Material selection question...

K

KennyB

Joined
Jan 19, 2010
Messages
2,312
Finally got my shop setup for the most part. I need a few more tools, but I'm going to buy them when I get material. I was looking last night and the D2 I found seemed priced great, but I began wondering what thickness I should get.

Does anyone think that .100" is a little on the slim side? I think it would be a nice thickness to start out working on, and since I'm going to be making these with a pretty short blade (2.5 - 3") I figure that .100" should be a good mix of making them a good slicer, but also not so thin they might snap. I was aiming for .125", but the .100" is priced better and will making grinding easier for me. I'm not sure on the 62 Rc ( still gotta do a bit more research ) but I've heard D2 has great wear resistance at this hardness so that's what I'm aiming for.

Anyway, I was thinking of order 36" of it, so that I would have enough for six blades. My thinking is that I will probably mess up making at least one or two, and the ones I do finish I'll probably want to test out pretty hard to see how good I did, maybe give a couple away or something. Does this sound like a good idea, or would you guys recommend giving myself more room to mess up?
 
D2 has to be one of the most commonly used and recommended steels among the experienced makers in my opinion. I'm not saying it's the best, so no bunched panties are necessary if anyone is using something else. I don't use it yet, but I will.
 
thegeek574 said:
What attracts you to D2?
Click to expand...

He mentioned that he thought he could get good wear resistance with it, maybe that's what he's after.

I've got knives under my belt with some really great steels.....Elmax powdered stainless, CPM 154, ATS-34, CPM S30V, 3V......

I still love to make knives from D2. It's a great steel. It's not stainless, and it's not high carbon....but it takes a great edge that last a long time and is tough enough for what 99 percent of people are going to use a knife for. With minor to moderate care it will not give you any rust problems. I use it with confidence, just like Bob Dozier and many other custom makers do. I think D2 is solid and will be for a long time:thumbup:
 
jonnymac44 said:
He mentioned that he thought he could get good wear resistance with it, maybe that's what he's after.

I've got knives under my belt with some really great steels.....Elmax powdered stainless, CPM 154, ATS-34, CPM S30V, 3V......

I still love to make knives from D2. It's a great steel. It's not stainless, and it's not high carbon....but it takes a great edge that last a long time and is tough enough for what 99 percent of people are going to use a knife for. With minor to moderate care it will not give you any rust problems. I use it with confidence, just like Bob Dozier and many other custom makers do. I think D2 is solid and will be for a long time:thumbup:
Click to expand...

Not high carbon? D2 chemistry includes an average of 1.5% carbon... higher than any of the steels you listed bar Elmax. D2 is the highest carbon "carbon steel" that I know of, that's for sure.
 
I agree that .100" D2 at 62Rc would be a fine choice for what you describe. It will be easy to get keen bevels on it, you won't have to worry about tapering it, and D2 holds an edge very well. (reports that it takes a lousy edge are overblown, in my opinion.)
However! Are you getting it in precision ground stock that ends up at .100", or .100" stock that has scale that will need to be ground off? That could make a difference of several thousandths.
D2 doesn't look very good with a high polish. It's fine with a basic satin or bead-blasted finish.
 
t_davis925 said:
Not high carbon? D2 chemistry includes an average of 1.5% carbon... higher than any of the steels you listed bar Elmax. D2 is the highest carbon "carbon steel" that I know of, that's for sure.
Click to expand...

Whoops, that came out wrong. It was late when I posted. I meant to say it's not stainless and it's not "straight carbon" steel, like say 1095, which is usually forged. The addition of the 11-11.5 percent of chromium in D2 puts it in sort of a class somewhere in the middle, or maybe all on it's own. Either way, yes there is a good amount of carbon in the stuff :)

Thanks for catching that!
 
james terrio said:
I agree that .100" D2 at 62Rc would be a fine choice for what you describe. It will be easy to get keen bevels on it, you won't have to worry about tapering it, and D2 holds an edge very well. (reports that it takes a lousy edge are overblown, in my opinion.)
However! Are you getting it in precision ground stock that ends up at .100", or .100" stock that has scale that will need to be ground off? That could make a difference of several thousandths.
D2 doesn't look very good with a high polish. It's fine with a basic satin or bead-blasted finish.
Click to expand...

I had not considered that actually. I didn't need the .100" figure to be very precise though, was actually looking at some .098" stuff too. While I'm here though, anyone know what the initials "PG" mean for steel? It seems that this stock is priced more than others...

jonnymac44 said:
Whoops, that came out wrong. It was late when I posted. I meant to say it's not stainless and it's not "straight carbon" steel, like say 1095, which is usually forged. The addition of the 11-11.5 percent of chromium in D2 puts it in sort of a class somewhere in the middle, or maybe all on it's own. Either way, yes there is a good amount of carbon in the stuff :)

Thanks for catching that!
Click to expand...

Yep, and I was going to select a high carbon steel like this initially because I knew they were the most affordable, I like most of them already, and wanted to try to get them up into the harder ranges for wear resistance. So then I saw that D2 was about the same carbon content ( little higher in fact ), not much more expensive and I knew about its reputation.

So I basically came to the conclusion "Why NOT D2?" Plus I've never tried it before so figured I'd get my feet wet.
 
"PG" stands for precision ground. It will have all the mill scale ground off, and be as close to flat as you will need. You be able to get right to work on drilling and grinding to shape. It's worth the extra upfront cost because it saves you time and belts later. I have an agreement with my main supplier that I want all my steel PG, don't even ask :thumbup:
 
james terrio said:
"PG" stands for precision ground. It will have all the mill scale ground off, and be as close to flat as you will need. You be able to get right to work on drilling and grinding to shape. It's worth the extra upfront cost because it saves you time and belts later. I have an agreement with my main supplier that I want all my steel PG, don't even ask :thumbup:
Click to expand...

Ahh, good to know. Thanks :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top