Forging D2

Osbourn

Osbourn

Joined
Jun 27, 1999
Messages
804
Anyone here forged D2 before? I've done one skinner so far, and it was a PAIN. This stuff is so red-hard I was worried that it would dent my hammers! It made such an awesome skinner, though. I'm going to have to make some more blades out of it, I won't be able to resist. Is there some kind of normalizing that I can do or perhaps a temp range that I should be working in that will make it easier? Any input is appreciated.

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Oz

"Never try to teach a pig to sing.
It's a waste of time and it annoys the pig."
-Lazarus Long
Check out my egostistical homepage!
http://www.freespeech.org/oz/
 
i didn't even know you could forge d-2. wow, must have taken a while. i think it would be easier and faster if you found a power hammer, look for a used one.
 
I forge outdoors, so a power hammer isn't an option at this point, even if I could find one in my miniscule price range.
I read up on D2 before I put it in the fire. According to Dr. Hrisoulas, it's forgeable, but you want to get it pretty close to it's final shape when you do forge it. Since it's air-hardening, there isn't a lot you can do to it once it's been through one heating. The blade is great, I'd just like to figure out how to make more of them without going on steroids.

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Oz

"Never try to teach a pig to sing.
It's a waste of time and it annoys the pig."
-Lazarus Long
Check out my egostistical homepage!
http://www.freespeech.org/oz/
 
try a real heavy hammer, not those ball pean hammers, except for finish work, but one 8lb. short sledge, the type with a 12" handle.
 
I have forged D2 and as far as I know there is no easy way to do anything with D2.
It makes an excellent blade but unless drawn at the higher range (950 ) it has almost no flexability. It's overall wear resistance and edge holding ability make it my choice for folders that get hard use (carpenters, farmers & ranchers).

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old pete
 
Several years ago I spent some time working with D-2, M-2, 154-CM, and 440C. All are very difficult to forge, and require a great deal of effort/time. As mentioned before, all were very good cutters, but near zero flexibility. I was only getting marginally better cutting out of the forged blades over stock removals of the same materials. For me the end results did not justify the time and effort put into the blades. Not to say that they don't make a good blade, just not the characteristics that I want.

http://www.mtn-webtech.com/~caffrey

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Ed Caffrey
"The Montana Bladesmith"


 
I have forged several blades from D2, round stock (16 mm) and flat stock (30 x 10 mm). Really, there is no easy way to forge it. But i think it is still worth the pain. Just don't let it get too cold, because it is an air hardening steel. Temperature range is somewhat higher than for carbon steels. I have never had any toughness problems, though. Recently i gave a quiet thin D 2 hunting knife to a friend and he prepared a 100 pound wild boar he shot with it. He did everything on it from gutting and skinning to cutting to kitchen sized Gulasch (stew) size pieces, including cutting the rib bones in two. No edge chipping and still razor sharp after that.
To harden i take the temperature up to 1050 deg. celsius and cool in air. Tempering 2 hours in 250 deg. celsius.

Have a Merry Christmas!
Achim
 
I used a four pound to start with, and it was a bit heavy for the thin stock I was working on, just bent it rather than formed it. The three pound was about optimal. I used mostly cross peens for this blade. I don't like to use anything with a round face except on armor.
Thanks for all the input. I guess I'll just have to play some Rage Against the Machine and get really worked up to forge D2.

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Oz

"Never try to teach a pig to sing.
It's a waste of time and it annoys the pig."
-Lazarus Long
Check out my egostistical homepage!
http://www.freespeech.org/oz/
 
Find a teenage boy who wants to build up his muscles. While you handle the tongs have him hammer on the work. It's the way the old swordsmiths would do it. You can give him a small two-handed sledge. You put your energy and skill into getting the heat right and positioning the piece. When you're ready say "hit it again, medium" etc.
 
I had heard to be careful of overheating, but I hadn't heard why. That's good to know. Thanks Darrel.
As for the teenage boy idea, I've actually been trying to build up some muscles, so it works out well, but it cuts down on my overall forging time when I use those muckin-big hammers. I'll post a pic of this one when it's done. It's looking good so far.

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Oz

"Never try to teach a pig to sing.
It's a waste of time and it annoys the pig."
-Lazarus Long
Check out my egostistical homepage!
http://www.freespeech.org/oz/
 
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