Is my new ZT 0850 off center?

It is off centered no doubt, but it can usually be easily corrected. The question is if you want to live with it (resale value will have to be discounted), correct it by yourself, or pay shipping and insurance to send it to the dealer or KAI.
 
ccoast36 said:
The thing is, I like to keep and carry knives for awhile and sometimes sell them to upgrade down the road. Much like people do with cars, if you will. I just worry about resale as buyer's on the exchange are very picky I've noticed.
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gotcha. but......

if you are gonna use it.......it willl be resharpened, eventually reprofiled and that alone will lower price point resale. point being is all knives other than show pieces not being used have to be resharpened and then reprofiling will solve the off angled primary edges. i still dont think its off center other than maybe the spring tension as mentioned earlier and profile of primary edges which can be solved easily. all that said if you arent happy send it in and ask for one closer to what you want. zts alwzys been real good about pleasing customer wants.

your hard earned money so dont be unhappy with your purchase.
 
sharp_edge said:
It is off centered no doubt, but it can usually be easily corrected. The question is if you want to live with it (resale value will have to be discounted), correct it by yourself, or pay shipping and insurance to send it to the dealer or KAI.
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Yeah, it may just be worth it to correct it. The knife is fantastic.
 
jbmonkey said:
gotcha. but......

if you are gonna use it.......it willl be resharpened, eventually reprofiled and that alone will lower price point resale. point being is all knives other than show pieces not being used have to be resharpened and then reprofiling will solve the off angled primary edges. i still dont think its off center other than maybe the spring tension as mentioned earlier and profile of primary edges which can be solved easily. all that said if you arent happy send it in and ask for one closer to what you want. zts alwzys been real good about pleasing customer wants.

your hard earned money so dont be unhappy with your purchase.
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You are correct. I think I can fix it enough to satisfy my own ocd. This knife is great other than the minor flaw.
 
I'm planning to get one of these in the near future. If I were you, I'd return it to the place you got it from if it's still within the time period to do so and ask for a replacement. For $320 it should be perfect....imo. The other thing I'd suggest, and I'll probably do this when I order mine, is call up the place you got it from and try to talk to someone that knows something about knives. Ask them if they will take a look at a couple of the ones they have in stock and send you one that looks perfect, i.e. Dead-on blade centering, etc. There are places that will do that for you. I've had it done twice before with knife purchases from two different online retailers. Good luck!
 
ccoast36 said:
The thing is, I like to keep and carry knives for awhile and sometimes sell them to upgrade down the road. Much like people do with cars, if you will. I just worry about resale as buyer's on the exchange are very picky I've noticed.
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That looks pretty good to me, definitely centered enough to serve you well for lifetime(s) worth of use. The fact that you are thinking you'll only sell it after you've had it and carried it, and I assume used it for a while, chances are normal wear and tear from that use will affect resale value as much as that tiny bit of off-centering that might be there. It really looks good enough to me that I wouldn't be bothered by it if I was looking at those pics in the context of a post in the Exchange.

So what I'm getting at is throw it in your pocket, use the crap out of it, and enjoy what looks to be the best ZT knife for years! Non-flipper, on washers, with what look like great ergos and overall design....mmmmm....production perfection as far as I'm concerned!

Congrats on an awesome score :thumbup: :cool:
 
So I checked the pivot and the knife was tightened all the way. I backed the pivot screw out a few little turns and the blade centered perfectly. I retightened the pivot and it went to the lock side of the handle like before. Should the blade be centered when the pivot is completely tightened down?
 
hookahhabib said:
That looks pretty good to me, definitely centered enough to serve you well for lifetime(s) worth of use. The fact that you are thinking you'll only sell it after you've had it and carried it, and I assume used it for a while, chances are normal wear and tear from that use will affect resale value as much as that tiny bit of off-centering that might be there. It really looks good enough to me that I wouldn't be bothered by it if I was looking at those pics in the context of a post in the Exchange.

So what I'm getting at is throw it in your pocket, use the crap out of it, and enjoy what looks to be the best ZT knife for years! Non-flipper, on washers, with what look like great ergos and overall design....mmmmm....production perfection as far as I'm concerned!

Congrats on an awesome score :thumbup: :cool:
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The knife is absolutely amazing. Plus, with the pivot loosened just a bit from tight, it centers perfectly. The knife is just a piece of art. What a great design. Action so smooth it would make Chris Reeve blush!
 
Since it seems to bother you enough, I recommend you send it back to the dealer and specifically ask for a replacement that has a centered blade after they have opened and closed it several times.

I seem to recall another thread where a 0850 had a little blade play so have them check for blade play in all directions as well.

ZT 0850 is an amazing collaboration between ZT and two famous knife designers/makers. It has all the best technologies, materials and quality.

Nobody is perfect.

Edited to Add: Here's the post regarding the blade play on 0850:

AwayFromMySpydieHole said:
Has anyone taken their 0850 apart yet? Mine came with some blade play. It's SUPER smooth, smoother than my KVT knives, but it has some play.

I tried to loosen AND tighten the pivot, but it seems like it's loctited down pretty good. The whole pivot (both sides I mean) spin about 1/8 of a turn and then stop. So I think the pivot is keyed into a "D" shape, but I still can't get the pivot to budge.

Thinking I might need to apply some heat. But first, has anyone here adjusted their pivot or taken theirs apart?

Thanks!



Obligatory pic.


5kBoSC6.jpg
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Just one more question. The knife is off center when the pivot screw is completely tightened down. If I loosen the screw just a couple small turns, the blade centers. Is this normal?
 
ccoast36 said:
Just one more question. The knife is off center when the pivot screw is completely tightened down. If I loosen the screw just a couple small turns, the blade centers. Is this normal?
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That's normal. & if you can loosen it without getting any blade play while the knife is open then I say leave it and forget sending it off back to the dealer or KAI. I have had numerous folders that have been $200+ that have could have been considered "off center" but like previously mentioned. Nobody is perfect and if you're able to adjust the pivot to your liking then just do so. Unless other problems that arise from loosening it, such as the blade play.
 
sometimes adjusting the other screws and the pivot will help with centering.

also the blue can't be carbon fiber, as real cf cannot be dyed. so the blue is another type of fiber that is dyed blue, so its not real cf. unless its hypetex or similar.
 
To me this looks like it is favoring the lockside in all pics. The lockbar leaning into the blade does play tricks at times but this doesnt appear to be the case here. The edge bevel at the tip seems uneven making it seem more extreme than it is. Entirely up to you whether its acceptable.
 
Mo2 said:
sometimes adjusting the other screws and the pivot will help with centering.

also the blue can't be carbon fiber, as real cf cannot be dyed. so the blue is another type of fiber that is dyed blue, so its not real cf. unless its hypetex or similar.
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Carbon actually can be dyed. Not the fibers itself but rather the liquid resin used to stiffen said fibers. The lighting and camera flashes make the effect more prominent. That does seem to have blue fiberglass woven into it though i have seen other pics where it just looks like the whole scale is blue with the alternating weave creating the contrast. Now i want to see one in person.
 
Where it starts to tapper towards the point is ground unevenly so the blade point is off center. Looking at your 1st picture the left side starts to taper towards the point before the right side so the left sides taper is longer than the right and the blade tip is off center.
 
wensynch said:
The grind of the blade is usually uneven more often naught on most production knives, zt 0850 included. It kind of looks like your is, slightly. Bevel on right is higher?

There's that too consider when determining whether it's center.

Looks fine from here but it's held slightly off center. Does it open smoothly and straight though?
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If your eye is discriminating enough I agree. I find uneven primary and secondaries on almost everything.
 
Perfectly even grinds on hand ground blades are a virtual impossibility. There might be some equipment one can use to minimize this but it's just the name of the game. It doesn't bother me if a knife's grinds are unequal as long as it is within reason.
 
Lapedog said:
Perfectly even grinds on hand ground blades are a virtual impossibility. There might be some equipment one can use to minimize this but it's just the name of the game. It doesn't bother me if a knife's grinds are unequal as long as it is within reason.
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But these arent handground. And honestly i usually see mote symmetry with handground if the maker is good at what they do. Walter brend comes to mind.
 
So if I tighten the pivot fairly tight, the blade really favors the clip side. It is much more obvious. The knife is going back Monday.
 
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