Benchmade 710 D2

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Rubicon63

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Feb 6, 2010
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I bought a BM710 D2 about a week ago. I had a question for the group. I found that this is not a true stainless steel. It looks like it has a pretty high chromium count and the carbon count is not much higher than say a S30V. My question is has anyone had their 710 rust up? I wipe my blades down with Rem Oil at least once a week. I love this blade and the Axis lock. It is one of my self defense blades and will not see any type of work cutting. I read on wiki that steels need at least 10.00 of chromium to be considered stainless and if that's the case why is this not considered a stainless steel? Benchmade makes some really expensive auto's and bali's out of D2 so I can't imagine it's very rust prone. Thank you for your thoughts......
 
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Actually I think that the cutoff for "stainless" is 13% Cr, but D2 has 12%. So it's close to stainless.

It's not going to rust if you care for it well, which it sounds like you do.
 
Pretty much all steels can rust but if you just put a little bit of oil on them you don't have to worry.
 
You'd probably have to leave it in a vat of salt water for weeks before it rusted beyond the point of repair-heck maybe not even then.

So long as you take care of it, which you are, no worries.

I love my 710.
 
Mine is black coated no issues. I only have two D2 blades 710 and a Kabar Dozier Thorn. Both are amazing in the edge-holding department but both are coated so rust hasn't been an issue here.
 
I should add that the 710 I have is the plain satin finish not the black coated one. Thank you for all of your replies....
 
Yea, the wikipedia is wrong there. The cutoff is somewhere between 12 and 14 for stainless, as there is some disagreement as to the precise amount. The trick is the chromium has to be "free". It cannot be tied up in chromium carbides, which is exactly where it is in D2. For S30V, the chromium is mostly free because there is vanadium to bond with the carbon, which leaves the chromium alone to do its thing with stain resistance.
 
Rubicon63 said:
I bought a BM710 D2 about a week ago. I had a question for the group. I found that this is not a true stainless steel. It looks like it has a pretty high chromium count and the carbon count is not much higher than say a S30V. My question is has anyone had their 710 rust up? I wipe my blades down with Rem Oil at least once a week. I love this blade and the Axis lock. It is one of my self defense blades and will not see any type of work cutting. I read on wiki that steels need at least 10.00 of chromium to be considered stainless and if that's the case why is this not considered a stainless steel? Benchmade makes some really expensive auto's and bali's out of D2 so I can't imagine it's very rust prone. Thank you for your thoughts......
Click to expand...

You are right. D2 is much less stain resistant than a typical "stainless steel". It doesn't quite meet the chromium level requirements for a "stainless steel", but it has much more chromium and is therefore much more corrosion resistant than an alloy steel such as A2, to say nothing of a pure carbon steel such as 1095.

"Stainless steel" is well named. It stains less. It is not stain free (with maybe the exception of H1) They all rust given the proper or rather improper environment.

If you don't want the D2 to develop patina, or surface corrosion, it requires a bit of care. But with a modicum of care it will not "rust up" to the point where it won't function.
 
personally i do'nt concern myself with the surface rust on most of blade. i keep the edge clean. ive used d2 for many yrs. & never had enough problem to interfere with function.1095 is a favorite of mine & never has rusted, clean & dry your blades immediately after use --no rust
 
I have used my 710D2 on fruit and veggies without any issues. The only thing that did cause a stain (not rust, just a stain) was a mango.
 
Thank you all for the advice. I sounds like my 710 D2 will be as shiny as the day it came out of the box as long as I keep some oil on it and don't cut any mangos!
 
Like people have mentioned before just keep it oiled down and you wont have any problems, I have never had any rust issues with my 710 D2 knife, the only steel I have had a problem with a spot of rust showing up on is my benchmade 760 M4 steel.. I wiped it down with oil and the spot rubbed right out and have never had another issue with it..
 
me2 said:
Yea, the wikipedia is wrong there. The cutoff is somewhere between 12 and 14 for stainless, as there is some disagreement as to the precise amount. The trick is the chromium has to be "free". It cannot be tied up in chromium carbides, which is exactly where it is in D2. For S30V, the chromium is mostly free because there is vanadium to bond with the carbon, which leaves the chromium alone to do its thing with stain resistance.
Click to expand...

Thank you. I always wondered about this.:)

BTW: REM OIL is good stuff.
 
D-2 folders rust in my pocket especially in the summer. I have taken all my D-2 blades as well as my carbon steel blades out of circulation especially in the summer. Some guys who aren't as sweaty as I am can get away with D-2 carry. Some carry oily rags around to wipe the blade down. I can't abide an oily rag in my pocket. So you could say I am a flat out stainless carry guy.
 
I have a 710 D-2. D-2 is an air hardening "tool" steel, and IMHO, is far superior to most (not all) true stainless steels.

I've never had rust issues with any of my dozen or so D-2 blades.
 
No rust on my D2 Queens nor Spyderco. I have seen a little patina and discoloring happen, but it looks bluish, so I think it is nice looking. I live in So. Cal, so the climate is friendly to steel, except for this winter! We actually had some rain.
 
I carried mine on both Canadian coasts, which are reasonably humid places, and in the summer I probably sweat on it a bit. I never gave it one iota of special treatment. No rust yet, not even a patina.
 
Mine looks fine and I have used it on many fruits and veg's. And yes, I have cut many dreaded mangos. Just wash the blade off when your done. Or if your gross like me, you can lick it clean :D
 
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