Is it just China D2?

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Asterisk

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Jan 4, 2019
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Hey all,

I recently received a Steel Will Cutjack as a Christmas gift. I was excited to test out the steel, as I had only had experience with 12c27, 420HC, and 8cr13MoV. After using it, I found myself a bit let down with the edge retention. At first, it had a very obtuse edge, and was very dull after a week and a half of (IMO) medium use (i.e. hay strings and cardboard mostly.) I thinned out the edge to a 40 inclusive, but am still not impressed with the sharpness after only a day of relatively light use (I've been painting a lot.) Should my expectations be lower with China D2, or was the edge possibly burnt, is it the angles, or something else entirely?

I'd appreciate your thoughts,

-Joshua
 
Asterisk said:
Hey all,

I recently received a Steel Will Cutjack as a Christmas gift. I was excited to test out the steel, as I had only had experience with 12c27, 420HC, and 8cr13MoV. After using it, I found myself a bit let down with the edge retention. At first, it had a very obtuse edge, and was very dull after a week and a half of (IMO) medium use (i.e. hay strings and cardboard mostly.) I thinned out the edge to a 40 inclusive, but am still not impressed with the sharpness after only a day of relatively light use (I've been painting a lot.) Should my expectations be lower with China D2, or was the edge possibly burnt, is it the angles, or something else entirely?

I'd appreciate your thoughts,

-Joshua
Click to expand...

As said it may not be D2 (because some manufacturers in China say they are using D2 when they are not), or it could be some form of D2 (because there are companies selling/using D2 knockoffs), or it could be a bad heat treat.
 
There's too many variables to say really. I have a Modus and I'm reasonably pleased with it. It doesn't hold an edge like some of the "better" d2 knives I've had, but it certainly performs better than one of the fleabay d2 knives that's actually made of 3cr or some other nonsense. Scrapped paperclips most likely.

I think it's probably just left a little soft. It's nowhere near the chore to sharpen and reprofile that something like a Benchmade 710 would be. ZDP-189 at 64hrc holds an edge forever... but at 57hrc I suspect it'll be underwhelming. Steel type isn't everything. Several variables have to come together to create a great edge. I think the bargain Steel Wills still punch way above their weight class.
 
Steel Will D2 is legit, they have released the specific composition of the variety they use.

Might be a bad HT, the edge retention on mine is very good at 40*, the D2 they use has about 0.85% Vanadium so not super high but decent for D2, your edge retention should be good.

Also, make sure you keep your edge fairly course, I find a 600 grit diamond is the best stone to finish with.
 
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T.L.E. Sharp said:
There's too many variables to say really. I have a Modus and I'm reasonably pleased with it. It doesn't hold an edge like some of the "better" d2 knives I've had, but it certainly performs better than one of the fleabay d2 knives that's actually made of 3cr or some other nonsense. Scrapped paperclips most likely.

I think it's probably just left a little soft. It's nowhere near the chore to sharpen and reprofile that something like a Benchmade 710 would be. ZDP-189 at 64hrc holds an edge forever... but at 57hrc I suspect it'll be underwhelming. Steel type isn't everything. Several variables have to come together to create a great edge. I think the bargain Steel Wills still punch way above their weight class.
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Yeah, I was guessing a heat treat, but I figured I'd put it out there and see what you guys thought. Now that I have it at a 40 inclusive, I'll see how it keeps a working edge over the next few weeks or so. As a point of comparison, what should I expect from Spyderco/Kizer's VG-10, Benchmade's 154CM, or Spyderco/Byrd's CTS-BD1?
 
sliceofaloha said:
Uh oh
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It's a hard call. D2 is excellent. Not entirely sure what this rush to D2 with the Chinese makers is about....it's not really a sexy new steel.

I lean towards

1) Not D2
2) Some kinda sneaky ersatz bogus "D2" somebody came up with.

I have a bunch of old D2....nice stuff, good edge retention, a little tough to sharpen.....this current "D2" doesn't sound like that at all.

Anyone seen in uncoated? Does it have that "orange peel D2" look to it? Kinda dimply?
 
Asterisk said:
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Yeah, I was guessing a heat treat, but I figured I'd put it out there and see what you guys thought. Now that I have it at a 40 inclusive, I'll see how it keeps a working edge over the next few weeks or so. As a point of comparison, what should I expect from Spyderco/Kizer's VG-10, Benchmade's 154CM, or Spyderco/Byrd's CTS-BD1?
Click to expand...

They'll all be better than Steel Will's D2. You've already got them listed in order of edge retention probably. Spyderco's VG-10 being the best and their BD1 being the worst of those listed. All performing very well.
 
marcinek said:
It's a hard call. D2 is excellent. Not entirely sure what this rush to D2 with the Chinese makers is about....it's not really a sexy new steel.

I lean towards

1) Not D2
2) Some kinda sneaky ersatz bogus "D2" somebody came up with.

I have a bunch of old D2....nice stuff, good edge retention, a little tough to sharpen.....this current "D2" doesn't sound like that at all.

Anyone seen in uncoated? Does it have that "orange peel D2" look to it? Kinda dimply?
Click to expand...


It seems to act like D2 from what I've heard in rust resistance. It rusted a bit after sitting with water on it in my pocket after about an hour and a half, but not terribly, just a couple light spots. And it was certainly much harder to get any kind of burr on my 1000 grit King waterstone than with any of my other steels. So I don't know.... I guess I'll keep testing it and see what it comes up with. Any suggestions for different edge angles?
 
I think my Avispa in D2 holds an edge better that my mini cutjack. Also while sharpening I notice the avispa seems harder.
 
I would suggest it's your sharpening and edge angle. Possibly technique or stones/strops your using.

China d2 has better edge retention than 8cr13mov. And the cut jack is around 61hrc and Cedric Ada has shown it has good results to other Chinese d2.

It may not be the idea heat treatment, but it works fine for budget knives and better than other budget steels.

I would guess it's your sharpening. I would guarantee it pretty much. Alot of folks have this issue.
 
Uhhh...let's not forget what D2 is about...it keeps a usable edge forever not a refined edge forever....

Why don't you try as you said 20dps and leave it at a course 600grit...
 
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cchu518 said:
Uhhh...let's not forget what D2 is about...it keeps a usable edge forever not a refined edge forever....

Why don't you try as you said 20dps and leave it at a course 600grit...
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Yeah I'm on that. I have no issue with a working edge, but maybe my definition of a working edge is different. After a week and a half, it would not cut paper. I would call that dull. From my experience so far, it loses sharpness fairly fast. For example, the edge had degraded (slightly but noticeably) after just cutting some bale strings (about 35-40 or so) in one morning. Not impressive to me, but I'll keep an eye on it. I'm using a Lansky turnbox for exact angles, and I may have to just keep an exact record of starting sharpness and what I cut with it to see exactly how long an edge lasts. If worse comes to worst, I'll just touch it up on the turnbox every night, as it only takes about thirty seconds.
 
Steel type is half the equation. Proper heat treatment for the steel type and intended use is the other half. D2 is pretty much a generic tool steel. Two knife makers starting with the same Chinese D2 blade stock can end up with blades with wide differences in edge holding and sharpening characteristics due to their different heat treatment. Just because the knife is D2 does not mean the blade will be of high quality D2 regardless of the country of origin. A budget/bargain knife is a budget/bargain knife whether it uses 420HC or D2 steel.
 
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