given up on ZT0200

B

Bushman5

Joined
Oct 31, 2007
Messages
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blarg. I've given up on ever getting a cutting edge on my ZT0200 (154CM). I've spent weeks (hours a day) wearing out DMT diamond stones, ceramic sticks, oilstones, water stones, 4 bundles of wet/dry silicone carbide paper (at $20 a bundle), all which have failed to produce a cutting edge on the ZT0200. I can get every single one of my other blades including 5 Emersons made from 154Cm, wicked scary sharp and without any effort, but not this ZT0200.

It will slice cardboard and paper and cans and food, but there just is not a finger bleeding edge when you run your fingers across it. All my other 154Cm knives have a sticky sharp edge that scalpels your finger open. I have stropped the ZT0200 after getting a burr raised up. NOTHING! its so dull you could use it as a trainer blade. It flat out does not make curls on wood, which is one of the MAIN uses of my knives.

blarg. maybe its time to get someone to grind it into a conventional V grind like my scalpel sharp kitchen knives....those things make piles of shavings....:mad::mad::mad::mad:
 
Are you sure you're hitting the edge? Sharpie the edge and then sharpen. I find it difficult to believe you're wearing out DMT stones on a 154CM blade without creating any sort of edge.
 
If you think that's hard don't ever buy a Spec/speed bump, its even harder to sharpen. Try lightly convexing, its much easier to follow the curve.
 
Josh K said:
Are you sure you're hitting the edge? Sharpie the edge and then sharpen. I find it difficult to believe you're wearing out DMT stones on a 154CM blade without creating any sort of edge.
Click to expand...

did the sharpie on the edge, was hitting the edge no problem. Smoothed a DMT coarse stone and polished a DMT medium stone to a glass like finish. Not using heavy pressure either....
 
Bushman5 said:
did the sharpie on the edge, was hitting the edge no problem. Smoothed a DMT coarse stone and polished a DMT medium stone to a glass like finish. Not using heavy pressure either....
Click to expand...

It's the pressure if you're breaking the diamonds off.
 
you can always send it over to me, if you cover shipping costs, ill sharpen it and send it back to you the next day
 
Maybe a thicker blade than what you're used to? Might just need to work it a bit more, or thin it out near the edge.

cbw
 
Weird. I suspect it's the recurve.

I have no problem getting a quite nice edge on my ZT0200, it's just tedious. I use the edges (not the flats) of the rods of my Sharpmaker. Following the curve of the edge is what makes it tedious, but it's certainly doable.
 
You have the tools. You have the skills (in my view). Sometimes it can just be philosophical. :D

Every time I get in a hurry or become impatient with the sharpening process I run into the same result with some thin stainless blades.

I end up having to stop, put all the myriad instruments away except the knife, the DMT coarse and some water. Try less pressure basically using the course like you would use a fine and sort of mimicking trying to slice a thin amount of the stone off. Slow down, concentrate on the precision of the strokes and that odd sound when you have perfectly aligned light strokes. You know the sound. ;) You may be setting a new bevel so keep at it for awhile.

After you get a good sharp edge go straight to the DMT fine. Again concentrate on your precision and use less pressure allowing the diamonds to do the work. Just settle down and take your time. I would strop on plain leather after the fine DMT. Careful not to roll that edge on the strop. Then you can try a DMT extra-fine and then perhaps a pasted strop if you want to get to scary sharp.

Not trying to tell you how to sharpen as you are clearly an experienced blademan. Just sayin that sometimes I have to slow down and stop changing tools. Might work for you.

Scott
 
You may also wish to try stopping at each grit to see if the sharpness you want is achieved.

Some knives, some ats-34 knives I've had come to mind, just didn't take well to finer grit edges. I guess they suffered from "micro-chipping" or some other phenomena.
 
^ interesting, i can see some microchippy when i loupe the edge with a mineral loupe.......

i'll keep plugging away at it, with lighter pressure and see what i can get.

BTW, many thanks to the BF Members that emailed me and offered to sharpen the blade. I got to keep trying though, on my own, because if i'm in the field and need to sharpen, there is only me....
 
My ZT 0200 is probably the sharpest knife I have, did some reprofile work that took FOREVER (using a lansky basic kit), now it scares the hair off my arm, and stays sharp even after I abuse it (cardboard, scraping graffitti off of desktops). Keep at it, it'll get there!
 
I find that using a diamond set (clamp, rods, etc...) work great for getting that initial edge worked out. Then if you want to convex it, bust out the mousepad and sandpaper.

I do this with all of my knives (non-serrated that is) so that I know exactly what angle I have on the edge and can easily re-touch later on or just use my ceramic flats for some quality finishing time with my knives :D
 
I'd just take a shot in the dark and call it a case of edge rolling. If you can get a paper slicing edge with coarse grits, stropping the edge from that point on should make it plenty sharp.

The sharpie test is just a general indication of whether or not you're hitting the edge, it isn't 100% definitive. I prefer the paper test on several "sections" of the knife as the ultimate way to tell if the edge is good. Also saves me some pain from cutting my fingers.
 
Bushman5 said:
blarg. I've given up on ever getting a cutting edge on my ZT0200 (154CM). I've spent weeks (hours a day) wearing out DMT diamond stones, ceramic sticks, oilstones, water stones, 4 bundles of wet/dry silicone carbide paper (at $20 a bundle), all which have failed to produce a cutting edge on the ZT0200. I can get every single one of my other blades including 5 Emersons made from 154Cm, wicked scary sharp and without any effort, but not this ZT0200.

It will slice cardboard and paper and cans and food, but there just is not a finger bleeding edge when you run your fingers across it. All my other 154Cm knives have a sticky sharp edge that scalpels your finger open. I have stropped the ZT0200 after getting a burr raised up. NOTHING! its so dull you could use it as a trainer blade. It flat out does not make curls on wood, which is one of the MAIN uses of my knives.

blarg. maybe its time to get someone to grind it into a conventional V grind like my scalpel sharp kitchen knives....those things make piles of shavings....:mad::mad::mad::mad:
Click to expand...

You should have invested your funds on a belt grinder. :) I have sharpened many ZT's with no issues.
 
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