3V vs D2 edge retention?

S

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I did toe to toe edge retention battle against E EatingSarma today.

We cut some carpet, I used 3V Mini Pendleton, and he had that D2 Boker Gobag.
We used same portion of the blade.

12 cuts and my knife would no longer cut paper while it took 16 cuts for his blade to no longer cut paper.
Mini Pendleton is thinner behind the edge than Gobag, and is also bit thinner overall, meaning it should have the advantage.

So I had EatingSarma sharpen both blades back to shaving sharp again (he is bit better at sharpening highly wear resistant steels than I am).

Results after sharpening are next:
3V: 14 cuts
D2: 19 cuts

Is 3V supposed to be less wear resistant than D2? Would 3V do better on some other test medium?
I'm just hoping that this doesn't mean heat treat is bad.
 
3v is much much tougher than d2... so that essentially makes sense

d2 can chip if you're not careful or if the heat treatment is a bit off... 3v is very forgiving
carpet is very thick/rough stuff... the d2 can have a tendency to develop 'micro-serrations', which is why many people like it for work

to answer your question directly - @Larrin tested both of them, and d2 does indeed score better than 3v, but only a little bit
(personally, I'd choose 3v over d2 for the toughness)

from https://knifesteelnerds.com/2020/05/01/testing-the-edge-retention-of-48-knife-steels/
CATRA-4-27-2020-2.jpg
 
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I did the same test with M390 Viper Berus 1 and it seems M390 blows both of them out of the water regarding edge retention.

It went to 26 and would still cut paper. I stopped just because I never sharpened M390 so I didn't want to get it really dull.

It turns out it takes an edge pretty easily for how resistant it is. It's a pleasant surprise.
Few minutes and it's back to razor. I really like that stuff.
 
As someone who broke over 10 knives I'm all for toughness, but these are small fixed blade knives used for EDC.

Boker and Pendleton have 7-8cm long blade, and Viper is under 7cm (under 3 inches). They won't really be used for chopping or similar activities, so I'd say even D2's toughness is sufficient.

However, Warcraft Tanto in 3V is a great chopper, and can also be used to punch holes through stuff if you need it. I just love 3V for large blades.
 
Toughness can translate into more acute edge, which translates into better edge retention AFAIK. So I would prefer 3V to D2. Plus, 3V has finer structure, it is more easy to sharpen.
 
kobold said:
Toughness can translate into more acute edge, which translates into better edge retention AFAIK. So I would prefer 3V to D2. Plus, 3V has finer structure, it is more easy to sharpen.
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I agree with that.

But I think the OP simply asked because he was scared that his 3V has got a bad heat treat.

At the same angle D2 seems to outperform 3V when it comes to edge retention. At least when it comes to cutting carpet.

3V is waaay tougher than D2 and has much finer grain, but for small fixed blades there's not much it can offer over D2 for intended purposes of those small knives.

D2 GoBag costs literally a fraction of the price of 3V Mini Pendleton, you won't baton a 3 inch blade or use it as a chopper so I don't think D2 is something to frown at for such a small knife, especially considering it cost me less than 20€.

For 20€ it is what it is, it's a knife I used for EDC for a while and it served me well, I still sometimes use it when I go to places where I might lose my Viper...
 
I would still prefer a tough steel like 3V in a small and thin blade over D2. I would also prefer most if not all PM steels over D2. IIRC XHP is kinda powdered D2 and it is in the 2mm thick blade of the Chaparral. I am not sure I would trust a Chaparral with a 2mm D2 blade as much.
 
kobold said:
I would still prefer a tough steel like 3V in a small and thin blade over D2. I would also prefer most if not all PM steels over D2. IIRC XHP is kinda powdered D2 and it is in the 2mm thick blade of the Chaparral. I am not sure I would trust a Chaparral with a 2mm D2 blade as much.
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CPM-D2 is the particle version of D2. XHP has 30% more Chromium to make it stainless.
 
I still find it kind of amazing that a "grandpa" such as good old D2 can beat a modern powdered super steel such as 3V at edge retention while sporting about the same corrosion resistance.

3V is way better steel (and my personal favorite), and way tougher than D2...
But D2 is so much older and costs a fraction of the price you'll pay for 3V.
 
I just want to know if HT is off on my 3V knife, because if we consider the edge geometry this 3V shouldn't be outperformed by D2
 
Smiling said:
I just want to know if HT is off on my 3V knife, because if we consider the edge geometry this 3V shouldn't be outperformed by D2
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I bought a set of Tsubosan files to test steel hardness with. They are not a perfect test but they will at least tell me if a steel is in the ballpark of what the steel is supposed to be. They seem to be pretty accurate too. And the blades I have bought, that I know what the hardness is supposed to be, have all tested between the files that they are supposed to test between.
For instance, my Kershaw Launch 1 with CPM-154 steel is supposed to have a hardness between 58-60Rc. My 60Rc file bit into the steel and my 55Rc file skated on the steel. So that's a good indication that the steel in my Launch 1 is where it's supposed to be.

Files-Rc-1a.jpg
 
kobold said:
Toughness can translate into more acute edge, which translates into better edge retention AFAIK. So I would prefer 3V to D2. Plus, 3V has finer structure, it is more easy to sharpen.
Click to expand...
Yes, one can get D2 pretty sharp with a diamond sharpener, but even then it seems to end up lacking the kind of "toothy" sharpness I like in what I use a knife for. Maybe it's just me.
 
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EatingSarma said:
but for small fixed blades there's not much it can offer over D2 for intended purposes of those small knives.
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I agree completely. In smaller blade lengths, I have not found any substantial differences in toughness/edge retention for the tasks I use a smaller knife for. On larger blades however, I much prefer 3V.
 
Good toughness prevents chipping, not just catastrophic failure.

Interestingly there are tougher versions of D2, PSF27 (spray-formed as in Bradley Bowie) and CPM D2. Would be interesting to see where they are in the comparison.
 
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