M2 experience?

Some makers have for over 20 years, it however is very difficult to grind and requires very high temperatures to soak and temper and the soak time is very precise and has little room for error.

-Cliff
 
DGG said:
Wade - how'd you hold it still enough to do that? Great picture!

I'm not and never will bash M2 or A2. Both are very good knife steels.
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Lol. I think I got lucky with that, but all I really did was pull the hair across the edge. The edge was sharp enough to bite and slice it, more like shave it like a sharp chisel would shave wood, etc. Then I went to make another pass and it caught one of the halves and shaved it again!
 
Satrang said:
M2 and M4 have been around for 60 years. Why is it that these steels have not been used more often for blades?
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They rust too easily I think.
 
WadeF said:
Lol. I think I got lucky with that, but all I really did was pull the hair across the edge. The edge was sharp enough to bite and slice it, more like shave it like a sharp chisel would shave wood, etc. Then I went to make another pass and it caught one of the halves and shaved it again!
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That's too cool! Are you a professional knife sharpener?
 
i didn't like M2. i had a custom that used it. it came to me rather dull and i was unable to get a decent edge out of it. some have had much better experiences but i've been much more pleased with some other steels like S30V and even D2..
 
DGG said:
That's too cool! Are you a professional knife sharpener?
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I don't sharpen knives professionally, I just play around at home and sharpen a knife for a friend now and then. I don't like to consider myself a professional or expert at anything since I'm always learning. I have reached a point where I can put a razor edge on a knife everytime.
 
benchmademan said:
i didn't like M2. i had a custom that used it. it came to me rather dull and i was unable to get a decent edge out of it. some have had much better experiences but i've been much more pleased with some other steels like S30V and even D2..
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Is that the steel's fault? If you had a dull knife made from S30V or D2 would you be able to put a decent edge on it? I actually found D2 to take longer to grind down than M2. This maybe a result of the D2 I was working with having a higher RC value than the M2 I was working with. I haven't worked with a steel I couldn't put a hair poppin' edge on.
 
WadeF said:
Is that the steel's fault?
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It could be oversoaked and the grain blown though usually it is a geometry issue. M2 also has a low machinability and if the edge was too thick or obtuse it would take a *long* time to hone. Someone could struggle with a heavy Benchmade M2 edge and then breeze through a slim Spyderco S30V edge and easily conclude that M2 was a poor steel.

-Cliff
 
Cliff Stamp said:
It could be oversoaked and the grain blown though usually it is a geometry issue. M2 also has a low machinability and if the edge was too thick or obtuse it would take a *long* time to hone. Someone could struggle with a heavy Benchmade M2 edge and then breeze through a slim Spyderco S30V edge and easily conclude that M2 was a poor steel.

-Cliff
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That's what I was pretty much implying in my post, that the guy didn't know how to properly sharpen his M2 blade, or didn't have the right equipment, so he shouldn't fault the steel if he can't properly sharpen it or if the knife maker made a bad design with it.

I have taken my thick Benchmade M2 edges and reprofiled them. Luckily I have an Edgepro and it makes short work of any steel I have encountered.
 
DGG said:
Chris Reeves is supposed to use A2 according to Joe and his knives are thought to be among the toughest available.
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It all depends on what kind of knife you want and what you want to do with it. The topic starter is interested in a sub 4" blade folder. A2's toughness shouldn't be needed in a folder that probably won't be used to chop down a tree, split logs, dig trenches, etc. In a smaller blade it makes more sense to use a steel that is less tough, but has higher wear resistence and will hold it's edge longer. M2, s30v, D2 are all great choices for this. There are even more wear resistent steels like M4, s90v, etc, but it gets to a point where it becomes to difficult for the knife manufacturer to deal with the more wear resistant steels so they are usually reserved for use by custom makers. Although Spyderco is talking about some small runs of their knvies in s90v and some other high end steels that are normally not used in production knives because of their difficulty to machine.
 
DGG said:
Chris Reeves is supposed to use A2 according to Joe and his knives are thought to be among the toughest available.
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Not even close, A2 is on the low end of toughness for tool steels and Reeve leaves it soft which makes it weak.

-Cliff
 
Satrang said:
M2 and M4 have been around for 60 years. Why is it that these steels have not been used more often for blades?
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Ignorant masses who think "stainless steel" = "good." They don't even know that there is more than one stainless steel, let alone know that so many non-stainless steels are actually better.

I just picked up a mini AFCK in M2. I assumed it was ats34 and wasn't too interested at first, but I thought "hmm, I wonder how much they want for it," then I turn the blade over and BAM! M2HSS!!! Oh yes, it was mine. It was almost completely unused, though obviously carried. It had the standard old blunt Benchmade edge angle, so I had to do a lot of work to get it to 30 degrees (15 per side).

Even with some extended high-pressure sharpening, there was very little edge burr. Even before switching to finer stones the edge was very good. That's my definition of "easy" to sharpen, not "difficult" to sharpen. It takes a nice fine edge too. Good stuff. I will give it some longer term testing, as I am going to carry it a lot, but so far I like it.
 
oicw said:
I don't want to deal with the M2 rust issue and I prefer satin over black finishes. My choice would be D2.
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I said that so often, too. The only thing I would change about my single example of a 710HS is the coating on the clip.

D2 is good but different. I love my Queen and Benchmade D2 blades.

No self respecting knive nut should be deprived of knowing a good M2 knife.
 
I should get another BM710HS and sand off the black coating and put a nice polish on the blade and see how it holds up against rust. I never saw rust on my 710 with the M2 steel. The area that I re-profiled has no coating, but I did put a mirror finish on it to help prevent rust. It looks a bit silly having the mirrored bevel next to the black coating, but I didn't buy the 710 for it's looks. :)
 
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