What's Almost D2?

[Scott Free]

I've made a couple of small knives with D2 steel. I like the patina that I can get with a carbon steel, and I like the almost stainless rust-resistant nature of D2. And while I like the edge-holding of D2, I don't like the difficulty of sharpening. So--what comes close...if anything? Is there a carbon steel that is a bit easier to sharpen than D2 but doesn't rust as easily as O1. How's A2 stack up? Any others?

Scott

 

[nozh2002]

I've made a couple of small knives with D2 steel. I like the patina that I can get with a carbon steel, and I like the almost stainless rust-resistant nature of D2. And while I like the edge-holding of D2, I don't like the difficulty of sharpening. So--what comes close...if anything? Is there a carbon steel that is a bit easier to sharpen than D2 but doesn't rust as easily as O1. How's A2 stack up? Any others?

Scott

What are you using for sharpening and what does mean by difficulty of sharpening?
I have Spyderco Sharpmaker and it always work on all steels ZDP189, CPM S90V, M2 - all of them not harder then ceramic and easyly sharpen to hair popping condition.

Thanks, Vassili.

 

[Gossman Knives]

Any carbon steel is going to be prone to rust. To answer your question A2 would probably be a good choice but keep in mind A2 does rust.
Scott

 

[Cliff Stamp]

What are you using for sharpening and what does mean by difficulty of sharpening?

It usually refers to machinability, D2's is low. This should have little to no influence on ease of sharpening however.

-Cliff