anyone have experiance with D2 tool steel knives???

[MTArrowLauncher]

I am wondering what kind of perfromance i should expect from this kind of steel in my knife? Is it going to patina quickly, is it going to rust easily, should i just cut to the chase and slather her with mustardand get it over with, etc etc etc. just wondering what y'all have seen with D2.

thanks
Fin

[statikpunk]

I have had several knives that I have put together out of D2 (enzo blades to be exact).  it is a great steel that sharpens easily and holds the edge well.  yes it will take a natural patina, but not nearly as quickly as say plain ol' tool steel.

I live in the desert and have never had a problem with rusting or any of that.  but with you living in alaska a light coat of gun oil every now and again couldn't hurt

as far as performance, if you enjoy O1 tool steel, you will love D2.  its just as good but keeps it's nice looks a lot longer, and in my experiance holds its edge better, but that depends more on the heat treat.

[sj_lutz]

I've used D2 knives in some VERY humid spots (SE Asia) and never had any rust issues.  Take care of your knife, and it will take care of you.

[pumatrax]

I have several Knives of Alaska D2 knives and really like them...they will stain , but for an all around knife they are great...fairly easy to sharpen and they hold an edge WELL....

[Ringneck]

D-2 is a great steel and all that I use for my knives. For testing purposes, I left my knife bloody and put it in the sheath for 3 days to see how it would react. Washed it off and it looks good as new. It is almost stainless with a pretty high chromium content.

[Ragnarok Forge]

As mentioned close to stainless.  Fairly tough, takes a good edge,  moderately easy to sharpen,  holds an edge well.   D2 is one of many good knife steels out there.

[kbaknife]

That's a fact - D2 is right on the edge of what would classify as stainless.
I'm not surprised there are few complaints about rust and staining.
Heat treated correctly, it can perform exceedingly well.
It's all about the heat treatment.

[Todd Robbins]

I use a self-made camp knife in D-2 a lot.  It's flat ground ot of 3/16" x 1 1/2" and heat treated by Paul Bos.  While I prefer simpler carbon steels, I decided to try D-2 to see how it holds up in the humidity here in coastal Florida.  It really is very rust resistant.  I keep it in a sheath in my truck door, and it seldom gets more than a wipe on my pants leg for cleaning.  In around 6 months of fairly rough treatment, it only has a couple of small spots of discoloration.  It does hold an edge pretty good as well.  It is harder to sharpen than the carbon steels I use, but not quite as hard to sharpen as the super-steels with their high vanadium carbide content.

[Ringneck]

Originally posted by kbaknife:

It's all about the heat treatment.

Exactly, I agree 100% .