CPM D2 and I like my knife

J

JamesofArc

Joined
Apr 19, 2016
Messages
310
I am hooked on D2 because it's as good as any super steel but more affordable

Is anybody using CPM D2 as their main knife blade choice? Not talking custom shops but bigger manufacturers.

What are your three favorite knives to have if you can have only three and it's time to permanently bug out.

For me I like.......

#1 - My BokerPlus Vox Rold in D2 and G10 handle material. It's hard to not like this knife but when it's time to cut lots of hide and thick meat it's imposable to not like it. Cuts all day long and when your done just wipe it off and maybe hone it a few strokes and your ready for tomorrow.

#2 - Steel Will Cuttack in D2. Just got mine a few days age but I know already this is the only single blade pocket knife I want. The designer is too perfect to need anything else and it is very lite to carry, hardly even know I am wearing it.

#3 - A good medium or large Stockman. A good stockmen will clean all my smaller and medium game. This is a great knife design by guys who used knives daily 100 years ago. Right now I am carry one in 1095 but I want to get one in D2 but with Queens Cutlery going south the price has jumped but I will get one soon. But regardless, the Stockman is a must have.
 
JamesofArc said:
I am hooked on D2 because it's as good as any super steel but more affordable

Is anybody using CPM D2 as their main knife blade choice? Not talking custom shops but bigger manufacturers.

What are your three favorite knives to have if you can have only three and it's time to permanently bug out.

For me I like.......

#1 - My BokerPlus Vox Rold in D2 and G10 handle material. It's hard to not like this knife but when it's time to cut lots of hide and thick meat it's imposable to not like it. Cuts all day long and when your done just wipe it off and maybe hone it a few strokes and your ready for tomorrow.

#2 - Steel Will Cuttack in D2. Just got mine a few days age but I know already this is the only single blade pocket knife I want. The designer is too perfect to need anything else and it is very lite to carry, hardly even know I am wearing it.

#3 - A good medium or large Stockman. A good stockmen will clean all my smaller and medium game. This is a great knife design by guys who used knives daily 100 years ago. Right now I am carry one in 1095 but I want to get one in D2 but with Queens Cutlery going south the price has jumped but I will get one soon. But regardless, the Stockman is a must have.
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I know Brous was doing most his knives in d2 at one point. Don’t know if that is still true. Lionsteel also has several d2 knives, generally the aluminum versions of the sr1 family. I believe their Daghettas are d2 as well. Dustarr is a company that makes military style fixed blades out of d2. They make outstanding knives.

I personally love d2. I find that once you get it sharp as long as you touch it up and don’t let it get too dull it is a great steel to work with.

Also is there a cpm version of d2? I haven’t seen it being used, just ingot d2.

 
James....


The steel never caught on with manufactures....of course custom makers will still use it...
The only manufacture that I was aware of is Spyderco that used it on a run of military and para military knives
 
CTS-XHP is basically a powdered D2 steel. Seems to me to be finer-grained than S30V and easier to sharpen. I also like the D2 in my Dozier and my Benchmades.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
I thought Crucible had discontinued CPM D2.
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JamesofArc said:
I am hooked on D2 because it's as good as any super steel but more affordable

Is anybody using CPM D2 as their main knife blade choice? Not talking custom shops but bigger manufacturers.

What are your three favorite knives to have if you can have only three and it's time to permanently bug out.

For me I like.......

#1 - My BokerPlus Vox Rold in D2 and G10 handle material. It's hard to not like this knife but when it's time to cut lots of hide and thick meat it's imposable to not like it. Cuts all day long and when your done just wipe it off and maybe hone it a few strokes and your ready for tomorrow.

#2 - Steel Will Cuttack in D2. Just got mine a few days age but I know already this is the only single blade pocket knife I want. The designer is too perfect to need anything else and it is very lite to carry, hardly even know I am wearing it.

#3 - A good medium or large Stockman. A good stockmen will clean all my smaller and medium game. This is a great knife design by guys who used knives daily 100 years ago. Right now I am carry one in 1095 but I want to get one in D2 but with Queens Cutlery going south the price has jumped but I will get one soon. But regardless, the Stockman is a must have.
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The problem is the CPM process bumps the price up to everything else so it wouldn't be your favorite anymore since price to performance ratio is the reason you stated you like it so much.
 
LG&M said:
First we would have to agree on what a super steel is.
I also like D2
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True. If we are going to compare D2 to all "super steels" it should also be stated how we are comparing them.
 
I have 3 knives in CPM D2. All from Protech. Amazing steel, and heat treatment. Easier to sharpen than non PM D2, yet it holds just as good of an edge, and holds an even better high sharpness edge. Perfect EDC steel!!! IMO I bought my first, immediately after, bought another, then a backup for that one. Love them! Would love to have a fixed blade in CPM D2
 
Your broker and cut jack are not the cpm variant of d2. And d2 isn't a super steel like other super steel. It keeps an edge well but it's only just better than say vg10 class of steel give or take. It's certainly better than most budget steel.

Alot of d2 from China isn't even d2 and often poorly heat treated.
 
JamesofArc said:
I am hooked on D2 because it's as good as any super steel but more affordable.
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I agree, but I don't have any currently. They just don't make of the knives I want in D2 anymore. I'd love a custom Mini Crooked River if it gets added to the custom shop at some point.

It may not be as good as any super steel, but it's pretty damn close with a good HT. 95% performance for 50% cost. Never a bad deal.
 
I love D2 for the value but I don't know that I would call it a super steel. However, it is my favorite steel when budget is a concern and I don't need a ton of lateral toughness. I don't know if there is a big difference from ingot or cpm D2 in use.

My current fave in D2 is a tak-1 with spalted scales I found on the forums a while back. Nice bushcraft style
Next is a little wharn stinger and/ little drop stinger from hardedge knives that were affordable, very useful EDC sized fixed blades.
R2D2 is probably in my future.
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covers the: main fixed (dirty), little fixed/ cooking (clean), backup folder/utility functions I usually diversify with in the woods.
 
I believe that too many people don't know what tool steel is. I believe many think it's just a category like stainless or carbon steel but tool steel is a working steel. Lots of people here have not been in the manufacturing business and do not understand that tool steel is what machines use to make parts. D2 is generally used to stamp out steel and other metals parts. You set up a punch press using D2 steel as the punch and you will punch out many thousands of holes in that steel part. Stuff like M390 is just a high end stainless and would go flat after the first or second hole.
I hope some of us knife guys understand it better so we can ask for better knives at affordable prices. Why do I need a M390 blade for $150 bucks when I can get a D2 blade for $40 and it will do everything the M390 will do.
 
IMHO properly heat treated D2 or 440C are better options for knife blades than these newer generation Specialized Steels that were never designed for knife
use but for industrial purposes.
Just another marketing gimmick to separate the consumer from their money.
 
I like D2 and A2.

I also like turtles....

Mo2 said:
Your broker and cut jack are not the cpm variant of d2. And d2 isn't a super steel like other super steel. It keeps an edge well but it's only just better than say vg10 class of steel give or take. It's certainly better than most budget steel.
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Might not be what you mean, but are you saying, that in your opinion, D2 only holds an edge marginally longer than VG10?
 
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