D2 sharpening in the field?

J

jgn

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Jun 17, 2013
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How difficult is it to sharpen D2 steel in the field?
I have a diamond stone and a ceramic sharpener from Gerber.
1095 is no problem for me, but what are your experience with D2?
 
With diamonds and proper sharpening technique you can sharpen much more wear resistant alloys like CPM 10V, or COM S110V, D2 is non issue.
 
D2 is wear resistant, yes. more carbon than 1095, its almost stainless for chromium, and it has some vanadium carbides. i find with my benchmades and ka bar that D2 is abrasion resistant in a large surface area. to re profiling one will be a little more difficult, but regular sharpening, diamonds are great and ceramics are hard enough to sharpen it.
 
I've kept D2 hair poping sharp for extended periods of time (weeks of constant use) with a strop and sandpaper. It takes a bit longer than sharpening 1095, but it's not hard at all.

On another trip I took a small Lansky diamond stone, medium grit on one side and fine grit on the other, and it did just fine (even extra fine diamond stones leave to coarse an edge for my taste, though).
 
Too many folks worry themselves needlessly about D2. I have several knives including those from Queen, Ontario, and Kershaw that have D2 blades and they are easy enough to sharpen.

That being said, I wouldn't plan on rebeveling the blades in the field. But sharpening and honing are a snap. Due to its durability, D2 is actually one of my favorites.

Robert
 
I was fiddling with a Buck 118 fixed-blade (limited run in D2) last night, and re-confirmed what I'd previously thought about using diamond on this steel. Works very fast; I was using a Fine (600 mesh/25 micron) DMT 'credit card' on it, and it didn't take long at all to erase the factory scratch pattern on the bevels and put some additional bite into the edge. I think diamond is just about perfect on D2, for an in-the-field, one-sharpener-fixes-all solution.


David
 
I lowered the inclusive angle on a BK24 straight from the factory and took it to a very fine edge in about 20 minutes total using sandpaper. 320 grit was more than enough to tackle this steel and 600 followed by some compound brought it to tree-topping. I imagine a small SiC stone would work fine, as well as diamond or even a small aluminum oxide stone. Anything but a natural stone should work fine, and even then with enough patience.

Is possible to simply apply compound to a flat piece of wood or smooth bark and strop on that just to keep up the edge, then all that's needed is a chunk of compound that's proven to work well on the steel.
 
OWE, I have the same 118 you mention. I've put it thru the steps and then sharpened it. I found like you that a fine diamond works well to bring the edge back. Not taking much time to get it there. I don't understand why folks here have a lot of issues sharpening D2. DM
 
David Martin said:
OWE, I have the same 118 you mention. I've put it thru the steps and then sharpened it. I found like you that a fine diamond works well to bring the edge back. Not taking much time to get it there. I don't understand why folks here have a lot of issues sharpening D2. DM
Click to expand...


Great little knife. I spent some more time with it yesterday, thinning the edge yet a little more on a 6" double-sided Dia-Sharp (Fine, then EF). After stropping on linen-over-plywood, with some white rouge compound, it's got a fantastic shaving edge on it. After I bought that knife a few years ago, I knew I'd eventually get around to re-doing the factory edge on it, but wasn't sure about how I would choose to do it. I'm glad I waited; I've become a lot more comfortable lately using my F/EF diamond hones for jobs like these, and it's paying off. :thumbup:

( And now I'm remembering I also have a small Queen fixed-blade in D2, with some beautiful Carved Stag Bone handles, and three Queen Folding Hunters in D2, and a Spyderco PM in CPM-D2. All sorts of new 'projects-in-waiting', to use my diamond hones to advantage... :) )


David
 
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