d2 versus d2 dendritic ?

['cacci]

Recently, I was at another knifemaker's table. He said that he uses d2 dendritic, with the emphasis on "dendritic". I use cpm d2 on my knives and am interested in finding whether d2 dendritic ( all other variables unchanged) is far superior, superior , a little better, or no better than d2 on, say, a general purpose hunter.
Thanks in advance for any reliable information.

'cacci

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Dendritic steels are cast. The dendritic structure grows as it cools. The sellers of it will claim it is exceptional. I have used some of David Boye's dendritic D-2, and while it made a good knife, I wouldn't say is was any better than CPM-D2.

 

[Bismarck22]

I've never worked with it, but dendritic carbide structure is usually considered a bad thing. One of the reasons powder metallurgy was invented was to give smaller, finer, carbides instead of dendritic sheets that have to be cold rolled out.