How About D2 Steel VS 8Cr13MoV Steel

What is D2 Steel?

D2 Steel - This steel This is not technically Stainless, but Tool Steel. However, it Because of this it has good rust resistance. It is much tougher than most stainless steels, but not as tough as most of the other tool steel. This steel does have excellent wear resistance. It has great edge retention but can be very difficult to sharpen. This is also a tough material to mirror polish, so it you will almost never see it that way. Its carbon content is 1.50-1.60%.has a high chromium content, just less than what might classify it as stainless steel.

What is 8Cr13MoV Steel?

8Cr13MoV Steel -  This steel is a popular budget brand of knife steel, which is made in China. It's considered Stainless Steel. In its composition this steel is close to the Japanese steel of AUS-8 grade. 8Cr13MoV steel at its low cost demonstrates very worthy characteristics of cutting. At suitable heat treatment of steel the products made of 8Cr13MoV steel retain for a long time the sharpness of the cutting edge and have a very good corrosion resistance. The range of steel hardness is indicated int eh chart below.

Manufacturing and Heat Treatment

The process of 8Cr13MoV Blade steel starts from melting and goes all the way to heat treatment.

Firstly, the composition selected is melted in a Vacuum Induction Furnace and cast in Die mold. For die Steel, we usually use D2 Steel, W1 Steel, or some related die steel.

Moulded SteelSteel is forged into an electrode for electro slag re-melting in the presence of the Argon atmosphere.  

Re-melted Steel forged again to achieve a martensitic structure. The martensitic structural formation found in the TTT diagram of Steel.

After forging, the spheroidizing process primarily used to improve cutting ability and to relieve stresses generated in forging. The reason for spheroidizing can be understood by reading the article, “Annealing Types”. In this article, the relation of carbon percentage to spheroidized microstructure is mentioned for higher cutting ability.

The tempering temperature used is 180-150o C.

8Cr13MoV steel uses

With spheroidizing of Steel, the cutting ability of Steel dramatically enhances. That’s why the primary use of Chinese 8Cr13MoV Steel is the manufacturing of scissors and knives. The classes of knives which use this SteelSteel are;

Is 8Cr13MoV stainless steel good?

Surely yes, with high carbon and chromium content 8Cr13MoV steels have excellent wear resistance, corrosion resistance, edge retention and high hardness. It’s a great steel for knife applications.

Is d2 steel better than 8cr13mov?

D2 steel is a tool steel while 8Cr13MoV is considered as stainless steel. The cutting properties of 8Cr13MoV are better than D2 and it can be sharpen more easily.