Friction Forged D2 - whatever happened to this stuff?

[Cobalt]

Seems like about 9 years ago this stuff was being touted as super tough. Here we are 9 years later and I see no real world testing, no torture testing, no popularity at all for this stuff except for the company that pushes it selling their small skinner for $400. So has anyone actually used this stuff hard? any proof videos?

 

[Czechmate]

I remember that!

And you're right; it never seemed to catch on; I figured it'd be a process applied to many metals to get the most out of them (where applicable/possible).

Here's the company I remember seeing back in the day:

http://www.diamondbladeknives.com/index.asp

Their blades are rated 65-68 HRC...

 

[Camber]

Cliff has a blade in it and has used it quite a bit. Unfortunately the geometry was so thick the blade was not very practical to use, so not a lot of information could be gleaned.

 

[Lycosa]

INFI knocked it out.

 

[james terrio]

It was a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. I would guess FF might have more use/success in industrial fields... in handmade using knives... not so much.

Most people who already use D2 and similar alloys for edge-holding are already very happy with them at 60 or 6Rc, and don't typically want or need a super-tough (super thick) blade. Apparently the knives were pretty expensive to make. They're certainly expensive to buy... $350-600 can get you a wide variety of very nice handmade or top-notch production knives that have better geometry and often are also a lot prettier.