D2 Steel and my Sharpmaker

[SpydercoKnut]

Fellow Spyderco Lovers,
I am in need of advice. In the future I will eventually have to sharpen a knife which has D2 steel. I love this steel and actually prefer it to the newer steels. I have heard that this is a very tough steel to re-sharpen. With my shapmaker, how would I go about sharpening it to get that scary sharp edge it originally came with. Would I just use the white ceramic rods? Would I use the 40 degree or the 30 degree angles it has? Would I just use the flat surfaces of the ceramic stones or the edges or a combination of both. I have viewed the tape and will watch it again in case I missed something. Is it actually possible to bring a dull knife back to the original factory sharpness. Maybe this has been mentioned in a previous post and if it has then please direct me to that forum. Thank you all for making the forums a great place to chat. :D

IF WAR IS ****, TAKE A BETTER PITCHFORK THAN THE DEVIL

[spyken]

d2 is very wear resistant and generally tough to sharpen on just ceramics, unless it's just a touch up w/o reprofiling to 30/40 deg.

if your edge bevel is already 30/40, then it should be ok.

if not, no worries, just get a diamond benchstone / or any medium-coarse benchstone to reprofile, then finish off with the sharpmaker and a strop.

I've never personally been able to get my spydie edges to factory sharp (ie. shaving sharp, evenly ground AND with micro-serrations) but shaving sharp is no problem at all. but then, I'm no sharpening kung fu master. still, I would recommend the sharpmaker - I don't know how I survived without it for so long.

[Sword and Shield]

Once your knife is at either 30 or 40, honing it out on the 204 is easy. Getting it there sucks. I've just convexed my D2 knives, and don't worry about it.

[JDEE]

It depends on the present profile of your D2 knife and how sharp it is. If it is in good order regular maintenance on the sharpmaker will prevent any future problems. If you need to reprofile on the Sharpmaker you can buy the diamond rods which will save you time with dull knives. Used properly the sharpmaker should give you better than factory edges as not many brands are as sharp as Spydies out of the box.

[dialex]

Answered at BF already, but the conclusion is that you can sharpen D2 with the 204 just like any other knife. Just follow the instructions, they'll let you know when to use grays, whites, corners, flats.

[spyken]

email reply sent....

[JD Spydo]

:) :spyder: You need to get the Diamond triangles which go with the 204 Sharpmaker. I had the same problem with my first knife made from CPM S30V.
Depending on how dull it is you need to hit it about 20 strokes on each side with the Diamond triangles. If money is not an object then I highly recommend purchasing a TORMEK unit. Check out http://www.sharptoolsusa.com. :spyder: :)