Help With D2 Steel!

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Nephron44

Gold Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2015
Messages
977
Hey everyone!

I have very little experience with D2 steel. Most of my knives are 154cm, 420 HC, or mystery steel (cough cough Gerber cough). I now have an HK otf and a Benchmade Mini Morpho, both with uncoated D2.

How do I care for D2 steel? How often should I perform maintenance? How resistant to corrosion is D2? These knives are just for EDC and won't be used in water, but may come I contact with sweat on hot days and water if I get caught in the rain. Any info will be much appreciated!!!!
 
A patina will help stop corrosion. I soak a blade in white vinegar for some hours. It's a practical solution.
Give it a good clean, dry, & oil before you put it away for a time. If you use it daily you won't see problems unless you leave it wet over night. Significant problems occur in longer term storage, Like over a month.
 
Nephron44 said:
Hey everyone!

I have very little experience with D2 steel. Most of my knives are 154cm, 420 HC, or mystery steel (cough cough Gerber cough). I now have an HK otf and a Benchmade Mini Morpho, both with uncoated D2.

How do I care for D2 steel? How often should I perform maintenance? How resistant to corrosion is D2? These knives are just for EDC and won't be used in water, but may come I contact with sweat on hot days and water if I get caught in the rain. Any info will be much appreciated!!!!
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I have a number of D2 blades. (Queen Cutlery--multi-blade traditional pattern pocket knives.)
When actively carrying one of them, I wipe the blade dry after each use and rub a drop of mineral oil on each blade when I add a drop of oil on the joints about once a week. When I put the knife away for longer term storage, I rub a drop of oil on each blade before putting it away.

D2 is "semi-stainless". It has tendency to spot, but not nearly as easily as carbon steel.
 
In my experience D2 is stainless. I have had knives made of D2 for 10 years and more and they have no more issues than any stainless blade.
 
love d2. yes d2 is a semi stainless. don't worry about it rusting. if your a knife enough person to be on the forum then you take care or your knives well enough to last.
 
Zidfeldts said:
In my experience D2 is stainless. I have had knives made of D2 for 10 years and more and they have no more issues than any stainless blade.
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Same here. I was playing with a C.S. Leatherneck in D2 last winter. It was wiped down, dry no oil, and forgotten about. No rust that I can see. I usually go through the heap once a year for an oil wipe down (mineral). I think that I forgot to do it last year. I have some specks on a C.S. Lone Star, which come off with a finger nail scrape, and the tip of my ESEE 4 has some light mottling. I'm getting lazier about oiling as the years pass. Most seem to weather it fine. I am anal about making sure that they are dry after use however.
 
No rust on any of mine either. When I first got a D2 blade I was worried also.......don't worry.
I have at least 6 or 7 and haven't had an issue with 1 of them.
Takes a screaming edge too!!
Just enjoy it!
Joe
 
palonej said:
No rust on any of mine either. When I first got a D2 blade I was worried also.......don't worry.
I have at least 6 or 7 and haven't had an issue with 1 of them.
Takes a screaming edge too!!
Just enjoy it!
Joe
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I bought some of those Diamond sticks for my Sharpmaker and haven't had to use them yet. A touch up with the regular triangles did the trick. Slides effortlessly through paper. But then I didn't really work the Leatherneck hard and long. I generally like to make sure that a piece has a nice edge before being put away. Then it's a grab and go for an outdoor wander. I imagine that protracted hard use would call in the Diamond rods for a few light initial swipes. Time and use level will tell me.
 
I carried my Queen Copperhead in D2 for a year. It wouldn't (red) rust but I found that leaving it wet, or salt deposited on the blade and not washed off properly (cutting a salami for example) would cause pitting under black marks. The worst was when I left it in a non veg tanned belt sheath after the sheath getting soaked. Took quite a while to get the black marks and pitting removed. As such, doesn't need the care of carbon steel but certainly not stainless either. Keep it clean and wipe off from liquid.
 
Zidfeldts said:
In my experience D2 is stainless. I have had knives made of D2 for 10 years and more and they have no more issues than any stainless blade.
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That matches my own experience with D2. I have two Brous Silent Soldier neck knives, worn against my chest daily for ever 3 years. Not a spot of rust on either one. No sign of a patina either, though it might just be too subtle.

To me, D2's "semi-stainless" status is more like "might as well be stainless."
 
I have D2 knives older than most of the members here. It is pretty resistant to corrosion, and with just basic commonsense maintenance, it will remain rust free forever.
 
Mannlicher said:
I have D2 knives older than most of the members here. It is pretty resistant to corrosion, and with just basic commonsense maintenance, it will remain rust free forever.
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Yep. Just wipe the blades off periodically with a thin oil. Don't store wet. Don't let your D2 knives soak in a dish pan for days like you might with a $5 stainless steel semi-disposable knife.
 
I've never had a D2 knife rust, or show any signs of corrosion, and I don't treat them any different than my stainless knives. Its a semi-stainless, and about the same as ATS-34 stainless in this regard(staining/rusting).
I've had many Dozier's, other customs, and the custom in my Avatar is D2.
Take care of it like you would with any knife and you won't have a problem.
 
Carrying and using D2 blades in a hot humid environment has caused rust spots and tiny pitting on mine. Flitz to polish and $2 USP mineral oil from the pharmacy to help corrosion resistance are what I recommend.

The knives that don't get carried look new and don't get any corrosion.
 
Mannlicher said:
I have D2 knives older than most of the members here. It is pretty resistant to corrosion, and with just basic commonsense maintenance, it will remain rust free forever.
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This is very interesting information. Thank you.
 
D2 is almost "stainless"
I have never had any issues with it in using the slightest bit of common sense care that any other steel I have would get, so nothing special.

Let's look at Chromiun content. D2 is right around 11.5% While a very typical "stainless" knife steel is around 14%

Unless you are in an environment that is especially prone to causing rust on steel (Salt water, sustained high humidity) I would not worry about D2 at all.
 
JR88FAN said:
D2 is almost "stainless"
I have never had any issues with it in using the slightest bit of common sense care that any other steel I have would get, so nothing special.

Let's look at Chromiun content. D2 is right around 11.5% While a very typical "stainless" knife steel is around 14%

Unless you are in an environment that is especially prone to causing rust on steel (Salt water, sustained high humidity) I would not worry about D2 at all.
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Cool. I'm not a steel wonk and don't put much focus on their properties, unless posts like this come up. I find it helpful/useful to make future purchase decisions with posts like yours. I tend to want something tough and low maintenance for outdoor use. I learn as I go along because all this stuff tends to fall into the casual hobby/interest realm for me.
 
You can't really look at just the chromium amount. The ratio of chromium to carbon should really be considered, as well as the hardening temperature.
 
That said, anything over 5% will show a drastic improvement over carbon steel.
 
I had a BM 51 morpho

it was always rusting

needed to be wiped off due to finger oils causing rust spots or just the humidity

It needed constant attention yet the edge performance wasn't anything to write about.

It reminded me of sharpening s30v without the benefits.

its definitely going to have better edge holding then 154cm but it wasn't as responsive to honing and stropping and seemed to really like a coarse, sharp, aggressive edge that dulls out but keeps cutting

being an aficionado for sharpening, I prefer higher polished "sport" edges. even though they will never outcut a toothy edge. I love the precision and smooth cutting

so d2 is not my style

however a more pragmatic "knives are tools only" type that only sharpens under 1000 grit might really appreciate the cost to performance ratio and the working edge holding.

its a very utilitarian steel but its nothing I would ever seek out directly, even if I preferred a toothy edge with a crisp apex

PM steels have outclassed it completely

s30v has better toughness, edge holding, corrosion resistance and I think it sharpens better. It will outcut d2 with a toothy edge.

Some may argue CPM d2 but I still think the vanadium and stain resistance brings such a huge advantage with s30v that the added cost of a cpm d2 isnt worth it

but everything here is just my opinion :)

steel isnt the only thing that makes an awesome knife
 
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