D2 steel, great value, practical utility, heat treat, and USA vs China

Most of the well known Chinese makers use k110 from bohler. So it has something like
.7% Vanadium.

Some of them may throw some random d2 variations in the mix from time to time. Because I know some folks have tested the d2 as 8cr13mov from some of these brands... But they have then tested them on ig as k110.

The lesser brands will name anything d2 or whatever and it will be crap steel.

You can tell if it's real d2 if it's a pita to sharpen. Lol

https://www.instagram.com/p/BhO2c7-nJ-A/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgCz83Mhezv/

CH knife has one too, but there ig is private atm. https://www.instagram.com/ch_knife/
 
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Just noticed a chip in my RAT 1 D2 blade. Called Ontario and was told they can replace it only with an AUS8 version. Rather disappointing since this knife has barely been used.
 
Warsaw said:
Just noticed a chip in my RAT 1 D2 blade. Called Ontario and was told they can replace it only with an AUS8 version. Rather disappointing since this knife has barely been used.
Click to expand...
How big is the chip?
 
Just got a Knives of Alaska Carbon Fiber Hunter that is a beautiful tool, weighing 1.933oz w/o clip. It is a little stiff at the moment. I have no doubt it is properly processed USA D2, and it push cuts junk mail newsprint. Have not bought any Chinese D2, but have my eye on trying a unit of Ganzo's D2 which tests as D2 with appropriate Rockwell, 60 or 61 from memory. What has happened, is my eyes look at brand, lock, geometry, and steel, in that order, because form follows Fx.
I wish we could gain the freedom to carry fixed blades anyway we want in Cali-unicornia:thumbsdown:, because there are some amazing fixed blades! Guess we should start another state...:rolleyes: OK off topic I know
 
Um, Warsaw, I would hit Ontario up again, different person maybe different answer. Also pm Ontario forums mod, might get some play. If it is small it will sharpen away over time. Keep us posted, maybe show us a pic of the Rat in question?
 
Warsaw, you need a basic membership to pm, so just post your problem in Ontario's forum.
 
Avoid ganzo knives and there d2 has a poor heat treatment on it. Artificially inflaited hrc for conning more people into buying there junk.

If you want some cut tests I can share a link, just lmk.
 
Thx Mo2, I looked at Ganzo's D2 results from here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OepNr_D4lqbdTFqdqWl1rmAd4bOzPzJe6J0iEWrdJGU/edit#gid=0
and figured the tests were valid from random samples. I see these samples of Ganzo D2 tested at 61 and 62, I recalled incorrectly 60-61. Trust, but verify. I agree with luvthemknives the FH51 is an incredible bargain, but my bias for D2 is old man stuff.

The bigger issue of companies conning customers is older then PT Barnum's famous quote. Consumer literacy has been a big deal for a long time, not so much for politicos. Consider the incongruence: taxing the Honda 750cc v4 jewell to help Harley in the early 80's, or today allowing payday loans which is legalized loan sharking preying on the fiscal and literate poor. I remember when Macs were made in Sacramento not China, and even though we have enough natural gas under our own continent to fuel us for the next 150 years we get electric cars, which just shifts the point of pollution. Caveat emptor.
 
scottc3 said:
Thx Mo2, I looked at Ganzo's D2 results from here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OepNr_D4lqbdTFqdqWl1rmAd4bOzPzJe6J0iEWrdJGU/edit#gid=0
and figured the tests were valid from random samples. I see these samples of Ganzo D2 tested at 61 and 62, I recalled incorrectly 60-61. Trust, but verify. I agree with luvthemknives the FH51 is an incredible bargain, but my bias for D2 is old man stuff.

The bigger issue of companies conning customers is older then PT Barnum's famous quote. Consumer literacy has been a big deal for a long time, not so much for politicos. Consider the incongruence: taxing the Honda 750cc v4 jewell to help Harley in the early 80's, or today allowing payday loans which is legalized loan sharking preying on the fiscal and literate poor. I remember when Macs were made in Sacramento not China, and even though we have enough natural gas under our own continent to fuel us for the next 150 years we get electric cars, which just shifts the point of pollution. Caveat emptor.
Click to expand...
Hrc doesn't mean it's a good heat treatment. Stop trying to base performance off of hrc.

The ganzo junk did bad for 62hrc.
Edit: warning, NSFW due to swearing. Thank Mr Wizard.
 
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Mo2, I'll check out the vid after guntalk. Maybe I will learn something before the day is out, for me a profitable day-
thx
 
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Mo2 wrote "Stop trying to base performance off of hrc. The ganzo junk did bad for 62hrc."
I don't see junk when I look at the ganzo knife tested. I see inexpensive. I argue that it would be more accurate to say that the knives in question are made to a price point. To me junk knives would not be useful for cutting, hard to sharpen and would not last very long. It is unreasonable to say these corporate choices we're in any way erroneous or unintentional. And very little guessing occurs in the production of D2 at this point in history. The video you reference doesn't offer any new information that might change my mind. In fact, as a side note, I would love to hear from someone using those s35vn knives from LAPoliceGear that tested at 51 or 52 I think (59 of 84 reviews gave them five stars-that's near 80% perfect review score for a 40 dollar s35vn knife). Anyhow, back to the D2 comparison, the results were expected. Ontario has been cooking D2 at their level of proficiency for a while now, and up to this moment has always generally outperformed Chinese D2.

I'm looking at the 3 brands listed in the video and see the Chinese D2 numbers close together and underperforming the Taiwanese D2 from Ontario. This testers methods and numerical results are reasonable for a well informed consumer. Although I wish someone would retest, taking off at least a millimeter, maybe two from factory bevels to see if burning from power grinding changes results.

I expect Taiwanese Ontario D2 to outperform Chinese D2 as a current trend that I can rely on for inexpensive knife recommendations. I have bought no D2 from China, nor Taiwan, even though I'm interested as a hobbyist, simply because purchasing priorities and limits point elsewhere, like a sweet KOA CF-Hunter in D2 I just picked up off the exchange.
Now how can I make a recommendation on something I don't own? Well performance here is a complex solution that involves the tools manufacturer (geo-political, cultural, etc), the tool, the user and the job. My hope is to apply wisdom (knowledge and experiences) to make the best recommendation for friends and families. We do have two 440C Ganzo's, really liking the steel, not so much the builds on either, they were less then a 20 for a reason. Good news is losing them is less expensive.

I have previously spent time looking at super steel Steve's tables, but not listening to more then a few minutes. This time I watch all 44 minutes. His Ranges and numbers are reasonable and expected, and I'm glad he has contributed more data to compare with others. For example, the other night I enjoyed watching Pete from Cedric and Aida test two D2's differently processed: regular Rat 1, and PSF27-spray formed, along with CTS-XHP (micro melt) and chromium added . Interesting results.
 
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