I sharpened my Benchmade 710D2 the other day and it was a new experience for me.  I’m not accustomed to sharpening re-curve blades, but my Spyderco Sharpmaker and strop was more than up to the task.

D2 is a high grade tool steel and will grind similar to S30V, maybe even a little faster it’s doubtful that you’ll see much difference.  The part you’ll see the difference with is when you pass the brown ceramic stones and start to polish. D2 seems to like a coarser edge better than a polished one, the edge will polish and get very sharp but you do a lot of burr chasing and the performance is no better than if you stopped around 1000 grit.

I began with the diamond rods corners and flats, then the brown, ending with the white ceramic rods.  I put a pencil under the Sharpmaker to get about a 22.5 degree primary bevel, since I like a finer, wider,  edge.  Next, I used the same rods as above at the 30 degree setting to obtain a secondary micro-bevel.   I moved on to the 40 degree setting and repeated again putting a 3rd micro-bevel on the edge. 

This consumed about a good hour but was well worth it as the knife was razor sharp but still just a little bit toothy.  I took a few minute break and took out my stop block which is a shaved, suede leather and soaked with just enough of the green stropping compound, like you get in the Bark River bars.  I then began to lightly strop the toothy D2 edge back and forth, paying attention to my strokes and not missing that re-curved area.  I probably hit it about 30 times per side, softly and letting the blade’s weight do the work.  On the last few passes, I lifted the spine up a bit to convex these bevels. I applied no pressure.

When you strop after sharpening, the slight give that the leather has, follows this multi-angle bevel you’ve applied and blends it into one.  What you end up with is a micro-convexed edge and it’s beautiful.  With my glasses on I could see no more gritty look to the edge, only a mirror like surface.  I had to get a magnifying glass to see the little spikes that the D2 steel retained.

Not bad at all - it shaved hair and cut the finest curly-q’s on a paper cutting test.  It’s no Spyderco edge, but for a hard use blade made of D2 tool steel, I’ll take it.  It’s way sharper than when I got it and better than any grind you’re going to see on a D2 production folding knife.  If you’re going to carry folding knives they’re much safer when they’re sharp!