Does D2 need to be hardened for good corrosion resistance?

nickandersonart

nickandersonart

Joined
Aug 5, 2014
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Hi all, I am in the process of making a matching set of through-tang knives from D2 and was also going to make the guards and butt plates from D2 as well. I've noticed, however, that the rough-cut components (annealed) have started to rust a little bit while the blades (already heat treated) have had zero issues. Do I need to harden the components in order for them to have good corrosion resistance (As good as D2 can, at least)?

If I do need to harden to release the chromium, is there a way to draw back the temper enough on D2 to where I can still file a bit if needed? I'm going to do the fitting in advance, but in case there are any issues, I'll probably need to do some minor filing to tweak the fit.

I've attached a few pics of the general idea.

Thanks guys :)

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Yes, there is twice the amount of carbide in annealed steel versus fully heat treated material. Some of the carbide dissolves during hardening putting chromium and carbon back into the matrix making the steel hard and corrosion resistant.

Hoss
 
And drawing it back to 45 or 50 RC should make it workable but it will suck to work. D2 doesn't move too much in heat treat you can get it pretty darn close to final dimensions ahead of time.
 
I second what has been said above...you need to put the Chrome into solution if you want it to act as a protection of the matrix from rusting. On the contrary the matrix will act as simple carbon steel.

To "tweak" hardened steel you should use stones, they will bite through, the same as when you are sharpening
 
Sounds good, thanks guys for the info. The guards are going to be press-fit on, and then hopefully after hardening I'd be able to get them back on without any issue but I'm slightly skeptical [emoji848]I'll harden and draw back to 45 or so. Do you lose corrosion resistance when drawing back to a much softer state like 45? My guess is once it's released into the matrix it's doing its job against corrosion.
 
Slightly off topic but I'm curious why you're opting for D2 for the guard instead of something like 416? Great blades BTW!
 
You will lose some corrosion resistance when temper it down to 45rc because the dissolved carbon from martensite will form Cr carbide thus lower free chromium in the matrix. Great looking knife by the way.
 
Thanks guys :) I'm going for the D2 because it happens to be a thickness right around what I'd like to use for the guard and butt plate, and I kind of like the idea that it's all the same steel for the various components.

I think for the guards I'll try to temper it into the 50's after getting the press fit to maintain as much corrosion resistance as possible, and then drawing it back a bit more if needed after hardening.
 
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