D2 steel

udtjim

udtjim

Joined
Sep 4, 2007
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I have read on a couple other sites about D2 knives coming from reputable companies that are not as sharp as other knife made from steels other than D2. I have experienced this myself on a few knives from KOA. Other knives that I purchased from them in other steels were very, very sharp. I recently purchased a Alpha Wolf from them in D2 that sure is not up to their usual standards. On another site I read about the same knife from another guy who said his was not very sharp either. Does D2 take as good of edge as some other steels or are these just flukes?
 
There are many factors for sharpness beyond type of steel ... blade cross-section, edge area thickness, heat treating, etc. I've seen D2 knives that are scary sharp, and I've had ATS-34 blades that didn't seem to be (as well as other types of steel).

D2 is a great tool steel and at 12.5% chromium, it's almost in the stainless steel classification (13% chromium and higher is considered stainless).

I have a buddy that has a fab shop ... and guess what steel the tooling for his turret punch is made of ... yep D2. (a turrent punch is a CNC machine that punches various shaped holes into metal sheets)
 
Most factory knives are sharpened by humans on power equipment. Some people will get a very sharp knife from the factory, while another may get the same model that isn't very sharp from the factory. Human error just makes it impossible to get identical sharpness from blade to blade. In my experience, Spyderco seems to have the most consistently sharp knives from the factory, but I have got a couple that weren't all that impressive in sharpness. Factory sharpness is nice, but if you are going to use a knife you will end up having to sharpen it yourself, so I feel a lot of people over rate the value of factory sharpness. It is nice to have, but becomes a non-factor after you use the knife a couple times. I look closer at the geometry of the blade, and if it is dead dull from the factory but with good geometry and fit and finish I am a happy camper. D2 can be hard to sharpen for some, but I personally haven't had any trouble with it using diamonds and waterstones.

Mike
 
my expearence with d2 is that it takes a bit more effort to sharpen but once sharp with pass on the strop now and then the edge lasts and lasts.
 
D2 is different than most other steels when it comes to sharpening, but it can take a scary sharp edge and hold it a long time. I picked up a Dozier K2 this summer to celebrate my first pension cheque (Yea!), figuring I had lived long enough to deserve it. I find that a DMT fine (red) hone puts on a shaving edge. A DMT ultra-fine (green) hone will give you a scary sharp edge that will pop the hairs off your arm without touching the skin. However, it definitely takes longer to sharpen D2 than most other steels in my experience; you have to have a bit of patience, but it will pay off. I can sharpen my Benchmade Mini-Rukus in S30V to the same sharpness in a lot less time. I'd rate the Dozier slightly ahead of the Mini-Rukus in edge-holding, but the two steels are so close that my judgement may be entirely subjective. I have followed the factory bevels on both these blades (sharpening freehand).
 
D2 has large carbides. It is hard to put a thin acute edge on it unless you use diamond hones. With ultra fine diamond hones you can get a smooth thin shaving edge, but the carbides will tend to break out and your edge will become rougher. That rough edge does an excellent job of slicing and so the blade will maintain a good working edge for an extremely long time.

If you put a bit of a microbevel at something like 20 degrees per side you can get a fine edge with nondiamond hones. It won't shave as well at that geometry. It will still tend to be a rougher edge that will last a long time.

I think that the other alloy that KOA uses is AUS-8. This is sort of the opposite. It has fewer carbides and they are extremely small. It will not hold a slicing edge under hard wear conditions anywhere near as long as D2. On the other hand it takes a thin razor edge very easily.
 
Ive only had a couple knives with d2 blades. Both came very sharp (not the sharpest ever, but very sharp). They do tend to stay sharp for a very long time. My primary user is d2 and ive only sharpened it once so far (over 6 months) and even before it was sharpened it was relativly sharp.

Great steel from my experience.
 
Thanks for the replie. I am using diamond stones and water stones both. KOA claims that they hand sharpen every blade and being a long time user of their knives, I was suprised that it was not up to snuff. I sent the knife back to them to redo. I fully understand that once its seen some hard use it will be up to me to keep it sharp but it has to start out meeting my expectations or it will be redone. Being a carpenter and builder most of my life, I am used to doing a job right the first time and I also expected to redo anything that didn't turn out well. I expect that from others when I lay down my money for a product. I know a lot about using knives but have not been a student of steel. I thank you folks for increasing my knowledge about the making of knives. When a guy knows it all and no longer wants to learn anything, He is to far gone.:D
 
udtjim said:
Thanks for the replie. I am using diamond stones and water stones both. KOA claims that they hand sharpen every blade and being a long time user of their knives, I was suprised that it was not up to snuff. I sent the knife back to them to redo. I fully understand that once its seen some hard use it will be up to me to keep it sharp but it has to start out meeting my expectations or it will be redone. Being a carpenter and builder most of my life, I am used to doing a job right the first time and I also expected to redo anything that didn't turn out well. I expect that from others when I lay down my money for a product. I know a lot about using knives but have not been a student of steel. I thank you folks for increasing my knowledge about the making of knives. When a guy knows it all and no longer wants to learn anything, He is to far gone.:D
Click to expand...

This was a good overall thread and your last post hit close to home. Being an ex-carpenter and an admirer of KOA blades, this is something to keep in mind. I have a very hard time getting my RAT-3 in D2 scary sharp....sharp? yeah. Scary sharp? not yet. I'd like to order one of KOA's sets....I think it's the Bear Hunter combo (large, rounded tip blade and a small blade). I should know exactly what that is but I'm not at their site now.

Good luck. I hope they send it back hair-popping sharp.
 
My 710 in D2 gets hair-splitting keen, but after I fist got and rebeveled it, I misunderestimated the amount of stropping it needed. Most of my previous knives needed only a few swipes on the green strop after the ultra-fine hone to get to maximum keenness, the D2 needed a half hour's worth of stropping to get there. I assume that reflects well on D2's edge retention.
 
Sorry to hear about your bad experience with the KOA D2; I have an Alaskan Hunter drop point and a Bush Camp knife in D2 from KOA, and they both came from the factory with hair-popping sharp edges.
You did the right thing to send it back.... hope it comes back O.K.
 
I am a big fan of their knives. I guess this one slipped by. I have the Bush Camp and the Alaskan trailmaster Bush/Camp 10 inch D2 as well as the Bear cub/Muskrat skinner and another Bear Cub Caper. I still want the Boar Hunter and Elk Hunter and Maybe the African Hunter. Time and wife will tell how this plan works out.;)
 
D2 takes an incredibly keen edge, and keeps it very well.

The others are right; how sharp a brand new knife comes should be of no consequence or indication of quality if the person using it understands how to sharpen it.

I reprofile all my new knives, regardless of the name, or steel. In the rare case that the knife came with a good edge profile already, I leave it alone to avoid unnecessary wear.
 
I currently have 3 D2 blades, and they all take a great edge with relative ease. D2 is an excellent steel.
 
I currently have 3 D2 blades, and they all take a great edge with relative ease. D2 is an excellent steel.

Zombie, I am thinking about buying a Dozier with D2 steel, but don't know the first thing about sharpening that type of steel. I would like a simple explanation if you could of what I would need (as minimal as possible to take with me out to the field) that can give me a razor edge.

Also, How do you keep a steady hand to keep the edge angle? Do you use a leather strop? I heard they are good too.

ThanX
 
For the most part, I use a Spyderco Sharpmaker and a leather belt for my grinder to maintian my knives. (Basically a powered strop. Strops work great BTW.) I occasionally use my Edge Pro, but it is certainly not very portable.

For field use, I'd probably suggest a double sided DMT diamond stone. These work quite well IMO, and seem to last a long time.

Maintaing the angle is just a matter of practice. You can take a black marker and coat the edge of the knife. Take a pass on your stone, then check the blade. The black marker line will be removed along the edge consistant to the angle you are holding the knife. Try to hold the knife so that you match the sharpening angle. The angle is correct when a pass removes the entire marker line.
 
Dozier recommends that you sharpen his blades with diamond hones. The diamonds are hard enough to actually cut the carbides. An extra-fine DMT will give a very sharp edge.
I have also read that Bob Dozier himself, on his own knives, prefers a polished edge, as do I. Polishing the edge means the carbides are much less likely to tear out because they are supported by the steel both fore and aft.
I tried using a leather strop to get this finish but the polishing compound and the "give" of the leather made a poor job. I now use a paper wheel rotating at slow speed to get the final polish. This gives a very long-lasting ultra-sharp edge that a leather strop will maintain, at least for a while.
My field maintenance tool is a mostly worn out extra fine diamond hone from Eze-lap with some compound-charged leather glued on the back.
Greg
 
My fav folder of all is a Benchmade AFCK 806 D2. In one year of light use I never sharpened it once and it still shaves!
 
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