KERSHAW/zt *Elmax* question

[kershawTEX]

Miss the subforum, but I digress. I have a zt 0561 that is a few months old that I received brand new from KAI. I use it sparingly, and love it, but the blade has become dull, and I cannot for the life of me get it very sharp, I have been using the sharpmaker, which I have made many blades hair poppin sharp on, and I carefully have be tracking and removing the burr. I also finished it with the fine white stone. The blade is not extremely dull, but it is by no means where it should be. I recieved the blade not crazy sharp, but I know the potential of elmax is there, just wanna see it. The blade did have the right hand grind a bit higher and it seemed to have a wire edge brand new, I dont know what to do without sending it back to zt, any suggestions would be amazing! Thanks!

 

[Noctis3880]

I would buy 60 grit sandpaper and 2 small binder clips. Clip the sandpaper to your sharpmaker rods, then use that until you raise a burr(feeling for it is the best practice), then repeat on the other side. In all likelihood, you're not reaching the apex. The sharpmaker is not good for actual sharpening, it just maintains an edge. So when your knife becomes dull, the sharpmaker can't make a dent in it.

 

[Fanglekai]

You're probably hitting the shoulder. Use a black sharpie marker and mark the whole edge of the knife. Then do a pass on the sharpmaker. Check where the marker is removed and where it's still at. If there is still ink left on the edge then you're not hitting the edge, of course. So if that's the case you'll need to remove metal from the shoulder until you reach the edge. This can be time consuming without proper equipment or if you have to remove a lot of metal.

 

[Big Mike]

Elmax can be a bear to sharpen.

I have no experience with KAI's Elmax, but this new generation of wear resistant steels are by there very nature harder to sharpen then many of the steels you may be use to.

All the tricks should employed; from the sharpie to determine the proper angle to reach the edge of the edge, to stepping down to courser grits if your not raising a burr.

It may take a little more time then you're use to, but with patients and by following the fundamentals you should be able to get that knife to cut to your satisfaction.

Good luck.




Big Mike

 

[DREW78]

I just sharpened my ZT 0801 today. It iis Elmax steel and I was able to get it insanly sharp using the KME sharrpening system with diamond stones. I then followed with a black, then green, then white strop. It will push cut paper thinner than phone book paper now. I sharpened at 20 deg per side. I gave up on the sharpmaker sometime ago for anything more than a *light* touch up.

Drew