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Sharpening D2 steel.
- Thread starter PV29
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D2 responds well to diamond hones -- I use DMT bench stones. You can achieve a very fine polished edge on a DMT ultra-fine (green) hone, with time, but often a coarser hone (DMT red) produces a toothier cutting edge that works great in significantly less time. At least, that's my experience with my Dozier K1 and BM 710. Dick Persons, a notable Yukon guide/outfitter, told me he always sharpened his D2 blades with the coarsest hone he had, as that edge worked best for him when field dressing big game.
DennisStrickland
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queens heat treat on d2 is excellent.diamond is really the way to go with good d2 & 154. 30v etc.
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Ditto! :thumbup: So far as I'm concerned, diamond is the only way to go when re-profiling premium steel blades. The light touch-ups after that can be done as usual with ceramics, stropping, etc.
I've been using 3 Lansky rod-guided hones to reprofile edges. The first hone is the Medium Diamond, which produces the burr in fairly short order, followed by Lansky's 'standard' fine hone and then by the 'standard' ultra-fine. This trio does a nice job putting a shaving sharp, polished edge on my blades. Of the knives I've done so far, two of them are Queen Country Cousins in D2.
I love the D2 on Queen's knives, and I'm actually looking forward to re-profiling the next brand new one I order. Once I figured out how to do it, I've found it's actually fun & very rewarding to make the edge just as I like it.
IMO keep at it on the Queen. It's D2 is excellent.
If you just have the sharpmaker, consider thinning out the sodbuster with some sandpaper. I think with just the brown stones, the SM would take days if not weeks
. After you thin the edge, you can maintain the edge with the SM if that's your preference.
This is a pic of a Queen Soddie I did with sandpaper when I didn't have my DMTs or paper wheels yet. With 120 Grit paper, I think it was a straight 3 ~ 5 hour session.
If you just have the sharpmaker, consider thinning out the sodbuster with some sandpaper. I think with just the brown stones, the SM would take days if not weeks
. After you thin the edge, you can maintain the edge with the SM if that's your preference.This is a pic of a Queen Soddie I did with sandpaper when I didn't have my DMTs or paper wheels yet. With 120 Grit paper, I think it was a straight 3 ~ 5 hour session.
120 grit sandpaper on a board or piece of glass will work fine. You can also try a 120 belt hooked over a door knob or vice and pulled tight. 1x30 or 1x42 work great. I hook mine over a vice corner, and put a large c-clamp in the other end to use as a handle. When I say pull tight, I'm literally leaning back on the belt with my weight to keep it tight. You can sharpen this way to as fine a finish as you can find belts that will take the tension. I use edge leading and edge trailing strokes on the coarse belts. The knife wont cut through unless you wear off all the grit. You can stretch some 100 grit wet dry sand paper out and use it the same way, just cut 1" strips 11" long, clamp one end to a table, add oil or water, and have at it. Use a piece of wood or something between the clamp and the paper or the clamp will tear through the paper when you stretch it tight.
Or you could buy a $5 stone from lowes or HD or the flea market. They dont compare to Nortons, but they are many times faster than the Sharpmaker for D2. If you have the cash, diamonds are the way to go though.
Or you could buy a $5 stone from lowes or HD or the flea market. They dont compare to Nortons, but they are many times faster than the Sharpmaker for D2. If you have the cash, diamonds are the way to go though.
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- Aug 1, 2009
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With the Sharpie, you just need those 204D's. If you look around on eBay, they can be had for as "little" as $43. I have no D2 knives but I know 154CM is a pain as well - you're getting nowhere with just the ceramics.
OK, thanks. I think Dick's Sporting Goods carries those.
Great. I bought a $25 knife that needs a $40 sharpener.
IMO keep at it on the Queen. It's D2 is excellent.
If you just have the sharpmaker, consider thinning out the sodbuster with some sandpaper. I think with just the brown stones, the SM would take days if not weeks
This is a pic of a Queen Soddie I did with sandpaper when I didn't have my DMTs or paper wheels yet. With 120 Grit paper, I think it was a straight 3 ~ 5 hour session.
WOW! The edge on that Cousin is beautiful! If I can get even close to that I'll be very happy.
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2008
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I know there are great sharpening systems out there. Still, I have yet to find a system that works better in the long run, than an old Norton oil bath three stone.
I have two Bob Dozier fixed blades in D2 that I use for hunting. They will do several deer without sharpening but need to be touched up before I even get the skin off of a hog because they have so much grit on their skin. We hose them off but still gritty. I touch my knives up while skinning with a red folding DMT diamond sharpener which I think is the medium. This takes only a few strokes. I use this for field sharpening of whatever knife I am using because the object is to get the animal butchered, not play with the knife.
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OK, thanks. I think Dick's Sporting Goods carries those.
Great. I bought a $25 knife that needs a $40 sharpener.
Yeah but those stones are going to last a long, long time.
I have a set that are about 10-12 years old and still going strong.
IMHO, DMT's are a great investment for any knife owner. :thumbup:
This is a pic of a Queen Soddie I did with sandpaper when I didn't have my DMTs or paper wheels yet. With 120 Grit paper, I think it was a straight 3 ~ 5 hour session.
Took me 4 hours on sandpaper in one straight session. Did your shoulder hurt cuz mine sure did? That's when you know that you like to convex!
And for my Queen Congress I spent the extra money and got the DMT Aligner with X-Coarse, Coarse, Medium, and Fine. Now, I'm kicking myself for using sandpaper.
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- Apr 1, 2009
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I know it is the easy way out, but send it to Twinblade over on Knifeforums for sharpening. He is legendary. You won't pay too much, you will have an edge sharper than you could ever imagine and you will have it back in under a week. Tell him I sent you.
Beanbag
Beanbag
There are several forum members here who do knife sharpening at modest prices. If you hire one, tell him that you want a 30° angle, and once they get done setting the bevel for you, the SM will be easy to use for touch-ups.
Just for this purpose (because I'm stubborn and want to do it myself), I bought the DMT D6CX Double Sided Dia-Sharp Bench Stone. It's 6 inches, has the continuous diamond surface, and is coarse on one side and extra-coarse on the other. It was $47.50, but a better buy than the SM diamond rods, which I have but don't find satisfactory. I have a number of knives in high-end steel that need this kind of stone. For example, I just got a Queen in D2 (a slip joint with a sheepsfoot blade and a pen blade). The sheepsfoot blade is reasonably sharp; the pen blade is only fair. Still it would be a lot cheaper and easier to send all those knives to one of the experts and have them grind them to 30°.
I have experimented with rubber banding the DMT stone to the SM rods, and the DMT stone stays fixed in the same angle as the SM rods, but be sure to rubber band top and bottom if you go that route.
I haven't had a chance to try the DMT stone banded to the SM rod on the Queen but will soon.
Just for this purpose (because I'm stubborn and want to do it myself), I bought the DMT D6CX Double Sided Dia-Sharp Bench Stone. It's 6 inches, has the continuous diamond surface, and is coarse on one side and extra-coarse on the other. It was $47.50, but a better buy than the SM diamond rods, which I have but don't find satisfactory. I have a number of knives in high-end steel that need this kind of stone. For example, I just got a Queen in D2 (a slip joint with a sheepsfoot blade and a pen blade). The sheepsfoot blade is reasonably sharp; the pen blade is only fair. Still it would be a lot cheaper and easier to send all those knives to one of the experts and have them grind them to 30°.
I have experimented with rubber banding the DMT stone to the SM rods, and the DMT stone stays fixed in the same angle as the SM rods, but be sure to rubber band top and bottom if you go that route.
I haven't had a chance to try the DMT stone banded to the SM rod on the Queen but will soon.
Update:
Last night went to work on the pen blade of my Queen with D2 steel. It's a Birdseye Maple Large Congress Knife (with just the sheepsfoot and pen blades) Model QN31BEM, by the way.
First I used a Sharpie to mark each edge, inserted the coarse SharpMaker rods at 30° and did 5 or so strokes on each bevel. The Sharpie was rubbed away on the shoulder of each bevel, so I knew my work was cut out for me (so to speak).
I rubber banded the DMT stone to the SM rod (inserting a piece of paper between the stone and the rod to protect the rod from the diamonds--and vice versa) and used the coarse side to stroke the blade. After a short while, it was evident that the coarse side of the DMT wasn't coarse enough, and I switched to the extra-coarse side.
The extra-coarse is supposed to be 60 micron / 220 mesh and is recommended when significant removal of material is needed for damaged edges. It also may be used to flatten conventional and water stones. The coarse diamond is supposed to be 45 micron / 325 mesh and is recommended to quickly restore a neglected edge. Size: 6" x 2" x 1/4". The coarseness is marked on each side of stone, but it is pretty obvious which is coarser.
I would say that it took me close to an hour of stoking on the extra-coarse DMT to re-bevel the edge of one side of the pen blade and raise a burr all along the other side. Re-beveling the edge of the other side took around 10 or 15 minutes. So maybe the other side was closer to 30°.
I did notice at least one chip in the edge near the tip of the blade that was not there when I started, but I am expecting that to go away once I finish with the coarse side. This was the first time I used the DMT, and the diamonds are expected to be extra rough at first. So it's quite possible that the DMT was initially the equivalent of extra-extra coarse at the outset.
If I had used the coarse SM rods, I would not be done with resetting the bevel to 30° even if I spent hours last night at the task. As I mentioned in the previous post, I have the diamond SM rods, which I am not satisfied with, and I am very glad to have purchased the DMT. The greater suface area alone of the DMT makes the work go quicker, and the extra-coarse side of the DMT is much coarser than the SM diamond rod. I suspect that even coarse side of the DMT is much coarser than the SM diamond rod.
The SM is a great tool, but using it to re-bevel edges of tough steel is like using a good knife to chop down a tree. Get an axe or a saw.
In this case, that means using diamonds or clipping banding sandpaper or emery cloth to the SM rods. Before I got the DMT stone, I preferred emery cloth. I have used both coarse sandpaper and coarse emery cloth clipped to the SM rods, and in limited experience, I have noticed that they cause some scratching above the bevel.
Last night went to work on the pen blade of my Queen with D2 steel. It's a Birdseye Maple Large Congress Knife (with just the sheepsfoot and pen blades) Model QN31BEM, by the way.
First I used a Sharpie to mark each edge, inserted the coarse SharpMaker rods at 30° and did 5 or so strokes on each bevel. The Sharpie was rubbed away on the shoulder of each bevel, so I knew my work was cut out for me (so to speak).
I rubber banded the DMT stone to the SM rod (inserting a piece of paper between the stone and the rod to protect the rod from the diamonds--and vice versa) and used the coarse side to stroke the blade. After a short while, it was evident that the coarse side of the DMT wasn't coarse enough, and I switched to the extra-coarse side.
The extra-coarse is supposed to be 60 micron / 220 mesh and is recommended when significant removal of material is needed for damaged edges. It also may be used to flatten conventional and water stones. The coarse diamond is supposed to be 45 micron / 325 mesh and is recommended to quickly restore a neglected edge. Size: 6" x 2" x 1/4". The coarseness is marked on each side of stone, but it is pretty obvious which is coarser.
I would say that it took me close to an hour of stoking on the extra-coarse DMT to re-bevel the edge of one side of the pen blade and raise a burr all along the other side. Re-beveling the edge of the other side took around 10 or 15 minutes. So maybe the other side was closer to 30°.
I did notice at least one chip in the edge near the tip of the blade that was not there when I started, but I am expecting that to go away once I finish with the coarse side. This was the first time I used the DMT, and the diamonds are expected to be extra rough at first. So it's quite possible that the DMT was initially the equivalent of extra-extra coarse at the outset.
If I had used the coarse SM rods, I would not be done with resetting the bevel to 30° even if I spent hours last night at the task. As I mentioned in the previous post, I have the diamond SM rods, which I am not satisfied with, and I am very glad to have purchased the DMT. The greater suface area alone of the DMT makes the work go quicker, and the extra-coarse side of the DMT is much coarser than the SM diamond rod. I suspect that even coarse side of the DMT is much coarser than the SM diamond rod.
The SM is a great tool, but using it to re-bevel edges of tough steel is like using a good knife to chop down a tree. Get an axe or a saw.
In this case, that means using diamonds or clipping banding sandpaper or emery cloth to the SM rods. Before I got the DMT stone, I preferred emery cloth. I have used both coarse sandpaper and coarse emery cloth clipped to the SM rods, and in limited experience, I have noticed that they cause some scratching above the bevel.