How is D2 steel for Traditional pocket carry?

[slide13]

slide13, sorry to get off topic, but what knife is that in your avatar.

That's my current edc that I was mentioning before, it's a Ken Erickson shadow in his 3.5" EDC pattern frame with a spear point blade in CPM-154CM. The D2 knife in question is the same pattern but bolstered and with stag scales.

Here are the two together:

 

[knarfeng]

A third interloper. Time to modify the title to remind folks where they are.

 

[neeman]

Coarse through EF diamond hones are perfect for D2, in sequence or individually, according to preference.


David

As a point of enquiry
Is DMT EF considered a poilished edge?

I sharpen all my Queen D2s with an EF DMT, then maintain them between that with a white commpoung strop

 

[kamagong]

Respectfully disagree (I mean this; I've always respected your posts here, and still do).

It does take quite a bit longer to get it there, but D2 responds BEAUTIFULLY to careful, high-grit finishing. I've been tinkering with using hard-backed strops of textured paper, canvas or linen-over-wood, using diamond and/or aluminum oxide compounds. With the right choice of compound, a very firmly-backed strop is D2's best friend; 'softer' strops of leather or other similar material are more prone to rounding off D2's carbides, as the grit progression goes higher. With harder strops, I've yet to see how far D2 will go, in continuing to refine, refine and refine; it just keeps getting better. And it's only 'difficult' or tedious in establishing the first edge of good geometry and chosen finish; once it's there, it's a cinch to maintain on the same hard strops.

The flipside to all this is, because it will respond so well at higher finish, the fundamentals are also good to make it excellent at a coarser finish, which is easier to apply. I'm sure this is why many favor it at a coarser finish; it responds very well, and quickly. Coarse through EF diamond hones are perfect for D2, in sequence or individually, according to preference.

Edge retention is edge retention; it's a physical property of the steel itself, regardless of chosen edge finish. D2 will sing with whatever finish one chooses to throw at it, if one is patient enough to see it through. :thumbup:

So far, I've done all three blades on my Queen 'Cattle King' stockman, a Queen Country Cousin, a Buck 118 fixed blade (limited run in D2), and a Queen #92 fixed blade in their slightly older Carved Stag Bone; I keep tweaking them higher in edge finish (near-mirror or better), and it just keeps responding like gangbusters.


David

I'll take your word for it. You're the one who is Obsessed with Edges.

I still don't think D2 is for me. You spoke of hard backed strops, canvas, linen, and diamond compounds. I have a leather strop, a handful of stones, and a few sheets of sandpaper. Using this basic gear I've been able to achieve levels of sharpness that are perfectly suitable for my uses and lack of patience. I guess I could learn to get the most out of D2, but why bother? That requires a level of commitment that I don't want to make. I'm content with CPM154 and 1095, and I don't have to buy any more sharpening supplies.

- Christian

 

[midnight flyer]

.
I still don't think D2 is for me. You spoke of hard backed strops, canvas, linen, and diamond compounds. I have a leather strop, a handful of stones, and a few sheets of sandpaper. Using this basic gear I've been able to achieve levels of sharpness that are perfectly suitable for my uses and lack of patience. I guess I could learn to get the most out of D2, but why bother? That requires a level of commitment that I don't want to make. I'm content with CPM154 and 1095, and I don't have to buy any more sharpening supplies.

- Christian

It doesn't have to be all that fiddly to get the job done. Since I rebevel every traditional knife I buy with my Lansky setup, I go one more step with the stones than I usually do and use the yellow 1000gr stone. With the Queen D2 tradtionals, it will easily finish to a mirror polish on the edge with that stone and no other work is needed. I do hit the spey on my stockman on a strop, but while it makes a prettier edge, it doesn't add that much to the cutting efficiency.

With all the D2 I have, I have found that I like a more polished edge on my traditionals, and stop at about 600gr for my heavier work knives (non traditionals) that are bladed with D2. For the particular use of each of those knives, they do well with polished and more toothy edges.

And while there are those that think diamond stones and diamond strops compound are a must, my Lansky setup with its regular stones and honing oil took a bit longer, but sharpened up my Queens just fine.

No special equipment needed. For me it is worth a little extra time to rebevel and set the edge I want as the Queen stuff I have actually holds an edge long enough to make it well worth the effort. Doubtful it would do any better than your CPM154, though.

Robert

 

[Corso]

Realy helpful info guys thanks

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

I'll take your word for it. You're the one who is Obsessed with Edges.

I still don't think D2 is for me. You spoke of hard backed strops, canvas, linen, and diamond compounds. I have a leather strop, a handful of stones, and a few sheets of sandpaper. Using this basic gear I've been able to achieve levels of sharpness that are perfectly suitable for my uses and lack of patience. I guess I could learn to get the most out of D2, but why bother? That requires a level of commitment that I don't want to make. I'm content with CPM154 and 1095, and I don't have to buy any more sharpening supplies.

- Christian

All those strops and other stuff I've mentioned is just what I've experimented with, in seeing what works, and not so much attempting to describe what I've actually needed to get it done. In terms of what I've settled into as my favorite habits, my most-used gear closely mimics what you've found, in terms of simplicity. The 'favorite' strop of mine is a piece of scrap plywood with a strip of an old linen shirt I 'retired' recently, glued to the wood to make it hold firm, and with some white rouge compound I picked up at Home Depot a few years ago. I mentioned using diamond hones; I like them simply because they're faster for heavy grinding & rebevelling. But, when or if it came down to it, the sandpaper works pretty darn well also (that's what I did most of the work with, on my Country Cousin, which is convexed and polished). I use the sandpaper in the same manner as with the linen strop: glued to a hard backing, so it works much more aggressively, almost like a stone. The white rouge compound is very aggressive for it's relatively small grit size (2-5µ, as marked on it's packaging), and it polishes very quickly. With a newly-ground D2 edge in any grit from about 320 and up, it doesn't take very long with the hard linen strop and the white rouge to bring the bevels to near mirror. It gets done in the normal course of touching up, if I don't otherwise take time to do it all in one session (and that would take maybe an additional 15-30 minutes, if I were using just the white rouge hard linen strop alone).

The takeaway from all the above, is that I've found a way to get exactly the type of edge I want on D2, using materials which can be found almost anywhere (wood, fabric, glue, sandpaper, buffing compound), and for cheap, if not free. The components making the biggest difference, in making the best edge at high polish, are the compound, the linen, and the wood; virtually dirt-cheap in sum total. The diamond hones and/or compounds are optional, as is the glue for tacking down the linen or paper, but handy and additionally versatile if they're available.


David

 

[sodak]

It does take quite a bit longer to get it there, but D2 responds BEAUTIFULLY to careful, high-grit finishing.

The only part I disagree with is that it takes longer to get there. If you have a Queen with a thick edge bevel, it can be taken down pretty quickly on an Edgepro or a DMT bench stone. D2 does great either coarse or finely polished, based on my experience. Queens have notoriously thick edges, but once they are thinned down, they have both great edge retention and are very easy to sharpen. If edge stability is an issue, I have found that a microbevel solves that problem. I would think that the finer the finish, the less worry about rust, although that hasn't been an issue for me in the past.

I guess I should add this - don't be afraid to experiment. You will find that a lot of things people repeat as well-known truths are bunk. One of the common myths you'll hear is that D2 takes a lousy edge but keeps it forever. That's utter nonsense. It takes a GREAT edge and keeps it for a very long time. There are now other steels that outperform it, to be sure, but it still works well for me. I have found D2 very easy to sharpen, as long as the edge isn't too thick. I'll also say this, everyone must know how to heat treat D2, because I've never yet had a knife in this steel that was too soft, formed burrs easily, etc. Every D2 knife that I've owned has given me crisp edges with minimal effort. Other steels not always.

Give it a shot, and let us know how it works for you. I'm especially interested in posts where people have the opposite experience that I do, that's when we can learn from each other.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

The only part I disagree with is that it takes longer to get there. If you have a Queen with a thick edge bevel, it can be taken down pretty quickly on an Edgepro or a DMT bench stone. D2 does great either coarse or finely polished, based on my experience. Queens have notoriously thick edges, but once they are thinned down, they have both great edge retention and are very easy to sharpen. If edge stability is an issue, I have found that a microbevel solves that problem. I would think that the finer the finish, the less worry about rust, although that hasn't been an issue for me in the past.

The extra time spent in polishing is fairly minimal, I agree. It just becomes a little slower in the sense that the apex needs to be protected from rounding while polishing, especially if doing so on a more conventional & softish strop, which also won't polish as aggressively as a harder one. This is why I've come to like the hard strops I'm using, as they'll solve both issues (quicker polishing and crisper edges).


David