My new ZDP Leek

Message just received from Country Knives. It might explain some of the edge complaints Thomas.

Hi Andrew,

Our shipment of Titanium/ZDP Leeks arrived this morning and much to our disappointment, they were not properly sharpened. Without speculating about how and why this happened, Brian will be sharpening the entire shipment on his return from his current travels. We expect to make your shipment on Thursday at the very latest and will advise once shipment is complete.

Thanks very much for your patience and understanding.

Dan

Dan Williams
Mgr. Online Sales
dan@countryknives.com

Country Knives Inc.
4134 Old Philadelphia Pike
P.O. Box 576
Intercourse, PA 17534
ph: 717-768-3818
fax: 717-768-0335
www.countryknives.com
 
So Andrew, do you want me to check yours before I send it on? Or are you willing to sharpen it yourself??
Charlie
 
Hi Charlie

If Brian, (who is the owner) is going to sharpen the whole shipment, I am hoping it will be sharp when it finally comes out of the box. :).

I can sharpen, but I wouldn't want to try sharpening such an expensive knife until I get an Apex Edge Pro. Touching up with a small stone I can do, and as a chef I already sharpen all my chefs knives on a regular basis.
 
BTW, I have an Apex Edge-Pro. I thought it'd be a step up from my old Lansky. It works great on wide kitchen knives, but I am having a hard time sharpening smaller folders. I complained to the maker, and he gave me some hints, and also sharpened my knife (very well indeed!), so it's back to try again. I sure miss my Lansky though. Gave it to my son-in-law.
 
Yeah I just spent the most frustrating 3 hours of my life. My leek came dull
as a marble and I went after it with every thing I had.:D

This ZDP 189 steel is so freaking HARD. Holly CRAP! 100 grit sand papaer just kinda polishes it. I finally got it where it can cut paper but it is still not super sharp. :o I thought S30V was a bitch! ZDP is the KING of Pain baby!!:thumbup:

All this time and the reprofile did not come out nearly as thin as I was trying for! :confused:

I think I may swap my S30V blade into this Ti frame.... :eek:

Thomas thanks for the experiment and leting us have our way...But my ass is kicked! I hope the second one I have coming comes sharpened! :D
 
Where' the best place to get one. I've been looking and the price ranges are all over the place, and many places do not stock them.
 
You might have to wait for the second batch to be delivered. I believe Grand Prarie, and Knifecenter are sold out.
 
Justabuyer said:
Yeah I just spent the most frustrating 3 hours of my life. My leek came dull
as a marble and I went after it with every thing I had.:D

This ZDP 189 steel is so freaking HARD. Holly CRAP! 100 grit sand papaer just kinda polishes it. I finally got it where it can cut paper but it is still not super sharp. :o I thought S30V was a bitch! ZDP is the KING of Pain baby!!:thumbup:

All this time and the reprofile did not come out nearly as thin as I was trying for! :confused:

I think I may swap my S30V blade into this Ti frame.... :eek:

Thomas thanks for the experiment and leting us have our way...But my ass is kicked! I hope the second one I have coming comes sharpened! :D
Click to expand...

I felt the same way when I let my ZDP Caly get a little too dull. At that point any major re-profiling has to be done with something really coarse like diamond stones or rods. I just touched mine up(ZDP Caly) with the diamond rods, then about twenty strokes with the brown and white stones on my SharpMaker and it's back to scalpel sharpness again. It didn't take long, but like I said, you need diamond stones to set a good edge first.
 
Get a DMT xtra coarse stone. I got one about a week ago and it cut through the ZDP with little problem. It is some hard stuff, but I was impressed with the stone's ability to cut through it.

It would have taken forever on the Edgepro. The 120 stone was used to ensure that I was keeping a constant angle. Came out great. Thanks goes to Cliff for suggesting this stone - I could not be happier.
 
For those of us with less-than-razor-sharp Ti/ZDP Leeks, what would be the best way to handle returning them to Kershaw for proper sharpening? Just work through the regular customer support number?

I improved mine somewhat on the Sharpmaker, but I'm still not happy. I'd be thrilled to get it as sharp as my G10/S30V Leek. I don't have the diamond rods.

I have a second Ti/ZDP Leek arriving today; it'll be interesting to see if it arrives any sharper than the first one.
 
Guys,

Sorry for the Sharpness issues with the TI Leeks.

The Hardness of the blade is Rc 64-65 - we tempered them back a little ( they will get to 67-68).

Sharpness issue - Our sharpening dept has been informed of this issue - I am aware of this issue and will personally check the next batch - which we will be assembling next week.

As for the current batch - feel free to send them back to my attention - I will get them SHARPENED and returned to you right away.

FYI-

We use Silicon Carbide wheels for sharpening and I can tell you that the ZDP blades almost Skate off the wheel !:eek: - this does make the sharpening a little difficult - not an excuse - we will fix this - I'm thinking perhaps a diamond wheel for these blades.

Again, sorry for the trouble.

Craig Green.
Kershaw.
 
CRAIG GREEN said:
The Hardness of the blade is Rc 64-65 - we tempered them back a little ( they will get to 67-68).
We use Silicon Carbide wheels for sharpening and I can tell you that the ZDP blades almost Skate off the wheel !:eek: - this does make the sharpening a little difficult - not an excuse - we will fix this - I'm thinking perhaps a diamond wheel for these blades.
Click to expand...

That what I heart from Japanese knifemakers - 65HRC is best for ZDP-189.

I guess that this steel hardness affect wet stone structure making abrasive grains wear out - abrasive itself of course harder then any steel, but stone matrix is too soft most likely. I use steel diamond longest rods - EzeLap (flat surface without any "dots" on it) and diamond powder on "American Handmade" leather and never had any problem with any steel.

I guess steel matrix is hard enough to keep diamonds from wearing out and leather is soft enough and just absorb pressure and make nice bit convex edge as a bonus.

Thanks, Vassili.
 
The Hardness of the blade is Rc 64-65 - we tempered them back a little ( they will get to 67-68).
Click to expand...

Thank you for the post and information.

Was this done due to the stresses placed on the blades by the assisted opening feature?

Did the engineers think this was needed or was it a precaution.

The angles on the edge certainly could have been more acute. The whole purpose of this type steel is to get incredible sharpness by using the strength and hardness of the blades to get these acute angles. See Spyderco Calypso and Jess Horn, and to a slightly lesser extent the delica.

Reports of chipping at RC66 have been neglible. They've been more of an expectation that never panned out as in "blades that hard have to be brittle".

Will there be any offer to reheat treat these blades and reprofile them to bring out the full ability of the steel? Will the next batch have a higher RC and more acute angles?

By the Way I do love this knife though I may not seem like it. I am just aware of how much more ZDP has in it. Thank you. Joe L.
 
Craig,

May I use this as chance to ask you how are you sharpening you knives on the factory - it is really interestin to know, irrelevant to this issue. There is separate thread on this matter but while we have you attention here can you please say few words about this?

Thanks, Vassili.
 
I will be sending mine back today to be sharpened and have the clicking cam fixed. I have to say that I am very disappointed to have to do this but that I have faith that Thomas and Craig will make things right:) Sounds like the next batch will be right as well. I wish I had waited on one of them:(
Jason
 
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