I have 3 different Kubey knives in D2 I’ve sent to Peter’s for hardness testing. None were close to 62 like the Begg knife. They were 58.1, 58.4, and 58.7. If you know much about the “recommended” HRC for D2, it’s 62. Those were in D2 though, so obviously not Kubey’s 14C like you have there. But I’m thinking if Kubey runs their D2 so low, they probably also run their 14C pretty low. I’ve sent out probably 20 Chinese budget knives in D2 so far and none have been even higher than 59, with the exception of a Defcon JK titanium flipper which was 62.7!!! That Defcon is also, hands down, the very best (fit and finish, ergos , edge retention, action, etc…) and most expensive of the Chinese budget knives I sent out. Just something to think about. Great video! I love the testing you do!
That’s why I prefer blades in CTS XHP. Seems manufacturers are more consistent in the heat treat than D2. Seems also that Bob Dozier is one of the few that heat treats D2 right.
S35vn will soon be the new New 14c. Year or two the 70-90 dollar Knife market will be flooded with s35vn like it is 14c now. I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see China budget knives in s35vn even down in the 60 dollar range.
That wouldn't surprise me at all. 154cm is already showing up in a lot of budget knives. You even see M390 showing up in knives in the $100 range from time to time.
Agree with you. Both steels have a good edge retention and after little strope they recover the original edge. D2 is a little more hard to lower the angle than 14c. About corrosion, I live in Miami, very close to the ocean and all my D2s are perfect. Maybe if you are a fisherman or live in a boat...
Key west here and I've never had issues with d2 corrosion. Even out on the boat I've never had anything more then a few little specks form jf I don't wipe the blade off after cutting bait, rigging ect ect. I wipe all my nonstainless steels down once a week when I'm using them with bees wax and I've never had a issue. Even steels like maxamet, zmax, rex76/121 I've never had a issue with. I carry a k390 manbug on my Keychain and it maybe gets a wipe down with bees wax once a month or so and it's slightly darkend over the 2 years or so I've had it but it's not got any pitting or corrosion just a slight darkening from the patina that's formed.
KW? Not sh*t?! That's so cool. As far as rust goes, I just don't see it as a concern for anyone who takes reasonable precautions ... unless we're talking about 1095 or something along those lines. I've got a few spots on my Maxamet PM2 blade, but it doesn't bother me.@@EDCandLace
I wonder how much the higher hardness of the D2 affects that particular blade in comparison to other D2 blades. I think it was LTK that pointed out that most Chinese D2 was harder than the American stuff but performed about the same.
I've tested quite a few China d2 in the 62ish range and a few down in the 59-60 range and typically only see about a 10% increase in edge retention on cardboard with the harder d2. I had some Efengrow D2 that was 62.8 (tested by a large local machine shop I'm friends with the owner of on a large commercial hardness tester) and ganzo d2 at 60.5 out cut it. There's more to it then the hardness but on average the harder d2 will have a slight edge retention advantage. Where I notice the biggest difference in harder d2 vs softer d2 is not so much in performance but rather in sharpening. Harder d2 sharpens up significantly nicer and easier then softer gummy d2 and the harder d2s strop back better and more times then softer d2s will.
I have 3 different Kubey knives in D2 I’ve sent to Peter’s for hardness testing. None were close to 62 like the Begg knife. They were 58.1, 58.4, and 58.7. If you know much about the “recommended” HRC for D2, it’s 62. Those were in D2 though, so obviously not Kubey’s 14C like you have there. But I’m thinking if Kubey runs their D2 so low, they probably also run their 14C pretty low.
I’ve sent out probably 20 Chinese budget knives in D2 so far and none have been even higher than 59, with the exception of a Defcon JK titanium flipper which was 62.7!!! That Defcon is also, hands down, the very best (fit and finish, ergos , edge retention, action, etc…) and most expensive of the Chinese budget knives I sent out. Just something to think about.
Great video! I love the testing you do!
That’s why I prefer blades in CTS XHP. Seems manufacturers are more consistent in the heat treat than D2. Seems also that Bob Dozier is one of the few that heat treats D2 right.
S35vn will soon be the new New 14c. Year or two the 70-90 dollar Knife market will be flooded with s35vn like it is 14c now. I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see China budget knives in s35vn even down in the 60 dollar range.
i love S35vn, gets super sharp.
That wouldn't surprise me at all. 154cm is already showing up in a lot of budget knives. You even see M390 showing up in knives in the $100 range from time to time.
Agree with you. Both steels have a good edge retention and after little strope they recover the original edge.
D2 is a little more hard to lower the angle than 14c.
About corrosion, I live in Miami, very close to the ocean and all my D2s are perfect. Maybe if you are a fisherman or live in a boat...
No kidding! I'm also in Miami ... and have no problem with corrosion.
Key west here and I've never had issues with d2 corrosion. Even out on the boat I've never had anything more then a few little specks form jf I don't wipe the blade off after cutting bait, rigging ect ect. I wipe all my nonstainless steels down once a week when I'm using them with bees wax and I've never had a issue. Even steels like maxamet, zmax, rex76/121 I've never had a issue with. I carry a k390 manbug on my Keychain and it maybe gets a wipe down with bees wax once a month or so and it's slightly darkend over the 2 years or so I've had it but it's not got any pitting or corrosion just a slight darkening from the patina that's formed.
Just a little maintenance and your blade will last years in good condition @@EDCandLace
KW? Not sh*t?! That's so cool. As far as rust goes, I just don't see it as a concern for anyone who takes reasonable precautions ... unless we're talking about 1095 or something along those lines. I've got a few spots on my Maxamet PM2 blade, but it doesn't bother me.@@EDCandLace
I wonder how much the higher hardness of the D2 affects that particular blade in comparison to other D2 blades. I think it was LTK that pointed out that most Chinese D2 was harder than the American stuff but performed about the same.
I've tested quite a few China d2 in the 62ish range and a few down in the 59-60 range and typically only see about a 10% increase in edge retention on cardboard with the harder d2. I had some Efengrow D2 that was 62.8 (tested by a large local machine shop I'm friends with the owner of on a large commercial hardness tester) and ganzo d2 at 60.5 out cut it. There's more to it then the hardness but on average the harder d2 will have a slight edge retention advantage. Where I notice the biggest difference in harder d2 vs softer d2 is not so much in performance but rather in sharpening. Harder d2 sharpens up significantly nicer and easier then softer gummy d2 and the harder d2s strop back better and more times then softer d2s will.