Your Experiences With Queen's D2?

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Vivi

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Heard a lot on the forums about how people have trouble getting a good, polished edge on D2. This has been contrary to my experience.

I'm curious as to how everyones experiences have been with Queen's D2?

I've had a little bit of experience touching up a D2 Benchmade 710 (Was not pleased with the edge it took, but it was not my knife so I did not reprofile and really go at it) and CPMD2 Spyderco Military knives (Took a wonderful edge easily).

Most my D2 experience is with my Queen #26 stockman. It's honestly one of the easiest knives for me to get very sharp, e.g. hair popping sharpness and above.

Today I was reprofiling the spey and sheepsfoot blades even thinner since at their previous edge angles they could whittle hardwood and slice thick plastic bottles without chipping at the edge. I got hair whittling sharpness off the stone I was reprofiling with, a DMT Extra Course, without even trying hard at all. I took the edge down to where I wanted, then knocked off the burr with edge trailing strokes (Use edge leading when applying my final edges) and checked the edge just for fun. It popped hairs easily. I gave it two light passes on each side, alternating, to refine the edge some using the same extra course diamond hone, then tried hair whittling and did it without any problems. When using my fine stones + a strop it's very, very easy for me to get this level of sharpness, similar in ease to my S30V Para and a little easier than my VG10 Spydercos.

So how are your experiences with Queen's D2? For me it's an absolute pleasure to sharpen. Quick, painless and consistently good results. It has me considering one of their fixed blades.

Also, for those of you with bad D2 sharpening experiences, what knife was it?
 
I own many D2 Queen knives and have never had a problem putting a good polished edge on any of them. I take all of the down to 30 degree inclusive on diamond stones and strop to polish. The complaint I see most often is how bad the initial edge is. It's either not symmetrical or very obtuse. It can take a lot of time to hog off the metal to 15 degrees on each side. Once the labor is done the edge is quite nice and holds for quite a while.
 
I rebeveled a Queen sodbuster a few days ago.

It was a pain to rebevel, but maybe its because I lowered the angle a lot.

Finishing on medium and fine ceramics was really quick and easy too. Seems that with regular touch ups it'll stay nice and sharp.
 
morrowj_98 said:
I own many D2 Queen knives and have never had a problem putting a good polished edge on any of them. I take all of the down to 30 degree inclusive on diamond stones and strop to polish. The complaint I see most often is how bad the initial edge is. It's either not symmetrical or very obtuse. It can take a lot of time to hog off the metal to 15 degrees on each side. Once the labor is done the edge is quite nice and holds for quite a while.
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+1 on that. After I reprofile them the Queens D2 is great. I have 2 light hunters and 2 premium hunters. The premium hunters are a real bargain. It is a good sized hunk of D2 for the price. They are also getting much better on their sheath design. But for the price of the knife I did not mind modifying them a little to hold the knife in place better. The new design eliminates this problem.
 
Queen does a great job with it's D2 heat treat. I have several of their stockmans, congress, and 4180 fixed blade hunters. They take a great edge and hold it almost as long as my Doziers. Both reprofiling and sharpening are quick and easy with my edgepro or dmt stones. I think Queen gives you a lot of bang for the buck - but they do ship fairly dull and thick edged. So you have to put some time in with them, but well worth it.

Soleil,
How did you modify the sheath to be more secure?
 
I have a Queen Whittler. I rebeveled to 30 degrees using a lansky. The small blades were easy the larger blade took some time. After stropping it was very sharp. Cuts thru white pine like butter. I own many knives mostly big folders from Emerson, Spyderco, Zero Tolerance and Lone wolf. My Queen D2 is the sharpest and holds its edge for a long time. My Lone Wolf Ranger is CPM S30V and also takes a very nice edge and holds for a long time. I am very impressed with the quality of my Queen. The bone handles are very nice. If they were sharp from the manufacture I believe more people would buy them.
 
Thin to about 12 degrees per side w/ extra course DMT and maintain with Sharpmaker. Piece of cake.

I've used my 4-blade Congress to cut up a virtual room full of cardboard boxes. Excellent tool for the job.
 
Sodak,

Take a leather punch (hole puncher) and put 3 or 4 holes in the front of the sheath about 1/2" from the top. Punch through both sides and the plastic insert with the holes spaced about an 1/8" apart. Then take leather or paracord lacing and weave it through and tighten up. I usually pull the excess inside of the sheath and leave it in to help hold the knife. You don't need to tie anything off if woven in the right pattern. Make it as tight as needed to hold the knife in. It is kind of hard to explain but easy to do. I ended up with using about 4" of paracord to do it with and there are many different types of lacing patterns that will work. Black para looks good. The leather also looks good if you darken it by oiling before use. I got so fed up with the sheath that experimenting with it was not a problem as I was ready to trash it and find a better one.
 
SOLEIL said:
Sodak,

Take a leather punch (hole puncher) and put 3 or 4 holes in the front of the sheath about 1/2" from the top. Punch through both sides and the plastic insert with the holes spaced about an 1/8" apart. Then take leather or paracord lacing and weave it through and tighten up. I usually pull the excess inside of the sheath and leave it in to help hold the knife. You don't need to tie anything off if woven in the right pattern. Make it as tight as needed to hold the knife in. It is kind of hard to explain but easy to do. I ended up with using about 4" of paracord to do it with and there are many different types of lacing patterns that will work. Black para looks good. The leather also looks good if you darken it by oiling before use. I got so fed up with the sheath that experimenting with it was not a problem as I was ready to trash it and find a better one.
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Thanks Soleil, I'll give this a try. I think I know what you are getting at. I can't tell you how many times the knife has slipped out - but this should fix it!
 
I have a 710 D-2, a Queen Large Stockman, D-2, two Bob Doziers in D-2, and a Spyderco Military in CPM D-2.

None are hard to sharpen, all hold the edge well. All except the Doziers have been reprofiled to 15 degrees per side (30 inclusive) and I have no complaints about any of them. :p

I've never found it necessary to use DMT diamond stones on D-2, although I do strop them with .5 micron diamond paste. Waterstones work fine on D-2. :)

Actually, I like D-2 (and CPM D-2) better than ANY stainless except S90V. :thumbup::thumbup:
 
Let ignore the poor QC that lets out a very good knife with such a poor factory grind.
I always rebevel my Queens when I get them.

I rebevel the blades using the DMT Aligner jig, from extra course thru the four grades to extra fine.
They come off the jig very sharp indeed.
They stay sharp after a lot of use.
I touch up the edge once in a while with a DMT extra fine.

No big deal in sharpening the D2.

(question: What is a polished edge? Is using a DMT extra fine, a polished edge?)
 
neeman said:
(question: What is a polished edge? Is using a DMT extra fine, a polished edge?)
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As you probably know, after you set your bevel and progress though the finer stones, you're polishing. How polished is matter of preference. I think your question is a tough one to answer as opinions will vary widely. Personally, I consider a polished edge one that no longer has any visible grind marks and having a mirror-like finish.
 
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morrowj_98 said:
As you probably know, after you set your bevel and progress though the finer stones, your polishing. How polished is matter of preference. I think your question is a tough one to answer as opinions will vary widely. Personally, I consider a polished edge one that no longer has any visible grind marks and having a mirror-like finish.
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Ditto. For me, it's the 3000 grit tape on my Edgepro.
 
I sharpened a Sodbuster by Queen a few months back. I thinned and rebeveled the edge on an Norton India Combo stone. The factory edge was bad. Why a fine company like Queen sells their knives with such inferior edges I will never understand. I like Queen's D2 as this knive took a fine edge. I also have knives by Tom Krein and Bob Dozier in D2. Excellent knives but I tend to favor Tom's knives now. Love that thin edge!

RKH
 
The Queen Stockman I own shipped blunt and obtuse at the edge. I reprofiled the blades and they cut pretty well now.


 
Vivi, those edges look very coarse. What are you using to sharpen with and is that intentional?
 
I like that they ship them with such bad edges. 90% of folks won't sharpen a knife. Since they are dull, they sell 'em cheap. :)
 
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