What can you tell me about your D2 knives?

W

Wunderbar

Joined
May 2, 2003
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I'd like to hear what you have to say about D2 as a knife steel. I'm considering buying a BM Morpho and the new Nitrous Stryker both knives have D2 steel blades. I'm mostly interested in sharpening, stain resistance, durability. Thanks.
 
I have three fixed blades with D2 steel that see a lot of regular use, a RAT-3, a Fireant from Charles May and a 5" Tusker from Razorback knives (Scott posts here from time to time).

I've used them both for farm work, long horse rides (over a week long), hunting trips and hiking. I've battoned wood, cut a lot of things and dressed game. No problems so far.

I've heard people talk about D2 being hard to sharpen, but that hasn't been my experience with these two knives. The Razorback has a very nice convex grind, and I've never had to REALLY sharpen it so far, stropping on leather or a mouse pad with 1500 grit sandpaper is enough to keep it scary sharp, I think I've only touched up the edge a few times over almost a year of use.

It did take me a bit of work to get a really polished edge on the RAT-3, but it wasn't long enough to be frustrating. Mike Stewart, from Bark River knives, convinced me to take the trouble to get a very polished edge, and he was right, performance is a lot better, and the edge is supossed to be less prone to chipping (something about large carbides, I'm no expert but I like the shiny edge!).

The Scandi style grind on my Fireant is was also easy to keep sharp, Mr. May made an excellent job of grinding that edge bevel.

Edge holding is superb, specially on the convex Razorback knife. A little stropping from time to time keeps the edge very sharp.

Rust resistance is enough for what I need. The RAT-3 is coated, but the Fireant and the Tusker aren't, and they've held up pretty well. I used to use only stainless steel knives, it was these D2 knives that slowly drove me back to carbon steels. I try to keep my knives dry an oiled, but sometimes on long trips I can't keep them as clean as I'd like. The Tusker, which is the one I use the most, has developed a rather nice, dark, patina after months of use.

I live in a rather hot and humid part of South America, some knives rust here from just sitting on a shelf. D2 has worked well for me so far, it can't resist rust as well as true stainless steels, but it does a lot better than my 1095 blades.

I've only used this steel in small and medium fixed blades, and from my experience with it I would recomend it.
 
I like D2 as it will hold an edge and is semi-stainless.I have two Dozier Fixed and bought my brother one as a gift.Bob uses D2 on all his knives,even his limited Folders.His heat treating is legendary and creates a super blade.Just wipe after using and every once and a while use a light oil.I use mineral oil as if you are cutting food it is edible.This is a little trick I read on one thread and made so much sense. Anyway, great choice for an edge.

MPE
 
All around, my second favorite steel next to Crucible's S30V. Tough, never had one chip, can be reprofiled to 30 degrees, resists stains, etc., holds an edge almost a well as S30V. Less expensive than S30V. Good for larger blades. Can be hardended to over Rc 60. Great stuff.

Regards
 
D2 is pretty much maintenance free...almost stainless. I find it a Bear to sharpen though. I really like the D2 steel.
 
I like it alot, 3 customs in D2 and several Queen D2 slipjoints.

One of the best steels out there.
 
I have a Queen slipjoint in D2 - needed the relief ground back like most slips - but I really like it. Gets really, really sharp. Holds an edge well. I don't find it hard to sharpen, but grinding more relief on it was harder than most other blades I have.
 
I only have one knife in D2, the Camillus CUDA MAXX 5.5, but that knife has made D2 my favorite blade steel. It is not a true stainless, but as long as you take care of it, you should not have any problems. In terms of edge taking/holding and sharpening, I love it. It will take a very sharp edge and hold it well. Regarding sharpening, as hard a steel as it is, it is remarkably easy to sharpen.
 
my dozier k4 is the sharpest knife i own. excellent edge retention, takes a little more work that ats34 to sharpen.
 
Wunderbar said:
I'd like to hear what you have to say about D2 as a knife steel. I'm considering buying a BM Morpho and the new Nitrous Stryker both knives have D2 steel blades. I'm mostly interested in sharpening, stain resistance, durability. Thanks.
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It's not hard to sharpen, It just takes a little longer. If you let your blade get really dull it will be a bear to bring the edge back. I have a Dozier and I have made a couple of D2 blades. I have never had a problem with stain resistance. My D2 blades are all satin finished blades, Bead blasted blades might be a different story. I have beadblasted stainless blades that have little rust spots on them.
 
I have several D2 blades, all from Queen, and so far I really like the steel. It holds the edge considerably longer than the steel in some of my other knives. Have not gotten any rust or stains on the blades as of yet, even though they have been in blood and water repeatedly (hunting knives). The ones that came with a thick grind and dull edges from the factory were a bear to reprofile, until I got smart and picked up a coarse diamond hone. Once thinned and really sharpened, all I've really done is a quick touch up, have only needed to actually resharpen one blade, and that one saw some rough use on a jobsite cutting up mud crusted stuff, lots of grime and grit. Washed the knife out in a bucket of water, shook it dry, pitched it back in my pocket, no rust. Three of four strokes on the diamond hone, then polished up the edge with a ceramic stick, and back sharp again. Compared to a SAK Harvester that I commonly use as a work knife, the edges on the D2 last several times longer when cutting open cardboard and paper packages. Typical jobs will be things like opening up light fixture boxes, appliance cartons, plastic lumber bands, etc. Never tried anything tougher like batonning wood or digging or beating concrete or other steel with my blades, so I can't say how well the D2 would hold up under those circumstances. I guess you could call it my "favorite steel", as I have six D2 knives now, the largest number in any one steel in all my knife collection. I didn't call it that before I got the diamond to reprofile with though, it was more like &$^@(*%^(@#&*(@#&(* with conventional stones. :D
 
I've got assorted slipjoints and folder in D2 along with a good sized fixed blade and when a good edge is put on that steel I've found it to last very, very well It's damn sharp too. I've only needed to do touch ups here and there as opposed to any serious sharpening on them, but there hasn't been any issue with the steel when doing that. I've found stain resistance to be very good.
 
I would have to say that D2 is one of my top three favorites in blade steel.

Non Stainless
D2
1095
Stainless
13C26
VG10

Thats pretty much my top choices right now. Ask again next month I may change one or more but D2 seems to always remain in there.

STR
 
A great steel but I would not make a bowie out of it as it is supposed(according to Jerry Busse) be better in smaller knives. D2 is almost a stainless or just stainless so it has decent corrosion resistance.
 
I have two blades made from it. One from Benchmade and one custom.

I never really get warm with the Benchmade. OK, this blade was a replacement blade because the first one was bad and chipped all the way.

Burnt child... It took much to get the second one to a status, where the edge is somehow solid and wont show any remarkable reaction on cutting.

At least this steel made me believe, that high alloyed steel will always have a microchip or two.

The custom takes a far better edge, even though it is far thicker. But microchips can appear there aswell.

Both edges are strong on nail push cuts.

D2 is call "semi-..." so my thoughts about it are "semi - ..." too.

Even though toughness might not be an issue on blade of 4", i personally was searching for a steel with a better potential in toughness compared with some wear resistance.

I have this two blades but i guess i will never buy any more.
 
I've never had a problem with sharpening steels (AUS-8A, ATS-34, 154CM,) then I started buying Microtechs with S30V. The first year or so the S30V sharpened well, then I started having problems. It was taking me hundreds of strokes on a ceramic to get the hair shaving edge that I prefer. I had to remedy this by reprofiling on a coarse diamond. I was very weary of D2 at this point. I've seen D2 chip and break on jigs and fixtures that I use at work. Some which were hardened at 58-62 HRC. I was told on another post that "D2 doesn't take an edge well, but lasts forever." I've always wanted a Benchmade Stryker with a spearpoint blade and now that it will soon be available, I've been weighing the ups and downs of D2. It seems to be very popular as of late. One of the sales persons at Microtech told me that all of the '07 models might be switching to D2 steel because it was the most available. Thanks for your input and I'd like to hear more.:)
 
I've had good luck with my four D2 knives (all Benchmades). I got my first significant D2 chip recently though, on my Morpho. I wonder if it shipped with the chip...the Morpho has only seen light cutting duty...
 
Unsub said:
A great steel but I would not make a bowie out of it as it is supposed (according to Jerry Busse) be better in smaller knives.
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Don't tell that to Ontario knives. I love my RAT-7 in D2. Sure wouldn't want them to stop making it. ;)

Regards
 
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