Kershaw Mini-Cyclone Ti handles and ZDP189 blade

Here's a quick shot showing how I used a small C-clamp to squeeze the
thumbstud back into the blade, with a small box end wrench to act as a
well for clearance on the one side, there's gunk on my clamp from some
foaming done a long time ago...ignore that...;)

IMG_0780.jpg


G2
 
This thread alone has made me want to buy this knife. I am probably going to purchase one online tonight. :)

What a great thread.
 
Thanks guys, took this on my trip out to Champaign IL, used it in the factory
there, worked great, cut very well ! Had some tough material to slice around
a metal disk, like carving an apple's skin along the outside of the metal disk.
It is now very very sharp indeed, the finer edge is the trick and the ZDP seems
to keep that edge longer than other knives I've used before.

Last night though, I was cutting through some very thick double layers of
shoe leather, very hard material and as I was gripping the knife, the lock bar
slid all the way in, kind of unnerving but, it won't close on you for sure that
way, it did move back out but was surprised to feel it close like that.
Could be how I reassembled the knife, possibly, hard to tell.

G2
 
.

Last night though, I was cutting through some very thick double layers of
shoe leather, very hard material and as I was gripping the knife, the lock bar
slid all the way in, kind of unnerving but, it won't close on you for sure that
way, it did move back out but was surprised to feel it close like that.
Could be how I reassembled the knife, possibly, hard to tell.

G2

I have noticed this with Kershaw, Chris Reeve, Strider and some custom framelocks. By "this" I mean that you can push the lockbar over to the other side with your thumb. I sent the CR back, and they said that it was within tolerances.
It irritates me, because I feel that this can and should be engineered out, but also understand it from a production POV, and might not necessarily reject a piece for doing this, if I were the QC person.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Yep, not something you like to have happen, mine sort of POPPED over quickly
which was the startling thing, was worried at first it was closing!
G2
 
It is a paring knife, not a general utility, my feeling is that if it was used as one, the edge would crack in a fairly short time.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson


You make it sound like the MiniCyclone's blade cracks easily!
In what kind conditions would you think will crack the knife?
Stabbing into a Coke can, stabbing into a water bottle cap, or stabbing into cardboard? (not meaning I would really do that)

Thanks!

vw
 
Kohai999's sole ZDP-189 blade actually is a paring knife!

With integral linerlocks, one of the selling points used to be "the harder you grip the knife, the more secure the lock becomes." I'm thinking that meant they're designed to behavior as Gary's did.
 
Thom, don't know that it really is meant to do that, as the ramp where the
lock bar strikes on the tang of the knife is angled and probably should be
angled a bit more to prevent it from passing all the way across, but as you
say, in a tight pinch, it will not close on you so that is a good thing, just
harder to unlock afterward.
G2

still sharp as the dickens with that ground down blade ;)
 
my new one did that-pinched my finger real good-

the replacement kershaw sent has more ramp to the blade and wont do it
 
Kohai999's sole ZDP-189 blade actually is a paring knife!

I have a zdp Leek, too, Thom. It is really nice, but I don't use it right now, too many other knives to play with.:D

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
I recently acquired one these knives myself. I am very impressed with it!! And I don't like coated blades, but oh well, I CAN live with it on this knife. Mine is also very sharp,and has great lock up. It feels good in the hand too. I really like this knife a whole lot!!!
 
I recently acquired one these knives myself. I am very impressed with it!! And I don't like coated blades, but oh well, I CAN live with it on this knife. Mine is also very sharp,and has great lock up. It feels good in the hand too. I really like this knife a whole lot!!!

I'm glad you like that knife a lot!

Now....if you want to LOVE it a lot, send it off to Tom Krein and have him
regrind the blade down to .010" at the shoulders of the bevel to see just how
a knife should cut!
:)
G2
 
Mmmh, probably yes. This looks like really soft wood that splits extremely easily along the grain. If you use a different type of wood you would have a very hard time splitting it independently of the blade holding up or not. Also if you would try it with thicker wood you would run in to the same problem.
 
What knife was he talking about? Was it your Leek ZDP?

Thom was talking about my ZDP/Damascus William Henry paring knife with cocobolo scales, the Maestro in the utility length to be specific.

STILL one of my favorite kitchen knives in the paring configuration, even though it pits like a bastard with acne.;)

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Mmmh, probably yes. This looks like really soft wood that splits extremely easily along the grain. If you use a different type of wood you would have a very hard time splitting it independently of the blade holding up or not. Also if you would try it with thicker wood you would run in to the same problem.

How bout this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93fjJYshmFc&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wlm1adcIKM&mode=related&search=
It still looks a bit sharp after doing that!:eek:

Can the ZDP handle hitting a hammer? Or will it shatter, from it's brittleness?
 
Hard to say. I honestly don't know. I would imagine yes. Neither test is overly hard on the blade itself. The second test is going to concentrate a lot of strain on the edge though. So edge geometry will play a huge role in how the knife will fair in such a test and BM's edgegeometry is not overly accute. Yes, ZDP 189 is not overly tough but it is not that far behind the average stainless steel and far ahead if you take the hardness into account. On the test with the copper tube for example ZDP is likely going to fare a lot better as long as you avoid brakeouts out of the edge because the edge is less likely going to roll.

But really ZDP is best suited for thin slicers (which is why a lot of this thread deals with thinning the blade) where it plays to its strength, and not for "sharpened prybars".

But regardless of the steel, when watching these clips my first thought was:"What an idiot, the way he batones the knife, the lock is never going to hold for very long". Seriously, the limiting factor when batoning like this is always the lock, in particular a liner or frame lock, expecially a Ti frame lock. Frame- and liner locks are prone to compression of the lock bar face. Since Ti is softer than steel, this is particularly bad on Ti frame and liner locks (liner locks even worse because the face or contact area is smaller). When batoning a folder, you have to hit as close to the pivot as possible, so that the pivot and stop pin bears the strain and not the locking pin. The guy in the clip batones way to far towards the tip. This is a guaranteed fail safe way to destroy the lock on any knife. Yes it might hold up for the clip and a few times more, but it is not going to last very long. While any well made folding knife should hold up just fine for much longer if not indefinitely when batoned on the pivot. Try it for yourself with a cheap knife (but were protective gloves!!!!).

Finally, when talking about batoning like this, the performance difference between a fixed blade and a folder is enormous. Both stunts shown in these clips you can do with ANY decent fixed blade ALL DAY LONG without having to worry about anything. If you are using a cheap HC steel fixed like a Ka-BAR you can attack MUCH MUCH BIGGER taskes batoning, also with out having to worry about anything. A metal hammer is hardly ideal, if you use a branch or a mallet you can clobber the living s#!+ out of any simple fixed blade with no harm to the knife. You could take a Buck 119 for example. Hardly ideal by any means but it will outperform any folder in such a test "without breathing hard". Between better fixed blades and any folder the difference is even greater and it doesn't really matter what folder we are talking about. With this one for example: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=433115 I would be doing the tests shown in the clips, snoring. The final slices shown in the linked thread are about as large as the one the guy in the clip starts with and it is much harder wood, too. And I was clobbering the blade with all my strength, too.
 
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