Exactly how hard is it to Sharpen D2 ?

C

carbonsteelfan

Joined
May 29, 2014
Messages
382
My grandfather give me one of his knives to sharpen today. It is a Jimmy Lile Hollow handle survival knife just like the kind Stallone uses in First Blood. It has a D2 clip point bow ie blade. He last used it in 1986. Today he got it out of his chest and told me that he would like me to sharpen it. The blade is quite dull. I mean C'mon ; its been lying in a trunk for nearly 30 years. I've been sharpening 1095 ; and 440c for years . But l just can't sharpen the D2 blade. I've tried since morning. I know that a sharp D2 blade will hold its edge very long but it is a pain to sharpen. How would you guys sharpen D2 ?
 
I havent sharpened a D2 blade but i have sharpened some 154cm. I used a diamond coated pen rod because thats what i keep for out of house sharpening, it gave it a working edge fairly quickly. I have a smiths 3-in-1 sharpening system that uses a diamond hone, and ceramic rods. Diamonds will do a quick job and give you a nice utility edge, then move to a finer grit on your prefered medium and proceede to sharpen. Im not an expert by any means in sharpening but you would have better feed back in maintnence and tinkering. Just ask a mod to move this thread or the will in the morning. This is the link to that sub-thread where all your questions will be answered for this topic.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/794-Maintenance-Tinkering-amp-Embellishment
 
carbonsteelfan said:
My grandfather give me one of his knives to sharpen today. It is a Jimmy Lile Hollow handle survival knife just like the kind Stallone uses in First Blood. It has a D2 clip point bow ie blade. He last used it in 1986. Today he got it out of his chest and told me that he would like me to sharpen it. The blade is quite dull. I mean C'mon ; its been lying in a trunk for nearly 30 years. I've been sharpening 1095 ; and 440c for years . But l just can't sharpen the D2 blade. I've tried since morning. I know that a sharp D2 blade will hold its edge very long but it is a pain to sharpen. How would you guys sharpen D2 ?
Click to expand...

Silicon Carbide will eat it for breakfast.
 
carbonsteelfan said:
Mr. Seedubs sir ; you mentioned diamond hones. I got some diamond impregnated sharpeners . How long would it take to make the dull 9 inch blade razor sharp ?
Click to expand...

That depends on your skills (or lack of) and how much time you dedicate to it. There is no formula for calculating time to sharpen a dull blade on X media to get sharp.
 
How much material needs to be removed and new angles set? That is what determines how big of a job it is and how long it takes. If you have to remove lots of steel it might take a while. In addition, Diamond hones can get the diamonds stripped out quickly if too much pressure is used. I agree with Jim Ankerson. Use Silicone carbide. Get a Norton stone and grind that steel off. If you just need to refresh the edge it shouldn't take any longer than 440C using your current stuff.
 
The Mastiff said:
How much material needs to be removed and new angles set? That is what determines how big of a job it is and how long it takes. If you have to remove lots of steel it might take a while. In addition, Diamond hones can get the diamonds stripped out quickly if too much pressure is used. I agree with Jim Ankerson. Use Silicone carbide. Get a Norton stone and grind that steel off. If you just need to refresh the edge it shouldn't take any longer than 440C using your current stuff.
Click to expand...

If they can't sharpen D2 on Silicone Carbide they are doing something very wrong.....

It's the same with every other steel I have ever dealt with...
 
carbonsteelfan said:
Mr. Seedubs sir ; you mentioned diamond hones. I got some diamond impregnated sharpeners . How long would it take to make the dull 9 inch blade razor sharp ?
Click to expand...

Depends on if you're reprofiling, or just sharpening a dull blade. If you're just sharpening a dull blade, it depends how dull it is.

It also depends what grit diamond hones you have available to you. A DMT DXX stone will make very short work of reprofiling. A DMT DC stone will do the same thing, but it'll take longer.

For sharpening, you need to make two surfaces intersect in a distinct line. If the edge is excessively dulled, you have to remove more material on each side of the edge to get those surfaces to intersect in a line, so it'll take longer. If you don't have much material to remove, it'll be quicker.

As for diamond stones getting the diamonds pulled out of them, this is true. You DO NOT use much pressure on diamond stones. It'll ruin them by tearing the diamonds out of the nickel backing. I just use the weight of the blade and don't push down on the blade. If you don't use much pressure, a diamond stone will last you a lifetime.
 
Ankerson said:
If they can't sharpen D2 on Silicone Carbide they are doing something very wrong.....

It's the same with every other steel I have ever dealt with...
Click to expand...

^ This. A silicon carbide stone or wet/dry will take care of it like any other steel, and do so quickly.
 
Ankerson said:
Silicon Carbide will eat it for breakfast.
Click to expand...

:thumbup:
I had the same impression the first time I tried convexing a D2 blade (Queen) on wet/dry SiC sandpaper.

I also like using diamond hones on D2, especially for hogging off lots of steel from very thickish edge grinds (again, Queen). Diamond is also my first choice if attempting to do this with a smallish hone. It'll always be fastest in cutting through carbide-heavy steels; this becomes more evident when using a small pocket hone to do some heavy edge repair or re-bevelling in the field, if it comes down to that. The above-mentioned Queen blade (a pocket folder) convexed on SiC wet/dry paper was first re-bevelled to a more acute angle on a DMT 'Fine' credit card hone. The hone was newly-purchased, and I did this just to see if it would work in this capacity; it impressed me. If a larger bench hone in SiC is available, or if some larger pieces of coarse-grit wet/dry sandpaper are at hand and are used on a hard backing, either of these can get the job done pretty easily. For large and/or thick blades, the overall size of the abrasive surface area will make the bigger difference in speed, than will the abrasive type used (diamond or SiC).


David
 
Depends on how much material you have to remove. The knife may have been ground with a thick edge, meaning if you want to lower the angle you'll have to remove a lot of metal. If you match the angle it shouldn't take long to sharpen it with a Norton Crystolon stone, diamond stones like DMT, or other similar abrasives. You can get a Norton dual sided Crystolon (silicon carbide) stone for ~$20 online.
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
:thumbup:
I had the same impression the first time I tried convexing a D2 blade (Queen) on wet/dry SiC sandpaper.

I also like using diamond hones on D2, especially for hogging off lots of steel from very thickish edge grinds (again, Queen). Diamond is also my first choice if attempting to do this with a smallish hone. It'll always be fastest in cutting through carbide-heavy steels; this becomes more evident when using a small pocket hone to do some heavy edge repair or re-bevelling in the field, if it comes down to that. The above-mentioned Queen blade (a pocket folder) convexed on SiC wet/dry paper was first re-bevelled to a more acute angle on a DMT 'Fine' credit card hone. The hone was newly-purchased, and I did this just to see if it would work in this capacity; it impressed me. If a larger bench hone in SiC is available, or if some larger pieces of coarse-grit wet/dry sandpaper are at hand and are used on a hard backing, either of these can get the job done pretty easily. For large and/or thick blades, the overall size of the abrasive surface area will make the bigger difference in speed, than will the abrasive type used (diamond or SiC).


David
Click to expand...

I can't thank you guys enough for the help. After a long struggle; l am finally making progress with Silicon carbide. It will still take an hour or so but the edge has already become servicable. From my understanding ; this is very different from the 1095 carbon steel knives which l am used to sharpening. The one thing l love about 1095 carbon steel is thatit can be sharpened very easily using just about ANY kind of sharpener or stone ( l prefer Arkansas stones) This is a big advantage for field use. D2 however is limited to diamond impregnated sharpeners and silicon Car bide ( both of which take a while ) . I guess l should tell gramps that whenever he goes fishing or hunting; he should also bring a diamond hone with him. Because if he doesn't ; and the blade gets dull ; he's done for.
 
carbonsteelfan said:
I can't thank you guys enough for the help. After a long struggle; l am finally making progress with Silicon carbide. It will still take an hour or so but the edge has already become servicable. From my understanding ; this is very different from the 1095 carbon steel knives which l am used to sharpening. The one thing l love about 1095 carbon steel is thatit can be sharpened very easily using just about ANY kind of sharpener or stone ( l prefer Arkansas stones) This is a big advantage for field use. D2 however is limited to diamond impregnated sharpeners and silicon Car bide ( both of which take a while ) . I guess l should tell gramps that whenever he goes fishing or hunting; he should also bring a diamond hone with him. Because if he doesn't ; and the blade gets dull ; he's done for.
Click to expand...

That's why I bought the 'credit card' hone from DMT; it'll always be my first choice for field or emergency sharpening when nothing else is at hand. It'll never matter what blade steel you're using, if you have one of those in your pocket. A 'fine' or 'extra-fine' diamond hone can also be very useful with 1095 or similar steels, as the smaller grit size will moderate the aggressiveness of diamond, when it's used on simpler steels. This is especially important when repairing edges on very small or thin blades of traditional pocket knives, where a too-coarse diamond hone would obliterate the steel quickly, and would make it almost impossible to refine the edge. I've grown to like using my Fine & EF credit card hones for setting new bevels on traditional folders (including 1095, 420HC and D2); it's just too convenient, when I can just whip it out of my pocket and get to work. :thumbup:


David
 
carbonsteelfan said:
I can't thank you guys enough for the help. After a long struggle; l am finally making progress with Silicon carbide. It will still take an hour or so but the edge has already become servicable. From my understanding ; this is very different from the 1095 carbon steel knives which l am used to sharpening. The one thing l love about 1095 carbon steel is thatit can be sharpened very easily using just about ANY kind of sharpener or stone ( l prefer Arkansas stones) This is a big advantage for field use. D2 however is limited to diamond impregnated sharpeners and silicon Car bide ( both of which take a while ) . I guess l should tell gramps that whenever he goes fishing or hunting; he should also bring a diamond hone with him. Because if he doesn't ; and the blade gets dull ; he's done for.
Click to expand...


You were trying to sharpen D2 with an Arkansas stone.....? ROFL...... :D

Yeah no wonder you were having problems..... They suck for anything other than the simple carbon steels like 1095...

They were great back in the day then came 440C and I completely stopped using them and went with SIC from there on...
 
I wish I wouldn't known that diamond stones shouldn't be used with much pressure. My coarse stone is all but stripped out now.
 
Ankerson said:
You were trying to sharpen D2 with an Arkansas stone.....? ROFL...... :D

Yeah no wonder you were having problems..... They suck for anything other than the simple carbon steels like 1095...

They were great back in the day then came 440C and I completely stopped using them and went with SIC from there on...
Click to expand...

440C is what introduced me to the concept of 'wear resistance' in knife steels, versus the aggressiveness (or lack of) in different abrasives. I had tried (very) unsuccessfully to re-bevel an old Buck 112 in 440C on Arkansas stones; that blade just laughed at 'em. I put that knife away for a couple decades or so, then dug it out and decided to try wet/dry SiC paper on it, and as I found once again, the SiC just 'ate it for breakfast'. I couldn't believe how 'easy' the steel felt to grind, in stark contrast to failing to get the Arkansas stones to do it years ago. Lesson learned. :)


David
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
440C is what introduced me to the concept of 'wear resistance' in knife steels, versus the aggressiveness (or lack of) in different abrasives. I had tried (very) unsuccessfully to re-bevel an old Buck 112 in 440C on Arkansas stones; that blade just laughed at 'em. I put that knife away for a couple decades or so, then dug it out and decided to try wet/dry SiC paper on it, and as I found once again, the SiC just 'ate it for breakfast'. I couldn't believe how 'easy' the steel felt to grind, in stark contrast to failing to get the Arkansas stones to do it years ago. Lesson learned. :)


David
Click to expand...

Yeah that has been the biggest issue I think over the years for the general population...

Sure with an Arkansas stone or of the same type as most people had/have and trying to sharpen a knife that isn't something like 1095 or AEB-L level of carbide content that's the 1st reaction people have.

Luckily I had one of those SIC Pucks that was coarse on one side and fine on the other on hand already back then and it made very short work of my Buck 110 in 440C, I still have that thing today someplace in the garage, it's like 35 years old now....

So a lot of people just couldn't sharpen the stainless steels back then and so the urban legends and BS started and it still carries on the same today...

The whole issue was with the stones used as in Arkansas stones and not so much the steels.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top