How Do I sharpen ZDP?

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beera

Joined
Feb 16, 2006
Messages
157
I normally use a water stone to sharpen my folders but I got a new ZDP blade. How Do I sharpen it free hand. What Do I need to get?

I don't want a sharpmaker or any other system. I want to stick to freehand sharpening. Any ideas guys. Also, I would like any tips to avoid scratching the blade. I read somewhere that you can tape it.

I appreciate any tips.


I am very bad at sharpening by the way.
 
If you are very bad at sharpening, why run the risk of screwing up a premium blade of ZDP? You would be far better off to learn how to freehand properly and learn on flea market beaters.

Now, I have the Caly Jr in ZDP that I reprofiled and sharpened on my Edge Pro. The one thing that I noticed, was that the burr is very difficult to detect with this steel.
 
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tim8557 said:
If you are very bad at sharpening, why run the risk of screwing up a premium blade of ZDP? You would be far better off to learn how to freehand properly and learn on flea market beaters.

Now, I have the Caly Jr in ZDP that I reprofiled and sharpened on my Edge Pro. The one thing that I noticed, was that the burr is very difficult to detect with this steel.
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Thanks Tim. I keep practicing. I cant keep the same angel freehand. That's my problem.

Do you recommend diamond to sharpen ZDP?
 
Why do you have a question about ZDP. Any stone is harder than any steel. If it were a ceramic blade you might have a worry. Just sharpen as usual. My understanding is that it is so hard it only needs sharpening once every 100 years or so. Right?

And I think you are missing the boat by dismissing the Sharpmaker, especially if you admit you are not a skilled sharpener. It is the easiest way to put a very sharp edge on a knife that I have found.
 
If a laminated blade is what you have I don't recommend wasting steel by getting the angle wrong on the edge bevel and then having to waste more away later to correct it. Idealy you should only have to bring the edge back up to a bite using the factory bevel. If it is worn down some and is so thick as to be ineffective and you are not sure of yourself I would suggest paying the small fee to Spyderco and letting them bring it back to a nice sharpeness for you.

The best way to do one of those is to do it on an Edge Pro or similar system with a guide to make sure you get it right after taping the blade off to protect it using a good painters tape. Masking tape works but tends to leave residue on the blade that requires some WD40 or some other oil like mineral oil on the blade to remove all the sticky.

STR
 
DGG said:
My understanding is that it is so hard it only needs sharpening once every 100 years or so. Right?
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Well, no :). It holds an edge nicely, but from my experience I would clearly say that it abrasion resistance is lower than S30V. The hardness does slow the dulling due to edge deformation though.

The main reason, why I like this steel so much is the way it sharpens. It doesn't seem to burr much and seem to be pretty fine grained. It gets very sharp very quickly and easily. It behaves almost like a carbon steel on the stone. As to scratches....don't know, I don't care about scratches. My knives are all users.
 
DGG said:
Why do you have a question about ZDP. Any stone is harder than any steel. If it were a ceramic blade you might have a worry. Just sharpen as usual. My understanding is that it is so hard it only needs sharpening once every 100 years or so. Right?

And I think you are missing the boat by dismissing the Sharpmaker, especially if you admit you are not a skilled sharpener. It is the easiest way to but a very sharp edge on a knife that I have found.
Click to expand...

The thing is, I don't know much about this steel and about sharpening, that's why I am asking. Thanks for the comments guys
 
STR said:
If a laminated blade is what you have I don't recommend wasting steel by getting the angle wrong on the edge bevel and then having to waste more away later to correct it. Idealy you should only have to bring the edge back up to a bite using the factory bevel. If it is worn down some and is so thick as to be ineffective and you are not sure of yourself I would suggest paying the small fee to Spyderco and letting them bring it back to a nice sharpeness for you.

The best way to do one of those is to do it on an Edge Pro or similar system with a guide to make sure you get it right after taping the blade off to protect it using a good painters tape. Masking tape works but tends to leave residue on the blade that requires some WD40 or some other oil like mineral oil on the blade to remove all the sticky.

STR
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The blade I have is the clypso. so it is a laminated blade. Thanks for the tips STR.
 
I just use ordinary waterstones on it... no problem. Sharpens up beautifully... as others noted, it behaves like carbon steel and low burr formation like M2 (which is what I want to compare it to). Takes a nice polish on a Naniwa 10k or Shapton 15k stone too!
 
I would think the 40 degree settings on the Sharpmaker would be perfect for it. Spyderco usually ships their knives 30 degrees total hollow-ground (well really saber hollow-ground). For some reason they put a flat grind on this one. I like the blood-red handle. It's a nice change from Spydie Black!

If you have never seen this knife here is a link to a picture and info. They are very rare and hard to find NIB.

http://www.outdoorsuperstore.com/st...DERCO~Calypso+Jr.+KNIVES~productID~509535.htm

http://spyderco.com/catalog/Spyderco_2005_Sprint_Sell_Sheet.pdf
 
I have used both waterstones and the Sharpmaker to sharpen it. Well the Sharpmaker I have used only for touch ups. I don't like to use the ZDP on the gray stones especially the corners. But they work, too, if you don't use too much force. The whites and UFs are no problem.
 
I an on my Second ZDP-189 Calypso Jr. People offer me vast amounts of money for them when they see how well they perform>> thus up till now I haven't had one for over 3 months The first one I only had to do a total sharpening on once and I did it with the 204 Sharpmaker. The newest one I am using now I just do a routine type maintence on it. ABout every evening or every other evening while watching TV I get out one of my 204UF ultra fine stones. All I do is use the 204UF ultra fine stone as a steel. I just use a kind of skewing action just as you would if you were using a smooth steel to fine tune the edge on the ZDP-189 blade. If you do that regularly you won't believe how super sharp you can keep it with a minimal amount of effort.

I've never had a knife I could maintain that way before. ZDP-189 is a totally different animal in the STEEL KINGDOM.
 
JD Spydo, what other knives have you had? To tell you the truth I can keep pretty much all of my knives sharp with nightly maintenance, Even the lesser steel knives.
 
DGG said:
I would think the 40 degree settings on the Sharpmaker would be perfect for it. Spyderco usually ships their knives 30 degrees total hollow-ground (well really saber hollow-ground). For some reason they put a flat grind on this one. I like the blood-red handle. It's a nice change from Spydie Black!

If you have never seen this knife here is a link to a picture and info. They are very rare and hard to find NIB.

http://www.outdoorsuperstore.com/st...DERCO~Calypso+Jr.+KNIVES~productID~509535.htm

http://spyderco.com/catalog/Spyderco_2005_Sprint_Sell_Sheet.pdf
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You what I find very odd? The very pronounced lamination line that the calypsos have is never shown in any of the pics on the spyderco site or online resellers. I dont think Ive seen it on any pic online that wasnt from the end purchaser. I can hold my calypso at any angle and still see the line so its like theyre photoshopping it out.
 
beera said:
The thing is, I don't know much about this steel and about sharpening, that's why I am asking. Thanks for the comments guys
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No problem, keep asking. We all asked at one time. If you don't ask you never learn.
 
LHD said:
You what I find very odd? The very pronounced lamination line that the calypsos have is never shown in any of the pics on the spyderco site or online resellers. I dont think Ive seen it on any pic online that wasnt from the end purchaser. I can hold my calypso at any angle and still see the line so its like theyre photoshopping it out.
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I don't know how they do that either. I think the line is neat and would be a great selling feature (sort of like a Japanese Samari sword). I bought two of them when they first came out for about $69.95 and sent them to the kids stationed in beautiful Baghdad. Being sort of a damascus thing it seemed appropriate.
 
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