Working with D2

The vermiculite did not keep the A2 billet I made from hardening. The forge with the extra mass worked better with the D2 - although that is still very difficult to machine.
The vermiculite might have worked better if I sandwiched the billet between 2 larger heated billets, but either way I am going to sit these D2 & A2 billets off to the side until I get an oven somewhere down the road.

Thank you guys for all the advise throughout the course of this fun and enlightening process. I honestly enjoyed it. I will leave this thread as.... TO BE CONTINUED. It will see its way to completion, just will be a long time until I can afford an oven.

Now if anyone has an oven in their shop that isn't doing anything, or you have a batch of D2/A2 knives you are annealing perhaps I could slip these in and they can be annealed as well? Just let me know so I can arrange some form of compensation for you. This way I can throw the billet on the CNC and finish the process. Good or bad, I intend to finish this. You guys are awesome.
 
I will be annealing a bunch of D2 planer blades coming up soon once I get the oven moved over. I would be happy to slip it in when I do them.
 
I finally got around to writing the last chapter in this... saga as it was. As you all have mentioned it really isn't a good combination, D2/O1. But I can say is that it does "work". It is not impossible to forge weld and make a knife with them.

It did exactly as I had hoped. An easy air quench, and the etch took away from the cladding instead of the blade.
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That being said, there were some.... issues. The issues arise from my inexperience in forging D2. On previous attempts I had the exterior edges of the billet crack. Which I think was from the edges cooling too quickly while I was working the steel. Conversely, molten D2 came shooting out of the billet. Its like my batch of D2 has a very low melting point while the O1 was just fine. Id love for someone to tell me how I melt D2 at forge welding temps. Anyhow I used the less cracked side for the edge, so I dont think the blade itself is entirely compromised. Its not a knife I could sell, nor did I really plan to. It was just an experiment that I have no problem being a beater carry/bush knife.

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The same thing happend with my A2 billet as well. I may turn that into another beater/experimentation knife as well, but I really dont know if I want to waste the time, energy, abrasives, and carbide end mills turning it into a knife.

These openings happened during the forge welding process, and were present during normalization and annealing, so I am not worried about the blade. So this is my first and LAST attempt putting D2 in a forge.

open season still on stock removal though.... The rampmaster has proved quite useful for this process.

Hope anyone learns from this mess. YEA its POSSIBLE, But that doesnt mean you should. Thanks for all the input over the months.
 
First time I forge welded D2 to 303 stainless I also had the D2 go liquid. I think but can't be positive that D2 was way over heated ;)
 
honestly, that shit terrified me. I was fortunate it shot out the side, and into a hollow spot on my press. It also shot in the direction of my 100 lbs propane tank. Fortunately the forge was also inbetween it to block it.

I have a homemade forge press, so it comes down quick. I had ZERO safety equipment on at the time, and if that molten steel would have hit me, it would have been napalm and burrowed into my skin and id be making a very different post. Or if it hit my propane tank I may not have been around to post at all.

BE CAREFUL PUTTING D2 in a forge press!!!
 
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