Bloody BM D2

[Mariner]

First, without exception, all the :spyder: that I have came pretty sharp out of the box :) . Admittedley, some were sharper than others. The Calypso Jr. was the sharpest out of the box by my reckoning. In any event, when the time came for sharpening, the Sharpmaker with the brown and then the white stones always brought them back to scary sharp although, with S30V, it definitely takes me longer to get there ;) .

I recently purchased a new BM 806D2. Compared to my :spyder: , it was really "unsharp" out of the box. So, in go the brown stones and away I go on the corners, and go, and go, and go ... I don't know what grind BM used but, after several hours (!!!) doing the back bevel, the black felt marker that I used to mark the edge still indicated that I wasn't even getting to the edge let alone raising a burr. Talk about frustrating :mad: . In any event, I've put the 806 back in the box, and order the diamond triangles. Hopefully, they will do the trick. Bloody D2 .... damn hard stuff!

[CKE]

Personally, I HATE D2. I had a bad experience with it and am totally turned off the stuff. With so many other steels out there I don't have to ever worry about D2 :D
I hope the Diamonds work out for ya!!!

[Mariner]

Hmmm.... This is not sounding good :( . How about a heads-up based on your experience? I did a search on the forum for "D2" but nothing came back.

[vampyrewolf]

now lets see what I can do when it gets here...

my first adventure with d2, can't be much worse than 5160 hardened to 60rc.

[Mariner]

now lets see what I can do when it gets here...

my first adventure with d2, can't be much worse than 5160 hardened to 60rc. You gotta respect a man who loves a challenge. Based on your rep, I'll look forward to being able to shave with it :D

[vampyrewolf]

you wanna shave with it? what about taking 3 layers of skin off?

[denn]

Mariner, i have no experience yet with D2, but by the sound of it, it seems similar to 440v in toughness, in that it can be hard to sharpen when dull, on a sharpmaker or similar sharpening-device.

i'd go for some freehanding on benchstones. start with coarse/medium until you get a burr, then swap sides and get rid of the burr. it should be working-sharp by then. to get it sharper, move along to the sharpmaker for the finishing touch.

btw, if you can't get it to work at all, the steel might have been tempered improperly by BM, so it could be a lemon (if the sharpening seems really unreasonable near-impossible). if that's not the case and you start hating the 806, than you can contact me to take it of your hands, either by purchase or trade. yeah, i want one alright :D

good luck!

denn

PS. you could also send it to VW for sharpening (?)

[wotanson]

I've had no problems sharpening D2 with a medium diamond "stone" and finishing with a fine then ultrafine. It is tough stuff and I think the Queen slipjoints I have are a lower RC, so that might be why it's easier.

[vampyrewolf]

denn: I shot a PM at him and made a deal for sharpening it... He pays shipping both ways, unless I can't get it sharp to my satisfaction, then I pay return shipping. That was before I made my post in this thread. :p

[denn]

heheh, cool , you guys actually going to do that? heheh, i was only kidding really :D . good luck, i bet you have it sharp within minutes

[Mariner]

I've had no problems sharpening D2 with a medium diamond "stone" and finishing with a fine then ultrafine. It is tough stuff and I think the Queen slipjoints I have are a lower RC, so that might be why it's easier.Thank you kindly for the information sir. That's encouraging news. I have ordered the diamond triangles for my Sharpmaker with that in mind. Unfortunately, my local vendor won't have them for me for about three weeks. In the interim, my new friend vampyrewolf (who can apparently sharpen a hammer :eek: ), is going to apply his formidable expertise to render its first decent sharpening. I trust that, after his efforts and my acquistion of the diamond trianges, I will be able to keep it sharp in the long term :D .

[Mariner]

heheh, cool , you guys actually going to do that? heheh, i was only kidding really :D . good luck, i bet you have it sharp within minutes Yeh ..., we're actually going to do that denn :D . I admire you guys who have acquired the skill to do a great job sharpening by hand using a stone. It's a skill that I currently do not have, but one that I fully intend to acquire. Maybe I have allowed myself to become too dependent on the Sharpmaker, although it's a great sharpening system.

[vampyrewolf]

I only use my 204 for serrations and REALLY odd shaped knives... usually a pencil with sandpaper wrapped around it does a recurve nicely though.

Coming up on 16yrs of freehand experience, only worn out one stone so far(1200grit whetstone from long before I came around).

[Mariner]

Coming up on 16yrs of freehand experience, only worn out one stone so far(1200grit whetstone from long before I came around).16 years!!! You're making me feel better all the time :D .

I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I have yet to sharpen a serrated edge with the Sharpmaker. All my knives are PE with the exception of the Stretch which is CE. When the day comes that the Stretch requires sharpening, I'll take the plunge :) .

[Joe Talmadge]

D2 is great. D2 with too-thick edge, isn't so great. One of the few times I put away the Sharpmaker and take out the Edge Pro with the newer x-coarse hone, is for something like that.

If you're gonna stick with the Sharpmaker, aside from the diamond hones, you might try some fairly coarse wet/dry sandpaper. It'll do the rough re-profiling fast, and save you some wear life on your diamond hones. If you get frustrated with the diamond hones, you'll start pressing on them too hard, and soon enough -- no diamonds. Do the rough work with sandpaper, laid across the Sharpmaker stones if you want.

Joe

[Mariner]

Thanks for the information and tips Joe. I read your Sharpening FAQ at http://www.bladeforums.com/features/faqsharp.shtml a while back. Good stuff and very helpful. One great thing about being here is the opportunity to learn from those who have significantly more knowledge and skill than I do. In my case, that's almost everybody else :D .

[dialex]

Thanks for the tip Joe.