Sharpening Queen's D2

Buck_Fan

Buck_Fan

Joined
Oct 14, 2008
Messages
1,224
Hello all,
I have two Queen Canoes in D2 and as others know, they came pretty dull. :grumpy: I tried to put an new edge on one with no success. Then I read that Queen D2 is about the hardest steel in factory made slipjoints. Not sure if it is true. But if it is really hard steel, that could be why I did not get a good edge on it. I must not have worked it enough. Is this the case of D2? If so, I will try and work it some more.

Thanks,
 
I like to use diamond hones with D2 and work both sides until I get a burr. Once I've achieved a burr I work up through the grits and finish on ceramic. Initial reprofiling may take some time but the edge you end up with should be worth it imho.
 
Sorry I forgot about the Maintenance forum Elliot.

Thanks for the info. I don't have dimond sharpeners, but I will work it more.
 
I reprofiled my Queen Mountain Man in D2 using the 120 grit stone on my Edge Pro. The 120 really takes the material off fast! Followed up with the 220 and 300 and now it has a real nice edge on it.

I don't know why Queen doesn't put a decent working edge on their D2...
 
I've gotten a couple of Queens that had very oblique edge angles. Somewhere around 25° per side I think.

I use an Xtra coarse diamond hone to set the edge angle to something more to my liking, usually 20° per side. Then I either use finer diamond hones or a Sharpmaker to finish them.

A lot of effort, but worth the trouble.
 
This is an understatement:D yes you will work it more (this steel had me doubting my knife sharpening ability lol), but it will surely be worth it. I have a relatively new love affair with D2:thumbup:
Buck_Fan said:
I don't have dimond sharpeners, but I will work it more.
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panch0 said:
I wonder how well these sharpen up on the paper wheels?
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Paper wheels with fine grit will work just fine, probably faster than a diamond hone. I put one of my Queen Premium Hunters on a grinder with an aluminum oxide lapidary wheel to get the initial edge. Then ran it down with the paper wheels to buff out the edge. Finished up on a strop. Scary sharp and holds a great edge. You can do it by hand with stones or diamonds but it takes some time to work it to it's true potential. The Queen knives are worth it IMHO as they are a great value even if dull from the factory.
 
Thanks Richard, I figured they would. They work very well on everything else I have tried.
 
If your free handing a good medium stone and patience will work. It's just a little more challenging then 420HC, patience is the key.
 
I use x-course and course diamond stones to set the profile, waterstones and then a good stropping. You might try sandpaper on a hard surface but be prepared to spend some time and have a good supply of sandpaper. Once you get the profile set the way you like it the edge is fairly easy to maintain. Queen D2 holds an edge very well. I like it better than any other production knife steel I have used.

Perhaps one of the sharpening gurus here could put a initial profile and edge on it for you. Might be a good time to invest in a coarse diamond stone. I really like my DMT Coarse/X-Coarse Duo Sharp.

Greg
 
The steel is worth the trouble. They surely put a lousy edge on Queen knives at the factory. I thin mine out on my Edgepro, it doesn't take much time at all. After that, I also like to put a small micro bevel on the edge to prevent damage, as I keep my Queens pretty thin.

Queen seems to hit the heat treat in D2 right in the sweet spot. They're not Doziers, but they're very good, much better than many other $$$ knives in terms of edge holding.
 
sodak said:
The steel is worth the trouble. They surely put a lousy edge on Queen knives at the factory. I thin mine out on my Edgepro, it doesn't take much time at all. After that, I also like to put a small micro bevel on the edge to prevent damage, as I keep my Queens pretty thin.

Queen seems to hit the heat treat in D2 right in the sweet spot. They're not Doziers, but they're very good, much better than many other $$$ knives in terms of edge holding.
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Yes, your Queen impressed me in my time with it. Very good working knife. In fact, I need to pick one up, they are a great value. I will freehand in my edge, so it won't be Edge Pro pretty (though my bevels are looking MUCH better after back surgery for some reason), but it's a beat the crap out of me knife so then again who cares about the looks? From memory your backbevel was so thin the bevels seemed to go halfway up the knife, and I bet mine ends up that way as well. I just resharpened my ZDP Jess Horn flat to the stone again to let it rip at about 6 degrees per side or so. I believe in the same super thin backbevels and then using microbevels to help the edge hold up like you do to maximize performance, and most of the time that leads to ugly bevels (unless the bevels are Krein thin, then a 5 degree bevel looks like a factory bevel. My Jess Horn ZDP needs to be Kreined like the other one floating around my house to make it cut a bit better and pretty it up. I digress though, Queen D2 impressed me a lot, though Dozier D2 and my Spyderco CPM D2 and especially Krein CPM D2 knives impressed me a bit more, but for much more money of course.

Mike
 
Yeah, thinning the edge out makes it perform so much better, and it's much easier to sharpen as well! But it does "uglify" the knife, no way around it! I hope your back continues to improve!
 
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