New ZT offering : 0545

Lol I'm the opposite. I hate full Ti framelock knives. Make it full carbon fiber like the 0770 and something other than Magnacut. How about M4?
 
mqqn said:
Talk about knife deja vu - look what I chose to bring with me travelling - the 0770CFM4 from Derick - RIP - been since 2018. View attachment 2389263

Great knife...glad I got in, I know he was very excited about the exclusive.
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The 0770 is a great knife, I have 2, both in Elmax, but I regret not getting the M4 version when they were plentiful and reasonably priced.
 
mqqn said:
Talk about knife deja vu - look what I chose to bring with me travelling - the 0770CFM4 from Derick - RIP - been since 2018. View attachment 2389263

Great knife...glad I got in, I know he was very excited about the exclusive.
Click to expand...
I loved everything about the 0770CF except the assist. I wish they would make a manual version.
 
MattWRog said:
Hmm maybe M mrinella will clarify. He made it sound like they were between the bearings and the blade. I shined a light in the one I have and believe I can see the washers in there as well. Could be my eyes playing tricks on me too.
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Sorry for not being more clear on this. There are three washers total. Two on the lock side, one against the Ti and one against the blade - bearings sandwiched between. On the show side, there is one against the blade and then nothing against the metal insert that nests into the carbon fiber.
 
MattWRog said:
Looks like maybe marketing or graphic design doesn’t work closely with engineering 🤷🏻‍♂️I don’t want to take mine apart because I planned on sending it back but I sure would like to figure this knife out, it has a lot going for it. Maybe some skiff bearings can be had or thick PB washers.
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The bearings are very thin. I measured the pivot as 3/16", the bearings as 1/32" and the OD as 9mm. I did not see any on the Skiff site that matched that.
 
tony281sc2 said:
looks like it has an extra washer on the show side, and 2 washers on the lock side for some reason
.View attachment 2386789
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This schematic matches what I see when disassembled.

dzin10G.jpg
 
mrinella said:
The bearings are very thin. I measured the pivot as 3/16", the bearings as 1/32" and the OD as 9mm. I had a set of Skiff 5mm/1mm/16ball bearings which I just swapped in. They are a few thousands wider .0390" vs .0310" on the stock bearings, but it is okay on lockup and stop pin depth. Action is actually Amazing with the Skiffs. Biggest difference I have seen on a bearing swap.
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I ultimately ended up returning mine. The strange pot metal washer and tiny bearing arrangement in addition to the pocket clip not seating in its mounting area with only one screw holding it together and causing the stand-off to sit off kilter was too many strikes.

I like the size and shape of the blade and thin blade stock. Hope they get it sorted it. It needs some “CQI” though until I consider it again.
 
Best Skiff bearings are actually these: Pivot: 3/16" Ceramic Bearings: 3/64" (15 ball) and then remove the washers between the blade and the bearings. With these in place I have super smooth action, perfect centering, 50% lockup, and the stop pin firmly seated on both sides. I do not understand the blade side washers at all. Maybe they are necessary to add width to the stack since the bearings they choose were so thin? Also sharpened to 20 degrees on both sides (from 20/25). Took a bit of time because I used a Poltava 28/20 stone, but the Magnacut took a shaving sharp edge without even stropping.
 
Picked up one on sale closer to $200 BNIB. It is pretty much what I expected. I knew I would like it bc of the specs.

It looks like I will be buying some skiffs for this even though the action is fine (steadily improving with break-in).
 
I've had mine for a bit now and the action, lockup and everything are darn near perfect, after tweaking to dentent a touch. Has anyone decided on which Skiffs are the best to use. I don't have a preference for keeping the washers or not, so whichever bearings works best is the plan.

My pocket clip and rear standoff were slightly off, but after cleaning the locktite out from underneath the clip and standoff, everything is flush and dead centered. Stray locktite seems to the reason for some having wonky sitting standoff.

I do wish they would sort out their grinds though, mine seem to be in the 20/20 plus something range. I did onty stop mine so far, waiting until the first sharpening to clean the grind up. With just a strop, a dry stop mind you, it is hair whittling sharp now. I have had a few different Magnacut blades, and so far I am impressed with it. It's actually pretty easy to tell the different hardnesses in the different manufacturers when you hit the stone with them. One thing about it though overall, is it seems to take a very fine sticky edge real easy not matter what hardness it is. Supposedly ZT is running it around 62 for this one, and so far I really like it. I haven't cut a ton with it, some boxes, and a few zip ties and such, but It hasn't lost it's stickiness, and only a few passes on the strop to keep it clean. What it hasn't done is chipped or rolled at all. The same zip ties, thick industrial ones, have raped my s30 Bugout blades on several occasions. Magnacut has shrugged those zip ties off, and that's a win win as far as I'm concerned.

Overall the 0545 is an absolute winner in my book and fits my EDC needs perfectly. I just sold off my last two Bugouts because of it, and have a second 0545 on order. I prefer flippers anyway, and not having to worry about the stupid Omega springs is icing on the cake, YMMV

TaBC4YWl.jpg




TXPO
 
Texaspoff said:
I've had mine for a bit now and the action, lockup and everything are darn near perfect, after tweaking to dentent a touch. Has anyone decided on which Skiffs are the best to use. I don't have a preference for keeping the washers or not, so whichever bearings works best is the plan.

My pocket clip and rear standoff were slightly off, but after cleaning the locktite out from underneath the clip and standoff, everything is flush and dead centered. Stray locktite seems to the reason for some having wonky sitting standoff.

I do wish they would sort out their grinds though, mine seem to be in the 20/20 plus something range. I did onty stop mine so far, waiting until the first sharpening to clean the grind up. With just a strop, a dry stop mind you, it is hair whittling sharp now. I have had a few different Magnacut blades, and so far I am impressed with it. It's actually pretty easy to tell the different hardnesses in the different manufacturers when you hit the stone with them. One thing about it though overall, is it seems to take a very fine sticky edge real easy not matter what hardness it is. Supposedly ZT is running it around 62 for this one, and so far I really like it. I haven't cut a ton with it, some boxes, and a few zip ties and such, but It hasn't lost it's stickiness, and only a few passes on the strop to keep it clean. What it hasn't done is chipped or rolled at all. The same zip ties, thick industrial ones, have raped my s30 Bugout blades on several occasions. Magnacut has shrugged those zip ties off, and that's a win win as far as I'm concerned.

Overall the 0545 is an absolute winner in my book and fits my EDC needs perfectly. I just sold off my last two Bugouts because of it, and have a second 0545 on order. I prefer flippers anyway, and not having to worry about the stupid Omega springs is icing on the cake, YMMV

TaBC4YWl.jpg




TXPO
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See my posts right above. Tried two different sets one with and one without the blade side washers. Preferred removing the inner washers as I felt that they were really just there as spacers for factory bearings and it gave deeper seating on the stop pin into the frame.
 
I’m on the fence with mine. I like it, but while the pocket clip works fine in the pocket getting out is a bit fiddly compared to other deep Carrys. I’m also concerned about the blade and the very small surface area between the blade and pivot area. I know it’s Magnacut, but it isn’t going to handle much lateral force at all IMO. It flexes pretty good from just torquing it by hand. I try not to put lateral forces on my folders, but some force is imparted on the blade with just about any cutting other than straight down. May not be an issue, but I don’t get the warm fuzzies when I look at the blade disassembled.



TXPO
 
mrinella said:
Best Skiff bearings are actually these: Pivot: 3/16" Ceramic Bearings: 3/64" (15 ball) and then remove the washers between the blade and the bearings. With these in place I have super smooth action, perfect centering, 50% lockup, and the stop pin firmly seated on both sides. I do not understand the blade side washers at all. Maybe they are necessary to add width to the stack since the bearings they choose were so thin? Also sharpened to 20 degrees on both sides (from 20/25). Took a bit of time because I used a Poltava 28/20 stone, but the Magnacut took a shaving sharp edge without even stropping..
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.
I appreciate the info. At your recommendation, I got these exact bearings and they work perfectly, just as you described. Thank you!
 
I own 44 ZTs (40 folders; 4 fixed) but it's been a long time since I've bought one because

The few I'd still like to buy are prohibitively expensive but I did see a few ZT0550's recently offered for extremely low prices (IMO) on the Exchange.

But otherwise, unfortunately (again IMO), there's no "there, there" anymore but it was a good run while it lasted. :(
 
mrinella said:
Best Skiff bearings are actually these: Pivot: 3/16" Ceramic Bearings: 3/64" (15 ball) and then remove the washers between the blade and the bearings. With these in place I have super smooth action, perfect centering, 50% lockup, and the stop pin firmly seated on both sides. I do not understand the blade side washers at all. Maybe they are necessary to add width to the stack since the bearings they choose were so thin? Also sharpened to 20 degrees on both sides (from 20/25). Took a bit of time because I used a Poltava 28/20 stone, but the Magnacut took a shaving sharp edge without even stropping.
Click to expand...
Are you still using the outside washer on the titanium side with the 3/16 x 3/64 bearings? or loosing the washers all together?
 
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