Sharpening d2 with Norton silicon carbide stone?

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lonestar1979

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Mar 2, 2014
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I sharpened and reprofiled my Kizlyar d2 folder on Norton silicon carbide stone and was surprised how fast it cuts.I haven't had the time to test the knife, but I started thinking it might be some softer steel instead of d2.Your opinions are welcome.
 
lonestar1979 said:
I sharpened and reprofiled my Kizlyar d2 folder on Norton silicon carbide stone and was surprised how fast it cuts.I haven't had the time to test the knife, but I started thinking it might be some softer steel instead of d2.Your opinions are welcome.
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Silicon carbide handles D2 easily; it's much harder than the relatively-hard chromium carbides in the steel. I had the same reaction after sharpening a D2 folder for the first time on SiC wet/dry sandpaper. If you want to see how much better SiC really handles it, compare to reprofiling or other heavy grinding of D2 on something like an Arkansas stone. Might also notice similar differences with well-treated 440C, as I did when first trying to grind it on an Arkansas stone, and the steel wasn't fazed by it; made a 2nd attempt on SiC wet/dry paper, and it ate the steel for breakfast.

If in the field with just a small (pocket-sized) hone, a diamond hone is my favorite for D2, especially if any heavy repairs are needed. But on a bench-sized hone, silicon carbide can get the job done very easily.


David
 
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This was just too easy LOL, feels like sharpening aus8 on aluminum oxide stone.I have few Arkansas stones but have never used them.
 
Some steels just work with a given stone, D2 and silicon carbide being one of those pairings. After sharpening on the fine SiC stone wipe some of the slurry on a strop and finish the edge that way, makes for a real nice coarse edge.
 
lonestar1979 said:
This was just too easy LOL, feels like sharpening aus8 on aluminum oxide stone.I have few Arkansas stones but have never used them.
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That's not a bad comparison. I've found it usually works well to 'scale' the abrasive to the steel (and more importantly, it's carbides). In terms of relative hardness of the abrasive to the carbides in a particular steel, matchups like SiC on D2, and AlOx on AUS-8 (or many other 'middle-of-the-road' steels), or diamond on S30V and other vanadium-heavy steels all seem to work well. Getting too 'unbalanced' either way, with abrasive not hard enough for the steel (Arkansas on D2, for example), or too hard (coarse diamond on 1095, for example), usually is detrimental to the results and/or removes too much steel needlessly.


David
 
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Ill take some slury and put it on leather belt next time and strop it a little! Will see how long this edge holds up, its shaving sharp now.Will cut some cardboard and other stuff in next few days .
 
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