All About Pocket Knives

Hi gentlemen. The last time I posted on this forum I received such wonderful insight I decided to post once more. I really do appreciate this forum as I can solicit like-minded gents and pick your brains.

I have recently purchased a hunting knife with a D2 blade. Beautiful knife. Well constructed. However, it literally takes hours to get that angle down to 20 degrees and to put that final polished edge on it. Is it just me or is this the norm for this particular steel? And what are y'all's thoughts on D2? Should I stick with it or go for some good ol' 1095? The problem is, I can't seem to find good hunters in high carbon steel anymore. Everything seems to be dad gum stainless. Thanks in advance for the replies.

Hello Richard,

I like D2 as well but as you described its a major event putting an edge on this steel. If memory serves me this steel was first used heavily during the World War I era. There is no doubt that once the edge is achieved it will hold longer than 1095 but I still like the 1095 in its ease of sharpening..

I have had great experience with the RAT brand knives specifically RAT-3 in D2 (as pictured) and 1095 steel in the skinning of furry animals ...Good luck

Sunburst

D2 is a very nice steel. Enough chromium to be "semi-stainless". it takes a really nice edge, and holds it a bit better that traditional carbon steels. The reason your having such "fun" getting an edge on it is the large grain carbides in it. that's what gives it it's edge holding. I've only got one D2 blade floating around, but it can be a bit more resilient to put an edge on than my carbons, but it's to be expected. One of the main points behind D2 is it's wear resistance over other steels.

D2 makes a hard tough blade - depends on the heat treat (air harden steel) and tempering, cryo temper helps shrink grain size but it's still a tough steel. I usually recommend a lansky or other device for D2 so that every stoke is exact. Uless you put an edge on tough steels daily this is the way to go. I have a couple bars of CPM D2 sitting around. This is D2 made with Crucible's Powdered Metal technology. I have a project in mind down the road - next year by the look of things and I look forward to comparing regular D2 with the CPM D2.

Edit: Hours seems a little long. I try to keep mine hair popping sharp and I like D2 at 25 degrees and it doesn't take much to put an edge on it at 59 Rc. Use a high powered loupe to inspect your edge.

I was at Cabela's at Boomtown (or Verdi Nv today) and all the D2 tool steel knives hade either a coated finish or were sand/bead blasted as a hand finish on D2 is a real pain to do.

Thanks for the replies. Great info guys. To ease my pain of sharpening the D2 blade, what are some good options out there for skinning knives with 1095 blades? I look everywhere I go but can't seem to find any. Everything is stainless of some sort.

D2 is one of my favorite steels - 5160 and 52100 are a couple of my favorite carbon steels as well as 1095. Great Eastern made some fixed blades with 1095 as did Moore Maker some time back I believe. I have also skinned out many deer, elk, pigs, and small game with a folding knife. Never tried it with bear though - I figured that would be foolish as the dirt in the fur will dull a knife quickly and you need a strong blade and I also used a hatchet. There are many folding knives out there with 1095 steel and Case CV is a 1095 variant. Queen, Case, Great Eastern, Ontario Knife Co. maybe Moore Maker (Cumberland Knife Works has a couple in 1095 for under $100, I like the bolster model best) or Bear and Son may have something. I skinned many out with a Buck 110 which is not the best tool by far. When carrying a folding knife I also carried a small bone saw in a back pack I always wore while hunting, Gerber makes a decent one as I recall. I have used knives as small as 3 inches closed (Parker Bobcat and stainless) though I don't reccommend it. Went hunting on a whim and just happened to be carrying it, a pain though.

There are a couple stainless steels I like 154 CM, CPM 154, and CPM S30V. I like the 154 CM because it is fairly easy to sharpen compared to the S30V. If you can find a knife made in 0-1 tool steel that's another I like. A 9-3/4 inch knife I made for my brother made short work out of a 700 LB elk and he had no trouble quartering it either using O-1.

I love D2, but many knifemakers won't work with it. Seems Canal Street Cutlery had some D2 knives, maybe they had some 1095 also.

There is actually a lot to chose from. I see that Collectorknives http://www.collectorknives.net/greateastern.html Cumberland Knife Works http://www.cumberlandknifeworks.com/index.php and River Raisin Knife Co have fixed blade knives in 1095 that will fit the bill. I see River Raisin Knife has Bark River knives in 52-100 high carbon steel (52100 is superior to 1095 IMO and was first used as bearing races) 52100 is also used in cutting competition knives. http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... ory_id=917

I recommend looking at the stores we have at AAPK and going through those. All the links I gave are members of AAPK who maintain stores here as well as stand alone sites (some not all). Here is a link to our stores, there are plenty of quality knives that will fit the bill very nicely.

http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/aap ... stores.php There are plenty of high carbon steel fixed blade knives to look at - look at them all and make a list and ask questions about the knives as well as the steels.

Once you get the right edge on D2 it is really not that bad to touch up. I use a diamond coated flat fine stone (Lap-Eze or something like that), then an old german steel. Be careful if you use a short stone. If you go off the edge on a stroke, you will scratch the upper part of the blade. I did this to a coated USA Benchmade before I learned. If I am going to show the knife to someone I will strop it for that little extra. Probably takes 10 minutes tops. The real problem is the first time a new knife gets dull. I never seem to get the same angle as the factory, so it takes some real grinding to get it the way I like it. I bought a seconds knife real cheap with D2 steel. I found out right away why it was a second. The blade had several different angles and bevels. THAT one did take at least an hour. I really like D2 because it will hold an edge way longer than most others, but will admit it is harder to work with. One last note, if you will inlet a piece of wood to your stone and glue it into the wood, it makes the job a lot easier because you are not trying to hold the stone and the knife.
Joe