D2 vs 1095?

D2 is an excellent steel for a pocket knife or smaller size fixed blade. D2 does take a little longer to sharpen, but it seems to hold a good edge. Overall, I prefer 1095. Simple carbon steels like 1095 are extremely durable and can be sharpened quickly and easily. I would be curious to see how 1095 hardened to around 62RC or greater would perform on pure cutting tasks compared to D2.
 
Ravaillac said:
D2:
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u128/sicily02/100_0069.jpg

Never quite understood the hype about D2. Not bad, but not that great either. I guess it impress people who mostly use stainless steel folders.

If we're talking about RAT, I would choose 1095.
Click to expand...

wow.
yeah, thats enough to convince me.

Thanks for all the advice everyone.
apologies to the mod- i thought that it'd be fine there as it was regarding a wilderness and survival type knife.
 
Ravaillac said:
D2:
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u128/sicily02/100_0069.jpg

Never quite understood the hype about D2.
Click to expand...

Now now, posting that without any kind of backstory is just as bad as spreading hype.

D2's durability changes very significantly depending on how it is hardened -- not that it was meant for use in choppers in the first place.
The author of that post even says "The morale [sic] of this story is carry more than one blade.", not "D2 sucks."

Edit: Beaten; backstory linked in post above ^^^.
 
Cliff Stamp said:
What did you favor with the RAT?



The edge angle may be too acute for the work being done.




TOPS tends to run thick edge profiles which may be why it is doing better than the D2 blade in this case. Do you know the angles for both blades?

-Cliff
Click to expand...



not sure on the angles.. i believe the d2 is somthing like 25 or 30. not sure on the tops its really thick, hard to eyeball judge it i'm not that good yet. what should i be trying to get the d2 at?
 
Wow, that is a really high angle, if that is per side. If the D2 is chipping and showing the damage then I would increase the angle and see what happens. You are not getting any of the advantage of the wear resistance of D2 since it is breaking apart at the edge so you need to thicken the edge until this stops.

-Cliff
 
Cliff Stamp said:
What did you favor with the RAT?



The edge angle may be too acute for the work being done.




TOPS tends to run thick edge profiles which may be why it is doing better than the D2 blade in this case. Do you know the angles for both blades?

-Cliff
Click to expand...

Any slicing, all food prep, and just carrying it around. It was so much lighter that the Busse. If i wasnt chopping (which a $30 axe is all you need) i would never want a Busse in the woods where I frequent.
 
Cliff Stamp said:
Many of the Busse knives are so geared, which was the exact one you were using?

-Cliff
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I dont even know. I received it on a passaround, it was about an inch larger than the RAT7. It just seemed like overkill to me, completely unpractical especially if you are trying to pack a little on the lighter side. Just carrying it on my hip started to effect my gait and made me sore. There great looking knives and no doubt tough as hell, but i think it would be a much better knife it were thinned down a lot. The busse GW really caught my eye when it came out, but when i saw the spine i thought, wow what a waste of a great blade design.

So basically, If i want to chop, ill bring an axe.
 
They are generally made to handle fairly heavy work, some of the Swamp Rat blades are much lighter built though still a long way from something like a Mora 2000.

-Cliff
 
neeman said:
Cliff,
Could you for a newbie explain the difference between durable and wear resistance.

Thanks
Click to expand...

by the sounds of it, durability is capacity to withstand abuse and general rough use with no significant damage...though it will not retain its sharpness for as long.
wear resistance seems to be how much it takes to dull the blade.
 
Yes, 1095 will be stronger and tougher in general than D2. However D2 takes more to wear metal away from the blade. This increase in wear resistance can lead to greater edge holding in some cases, slicing a lot of abrasive material for example. But in other areas like chopping, it will not matter as the edge will just blunt by deforming and chipping so a properly hardened 1095 blade will stay sharper for longer.

-Cliff
 
ElectricZombie said:
D2 is an excellent steel for a pocket knife or smaller size fixed blade. D2 does take a little longer to sharpen, but it seems to hold a good edge. Overall, I prefer 1095. Simple carbon steels like 1095 are extremely durable and can be sharpened quickly and easily. I would be curious to see how 1095 hardened to around 62RC or greater would perform on pure cutting tasks compared to D2.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't want to leave 1095 that hard. You would probably discover the joy of chipping:D Even the W2 I use is rarely left any harder than around 61Rc on knife blades. I temper at 475 so I suspect that i am around 60.
 
The wear resistance of D2 is higher than 1095, much higher, even if the 1095 is much harder. However for small angles and a high polish then 1095 is much more stable and will stay sharp longer. I have used it at 66 HRC, it works fine, this is in small paring knives, not chopping.

-Cliff
 
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