Heat treating D2

gnique

gnique

Joined
Apr 25, 2007
Messages
59
I know that this has been asked and re asked. I have actually spent some time looking before I posted this. I will try to be short and to the point. I want to make some knives using D2 steel. I have an oven with a heat controller. I do not plan to forge. I have sheets of D2 from The New Jersey Steel Baron (Aldo). I will cut out a blank and do stock removal. From what I can glean from this forum and other sources the blade needs to be heated to 1885 F and held for 30 minutes. I have also read that the blade needs to be sealed in a stainless steel foil wrapper. The wrapper should have a small piece of wood (match stick size??) inside it to take up the oxygen. Once heated to 1885 and held for 30 minutes, the foil wrapped blade is taken out of the oven and the blade removed from the wrapper. The blade is allowed to air cool. I have read that D2 can be oil cooled if the shape is simple. A knife blade seems simple to me. Can D2 be oil quenched? Tempering is done at 360 degrees F for 120 minutes 2 times. I read a post that Nathan The Machinist posted about his experience using D2 but I couldn't find where he gave heat treating steps. I have had lots of success with O1, 1095, 52100, 1085 and 15N20. I harden all of them in oil. I know the temps and I know the soak times. I have never used D2 but I want to try it. I have read good things about its edge holding ability and its resistance to corrosion. Thank you for your help. Nicholas Jasper
 
If you want to oil quech D2, get the slowest oil you can find. There will be an increased risk of cracking, but that can be dealt with by shape. You may consider grinding after heat treatement if you're going to oil quench. That makes the cross section about as simple as possible going into the quench. An alternative would be to plate quench between two refrigerated aluminum or steel plates of substantial thickness. I see some makers using 1" plates.
 
You could oil quench it. I have done it with no ill results, but, it is not necessary. 2 large flat pieces of aluminum, steel or brass will suck the heat out with the blade still in the foil. Just lay the hot packet on 1 and then lay the other on top and clamp or add some weight. D2 has a pretty long time (20+seconds) to get from that 1850 (temp I use) to under say 700 where you can un wrap it make sure its straight before it cools to 400. Then you can quench it in water to get to room temp. Personally, I stick it in a bucket of kerosene with a couple pounds of dry ice at this point and leave it for a 1/2 hour before tempering at 425f. I think your 360 is kind of low and you would get a lot of edge chipping. Even at 425 you should be over 60RC. I now do the first temper then back in the dry ice bath for a 1/2 hour then go back for my second temper cycle. My next batch I am going to quit using the kerosene and switch to a pure alcohol because I don't like the way the kerosene boils and foams when I add the dry ice. The dry ice bath steps are not absolutely necessary for D2, but it has a lot of carbon (1.5%) chrome and other alloys and will have quite a bit of retained austinsite if not sub zeroed. I believe in getting all I can.

I get mine blades very near finished and go to 400 0r 600 grit depending on how I am going to finish before hardening. You can grind it on sharp belts after, but it will take the sharp off the belt quick and it is a bear to hand sand. I love it because it keeps a good edge even after a lot of cutting. As I tell it, it will clean my deer, your deer, my elk, your elk and still easily cut the date out of your tags. One friend (my best salesman LOL) has done 10 deer with the same edge.

On the foil, I think it is best to get the slightly more expensive 309 foil. I used to put the blade in perfectly clean, but foil would often stick to the blade. Now I rub just a very light film of WD40 on the blade before placing in packet. Just a splash in one spot then use your fingers to spread it around. Others have other ways. Thats mine.
 
Last edited:
gnique said:
Have you got a link to where I can read his heat treat method? ncj
Click to expand...

Sorry, it is Stan Buzek, not Steve
, one of our moderators. No, I can't find the link, as the search function is not happy with me for some reason.
 
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