CPM D2 or W2?

Cameron Wilcox

Well-Known Member
I am going to be buying steel soon and am curious as to which steels I should buy, I am currently deciding between .103"/.140" (haven't decided yet) W2, or .103"/.140" CPM D2.
Just wondering what your preferences are and the reasons behind why you like them.

P.S. they are intended to be general purpose utility knives
thank you
 
I would go W2 because I could heat treat it myself being a carbon steel. W2 has soul and D2 doesn't but D2 has stain resistance.

Presume you're doing stock removal not forging?
 
Those are two very different steels. W2 is a shallow hardening water quenching, though I would recommend oil, steel. D2 is an air quenching steel that is almost stainless. There are too many quenstions left unanswered to really be able to tell you. Firts of all, are you doing stock removal or do you intend to forge? Are you going to do your own heat treatment, and if yes, what equiptment do you have to do it? Do you have a grinder or do you work with hand tools?

Doug
 
I agree with Stew , cpm-D2 can be difficult to work and ht , not something to do if you dont have any experience . where as W-2 is much easier to work and ht, be it stock removal or forging . It makes great knives that are pretty durable .CPM- D2 can be brittle . I wont bother you with the technical aspects . If you dont have HT oven , go with W-2 . it can be worked with a variety of tools
and can be HT in your shop ,and tempered in your kitchen range. depending on your level of knowledge.
 
I am sending out for HT for now, and yes I am using stock removal. I also have a Craftsman 4X42 belt sander for grinding.
Thanks for the information
-Cameron
 
You could to stock removal with D2, especially if you sent it out to someone who is experienced in heat treating it. From what I have read about it, D2 will really eat up the grinding belts. As stated, you would need a digitally controled oven or molten salt tank to heat treat it yourself. It can be forged but it is even more demanding than it is for heat treating and I can't see the purpose of using it. But as you said you do stock removal, it's not an issue here. If you send out the W2 make sure it's to someone experienced with it. Not that it's hard; they just need to know what they're doing.

Doug
 
I am not familiar with using W2, but I use D2 quite often, and if edge holding is an important factor to you, D2 is an excellent steel for edge holding, but as stated above it can be a little brittle, so I would not use it on a large chopper knife, but for hunting, skinning knives and EDC knives it works great when heat treated properly. So if you send it out for HT, I recommend D2. One other downside to D2 is, it is hard to sharpen, when it does get dull.
just my 2 cents worth.Dale
 
A good link is worth a thousand words : confucius ....http://www.diehlsteel.com/products/d-2.html

Steel is the heart of the blade. The search for higher-performance steels has to a number of wonderful materials in recent years. Steel by itself isn't the sole determiner of knife performance, of course. Heat treatment, blade geometry, handle geometry and materials all effect how a knife performs for a particular job. However, those other qualities can be difficult to measure. You can't tell by looking at it how well a blade has been heat-treated, and you can only make educated guesses on how well the blade and handle geometry will work. With steel, however, you can get a full listing of its alloying elements, something measureable and somehow satisfying.

As a result, it's easy to fall into the trap of putting too much emphasis on the steel itself. A knife is more than steel, and it's important not to forget that. In addition, many modern steels perform so well, that knife decisions can often be made based on other factors than marginal increases in steel performance.
 
My input:

If you want a blade that can support a very thin edge, is easy to sharpen, has the ability to be heat treated with a forge and an oven and you dont mind that you will have to sharpen it more often and it will not be stain resistant: W2

If you want a blade that is harder to sharpen, cannot get quite as fine of an edge but is nearly in the stainless range and will keep an edge longer once it is properly sharpened: D2

There is always a compromise. I personally like W2 much better but they both have advantages and disadvantages.
 
I quickly scanned the responses and didn't see another good point about this, thats the cost. If you plan on selling these, the 2 steels aren't aren't the best to compare to each other, the CPM D2 is pretty pricey, while the W2 from Aldo isn't nearly as expensive as any if the CPM steels, if the intended purpose of these knives are beaters, both steel as are good. I would have to facto rin the costs of both, and the prod/cons of each. Check out how much you can get CPM D-2 versus the cost of W2, I think you wil be surprised at the difference. If your going to be selling them, you will either have to price your knives so high no one wil be interested, or make them presents for family and friends. Do keep this in mnd, the main reason most people use W-2 is because it has th eability to produce a WICKED SICK Hamon! And it's holds an edge beautifuly! Sharp as it gets, HT'ing W2 is easy enough to do at home provided you have a kiln, personally I wouldn't do it without one, of course I could take the time to figure out how to get it right in my forge, it is possible, if your forge has an even heat. Since you send yours off anyway, it isn't an issue. BUT, I go right back to costs, most of the HT companies out there will charge more for additional services.

Thought I'd add some other aspects to choosing your steel. I'll also advise you to chck out Aldo Bruno's web site, I think its called, "The New Jersey Steel Baron", if you Google that you should find him. The main reason I recommend him is because he is, I think, the only steel supplier that caters to knife makers, if there is another I don't know who they are. He will sell a single bar or as many as you want. I support him not only because he specifically supports us, he's a great guy too!! Hope this helps in your decision, Rex
 
Rex you are right Aldo saved my life one time .... Just kidding he really does do a good job on providing most of the good makers I know with some mighty fine steels , I know we can get an Amen on that .... Bubba

We need to send him a box of good cigars
 
my plan is so sell some of them, some will be gifts, or just keepers (those with too many mistakes to sell)
I figured they weren't the best to compare but I just didn't know which to buy in General. thanks to you guys I think I'm going to go with 6' of W2 and 8' of 1084 cut into 9" sections from Aldo once i have to money.
thanks for all the help.
-Cameron
 
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