Queen's D2 is a real PITA to sharpen!

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JTR357

JTR357

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I've been working on the edge of Queen utility knife on & off for about 4 days & can NOT get this darn thing sharp!I've been using the sharp maker 30 degree(15 degree), AND I've been using the coarse diamond rods?!?I must've done hundreds of passes by now.What the heck number is this stuff hardened to?
This thing came as dull as a butter knife.

I've sharpened ZDP-189(same method),& it wasn't this hard to get a good edge.

DSCI0609.jpg


I used the sharpie on the edge,to see what I'm removing(not much).I'm NOT pressing hard on the rods,so it isn't that.

What am I doing wrong?:confused:


Thanks for any help.


P.S. RichardJ,If I can't get a good edge on this,expect it in your mailbox soon;).I'd really rather learn myself though.
 
"What am I doing wrong?"

I strongly suspect nothing. That is the nature of this type of steel in my opinion. I have found that even when D2 is sharp enough to shave my arm hairs it just doesn't feel like it is when I run my finger tip over it.
Even a Dozier knife in D2 which came hair popping sharp, though it was hair popping sharp in reality, I still couldn't feel that flesh bite when running my finger ever so very gently across the blade.

There is a saying D2 takes a dull edge and holds it forever. When I do give these knives a more pressure than I would ever dare with my finger tip such as cutting boxes it will just slice through them with little effort.

The nature of this steel does not give me as much feedback as other steels when sharpening, at least not as fast but I find once the edge is there maintaining it is not that hard.
 
:thumbup:Thanks greater,Yea I noticed when I did the thumb nail test,it DID grab the nail like a sharp knife.It still doesn't push cut regular printing paper though.You're right about the 'flesh bite' though.I feel like I could run my finger right down the edge without a cut,but I won't:eek:;).
 
I believe you ar experiencing a "wire edge" , this is typical on D2 and other wear resistant tool steels.

You really need a 10x eye loop to see the wire edge,,,, I use a 75watt desk lamp to concentrate the light on the edge and it pops out very clearly.

Some steels are very stubborn with wire edge removal,,,, one method is to lighten up you pressure and alternate 5-10 passes reversing the blade at every pass. Next,,,, take some soft wood like pine and only using "end grain" run the edge through the wood,,,,,, inspect again witht he 10x loop and you will see progress.

D2 steel is well worth the effort to sharpen, it holds the edge for a very long time and is tough steel. One of my favorites.

If you want the ultimate edge,,,, use a hard leather strop with CrO compound, the stones you are using are not very fine.

Regards,
FK
 
I just sharpened a 710 in D2 and had many problems with the ceramics. It was strange because I usually don't see this with D2 but the ceramics were chipping the edge. I had to switch to my sandpaper and lapping film to finish. From your pic it looks like you are having the same problem.
 
FK said:
use a hard leather strop with CrO compound, the stones you are using are not very fine.
Click to expand...

+1 on the loaded strop.
I used my lansky at the lowest setting, 17 degrees I believe, on my D2 Queen Trapper. I put noticable wear on the coarse stone by the time I was done getting the initial bevel set on both blades. I then progressed to the medium stone, spending a long time getting the bevel just right. Then with the fine stone I just watched for the edge to stop getting more polished looking and went to the loaded strop. I finished it with too many strokes to count on the strop and now have near mirror polished, hair popping edges that stay sharp a LONG time between stroppings.
I literally spent hours getting both blades finished. I am still not sure it's really worth it, but I went from liking, to loving the knife as a result.
 
I've never had any problem sharpening Queen's D2, or any other D2 I've had for that matter.

My Queens all came with really thick edges -- like about 50 degrees. Sharpmaker rods didn't come anywhere near the edge when I first treid it. I suspect that's what's happening to you. I thinned the blades using an extra course DMT -- to about 12 degrees per side. Finished with Sharpmaker followed by stropping. Upkeep is simple since I'm working with a microbevel.

Spyderco diamond rods are not very course -- something like 330 grit. Even 100 strokes may not have ground that wide shoulder down, especially if you're trying to do it at 30 degrees.

Anyway, confirm all of this with the Sharpie trick. Mark both edges with a Sharpie so they're good and black. Go back to the Sharpmaker and do about 10 strokes per side on the grey rods. You'll be able to see where the stone is hitting, edge or not.

Good luck.
 
I don't think you are likely to get a burr with D2. It is hard rather than ductile and a burr would tend to fall apart as it formed. The large hard carbides that make it wear resistant can make the edge break apart as you hone. That will happen if you use a comparatively coarse hone at a low honing angle. It may be that the diamond rod is just too coarse for this steel at 15 degrees. If that is the problem you might do better using them at 20 degrees (very lightly). In any case hone lightly alternating sides and ONLY USE THE FLATS OF THE RODS. The edges of the diamond rods are sure to demolish the edge.

I would start by painting the side of the edge with black marker ink (the Sharpee method) and hone carefully and see what is happening. Are you really getting all the way up to the edge? Is the basic problem the amount of work required to reprofile that obtuse factory edge? Is the edge being reached, but is breaking down. I like to finish an edge like this with an ultra-fine diamond bench hone. That seems to shape the carbides some without ripping them out. You might need to put on a 20-degree microbevel to be compatible with this D2. I don't have good luck doing this with just the ceramic rods. It might help to finish with a few strokes on a hard loaded strop. I like photographic paper with 1 micron diamond paste on top of a pad of paper. Softer stropping compounds don't seem to work as well on D2.
 
All my Queens arrived dull and all were a pain to sharpen. :mad:

I had the most success using a Lansky clamp with a DMT diamond hone to reshape the edge. After the edge was reprofiled, a few strokes on the Sharpmaker at 40 degrees was all it took to maintain the edge.
 
The main clip blades on my D2 stockman and whittler were both so thick behind the edge that I eventually gave up and thinned the blades on a belt sander. Once I got them down to 0.015" behind the bevel (from the original 0.065"), I didn't have any trouble getting them as sharp as I wanted. Before that, even when they were shaving sharp they didn't cut worth a damn.
 
Queen D2 blades factory profile, as mentioned are thick. It is labor intensive with a sharpmaker even w/ diamond triangles (though a lot better than w/o) lol the first time I played with a Queen D2, I started to doubt my sharpening ability:eek: But it is well worth the 'Labor of love".
 
PM me with your address, I'll send you a Queen with a proper edge. Once you get them properly thinned out, it only takes a minute or two to put an edge on them that will scare the @#$@# out of you. I don't know where that saying about D2 comes from, it's been my experience that it takes a fantastic edge, and holds it a very, very long time.

Then you can decide for yourself if it's worth the time to put into it. Check out the other D2 sharpening thread also.
 
greater said:
"What am I doing wrong?"

I strongly suspect nothing. That is the nature of this type of steel in my opinion. I have found that even when D2 is sharp enough to shave my arm hairs it just doesn't feel like it is when I run my finger tip over it.
Click to expand...

I've noticed this too. I have only one D2 knife, a Paramilitary, but I've sharpened my buddies' D2 knives. Before I got my Edgepro sharpening D2 took a while and I always needed to start down a grit compared to other steels.
 
:thumbup:I can't even begin to thank all of you for your expert advice & tips.

I'm going to use the sharpie method & start to use the 20 degree setting,see if I can get any better results that way.I'm getting used to getting my Cases CV's out of the box & immediately bringing them down to a 15 degree edge(fairly easy BTW).I see now that's not really going to be feasible with Qn's D2.I'm not really interested in getting ANY KNIFE "Hair whittling sharp"(unless I'm shaving with it).It's just not practical for my normal EDC use(I prefer a 'toothy' edge,as opposed to a 'highly polished' edge for EDC).If I can push(not slice) cut paper (just regular printing paper),that's plenty good enough for me.


Thanks,
 
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