "rusted".
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I wonder if sweating is the risk factor, since sweat contains salt. A few other people on BF have mentioned that D2 rusted easily in sweaty conditions. Perhaps some people have more salt in their sweat than other people do.
 
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