D2 Steel for a large knife? Need a makers opinion.

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shaving sharp

shaving sharp

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Looking for opinions if D2 steel is a acceptable choice for a large knife. I am going to have a knife made by a professional maker with blade dimensions of
9 1/2 X 2 1/2 X 1/4 thick and am having trouble finding stainless S30v or 154 Cm in that size. I want to use a steel that has high corrosion resistance and D2 is readily avaliable in the size we need. Want the knife to do some light chopping but don't plan on using it to build a log cabin. Need some imput on the D2 for a knife this size.
 
Actually even it is on the brittle side I tested my D2 10" chefs knives at 60 HRC , chopping some 4"X4" and shaving. At 25 degrees (12.5 each side) there was no apparent damage at all. My HT does not include sub-zero treatment, so if cryo treated edge will be much more durable, al in all D2 is ok for light chopping at about 58-60 hrc
Emre
 
I have made a knife in D2 about that size. I have chopped a couple 2x4 in half for testing and it stood up well. I was still able to shave with it aftwerwards and there was no visible damage to the edge.
 
D2 will work -ask the maker to grind it to an edge thickness of approx. 0.050" before sharpening.
 
w2? It's really corrosion resistant, I live in rainy Vancouver and use a W2 blade outside all the time. Ask Lorien as well, I think he has experience with W2 in the wet.
 
D2 is not overly tough, and it doesn't have the best edge stability. But I'd put money on it that, in the real world, it is tougher than either of those two (154, S30V), and has better edge stability than S30V.

Petah,
In my experience, W2 is nowhere near D2 in corrosion resistance.

A large kitchen knife is a good application for D2 in a large knife. So, if your use is similar to that - go for it.

While the fine edge stability won't compare to W2 and other low alloy steels, I think a .050" is pretty extreme. I'd think .030 would be up to the task (you can literally hammer that through a small nail without any real issues).

I won't go into another lengthy D2 heat treat discussion, so I'll simply say that it is very sensitive to the heat treat you choose. So your results will depend a great deal on the HT. It is a seriously complex steel that can do a lot of different things.
 
D2's toughness is very sensitive to heat treat. But in most cases, if you baton a D2 knife there's a chance it might break. CPM 3V with a low temper has similar corrosion resistance to D2, and is way tougher.
 
3v is expensive stuff... I have a plate of it if you wanted some... I think we can work out a deal...
 
Charlie and I have made a lot of knives out of D2 and believe that it is great steel. We quit using it when we ran comparisons between it and CPM S30V about four years ago. The S30V beat it on all of our tests. In our experience S30V is tougher, holds an edge longer and is more stain resistant. We have seen no problem with edge stability in either D2 or S30V. We have ground test blades out of both of them so thin you could flex the edge with your finger nail. It was amazing the punishment those knives could take.

In our tests CPM S30V had a great deal more resistance to a side impact than D2, but in the real world, I have abused a D2 knife for years and it is as good as new. Less side impact resistance to breakage doesn't seem to be a big problem.

In actual use most people would never know the difference between the two steels. The only thing that might be readily noticeable between the two is the corrosion resistance of the S30V is greater.

All that being said, if we could no longer get any CPM S30V, we would have no problem going back to D2 steel. It is a very good knife steel.
 
I won't get into comparing the two steels but would recommend that if you use the D2 that you shoot for a target hardness of 60Rc. It is a little unusual in that it is actually tougher at 60 Rc than it is at 58Rc.

Gary
 
Gary Mulkey said:
I won't get into comparing the two steels but would recommend that if you use the D2 that you shoot for a target hardness of 60Rc. It is a little unusual in that it is actually tougher at 60 Rc than it is at 58Rc.

Gary
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yup :thumbup:
 
I ground a large bowie out of it last year, 15" OAL with a 10" x 2" blade. The customer wanted it that way, so I made it for him. I used precision ground D-2, which was very expensive, but it cleaned up real good, what with all the hand finishing/polishing I do. I had it tempered and sub-zero quenched. Granted, its just a "look-at-me" kind of knife, but it came out OK, I think.
 
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