New ZT0550 Thread !!!

Rock on Rick!! Thanks for chiming in; good to see you are lurking in the shadows. How about some pics of the knife in use from someone.


Rhind64 said:
Hey guys! Has anyone gone out and used there 0551's yet? I would like to hear some feedback on that...how does it fit in the hand while doing heavy cutting? is there alot of fine tip control? things like that....that is what I designed this knife for...heavy use!! and its what ZT made it for...this early vs late lockup thing is really getting old....my personal XM-18 is at least 75%...it started out there 3 years ago and its still at 75%...personaly I dont like a real early lockup...to easy for you to inadvertanly unlock the knife...myself...I like 40-50% ...gives you a good solid lock that will last the life of the knife...but what the hell do I know :)....guys..go out and use the hell out of your 0551...then form your opinion and come back and let us know what you think...thats what I want to hear...dont follow what someone else thinks and then pile on...Everyone knows what I think about stories on my XM-18...I want to see and hear of hard use!

Rick Hinderer
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Just got mine!It's PERFECT!!:thumbup::eek::D #0256

Dead centered blade,Lock-up around 40%,perfectly even grinds & sharp as hell!:D

I looked inside & didn't see any discoloration/rust issues.


HUGE THANKS to Dave:thumbup:I can't thank you enough man.

Congrats to Rick & Kershaw with this design.You guys really hit it out of the park with this one!




Here it is next to my 3.5" flipper
 
Well it looks as though the there was a QC issue with the liner (finish) on some of the knives. If it makes a few of you feel better, there was a multitude of employees that were written up over the oversight, and a 6 year employee of whom was of value was fired over the incident.

Certainly we apologize to those that received the 0551 and were unsatisfied. In an effort to make things right, we would like to offer up picking up your knives and re-working them into the condition you have come to expect from ZT.

If you have a 0551 that has an issue, please call Customer Service at 800-325-2891, and they will issue a call tag. This will be a free pick up. Once we receive the knife, we will do the repairs, and get you back the knife at no charge to you.

Hopefully this will help to eliminate any harm done, and thanks very much for your patience.

As to the lock, there have been many discussions on proper positioning and lock travel. There is a lot of subjectivity and I believe personal preference really takes over. I guess I would say for you to return your knife to Dave, or send the piece in for a look should you feel the lock is defective.

On a personal note, I have to say I’m disappointed in many of the attitudes I read here, and I trust you understand that our intentions on this knife were to satisfy the demand we heard specifically from the members on this forum. This project was again not a moneymaker for us, and has now become even more painful. I guess I hoped for more understanding, as we built this for you, but perhaps my assumption was premature and ultimately presumptuous.

In, any case, again I apologize for those of you who received a knife that had a liner issue, and we look forward to making it right, and bringing you satisfaction with your ZT.
 
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Thomas, I'm not gonna quote you, but I agree wholeheartedly with your 5th and 6th paragraph. Lockup is tired debate and you guys pumped a knife out in quick time. I think everyone who's pissed should take a time out.

Who knows what pressures where on the people to get this knife out, especially with such monstrous threads.

On another note, I'm sorry you guys had to let someone go. That's tough to do and can be very draining. I don't pretend to know the history but I sure as hell hope it wasn't just this...

The ZT is in my pocket and isn't going anywhere. I clean and lube my knives about once a year anyways.

Thomas W said:
Nice knfe KK66, perhaps a new thread may be in order?
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Yeah huh :D
 
Mr. Clean said:
On another note, I'm sorry you guys had to let someone go. That's tough to do and can be very draining. I don't pretend to know the history but I sure as hell hope it wasn't just this...
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He was let go, unfortunately just for this.
 
I'm not attacking you or anything, and usually stay away from posting, but it seems a bit too much to fire someone over few knives with little rust on them. Its just weird to me that someones future is less important then few knives...and that isnt meant for you Thomas, its for those who were so sensitive about a bit of rust on their knives. I apologize, but i just feel for the guy that got fired. On another note, i think you guys made a great knife.
 
Thomas I applaud your efforts to bring us this knife, and am in no way sending mine back:D. Mine does not exhibit any of the flaws that i've read about.

I think alot of folks jumped the gun when they saw the issues with their knife, it is unfortunate that the slip up occured but stuff happens, I am even more proud to own my first ZT seeing the way you handled the complaints and are correcting them.


Thank You.
 
Thank you, and amen, to Thomas and Rick for being up-front, honest, and once again providing excellent customer service. Can everyone put this to rest now, please? I am with Rick, let's see how far we can push this beast of a folder (mine should arrive in a day or two). Enough with the bashing over the head for this. It looks like they pulled off a tremendous winner, in my opinion, and are ready to fix any actual or even perceived issues. They listened to the hundreds of opinions on the forums to influence the design, and worked it into their production schedules for the rabid audience. We do no favors to anyone by trampling the various companies' good faith repeatedly on this thread.
 
i just want to say thank you to Thomas, Rick, and everyone at ZT that had a hand in putting this knife together. you guys listened to everyones opinions on here(even though some were unrealistic) and made an amazing knife. im sure you guys put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into this knife especially with the holidays here.

unfortunately there was a QC issue… that happens to the best of us. what matters is how the company handles the problem and we all know Kershaw will take care of us. sounds like some of us forgot that. its sad to see how some members of the knife community will throw others under the bus so quickly.

thanks Thomas, Rick, and everyone at ZT/Kershaw!
 
I hope this thread doesn't turn out to be one of those us against ourselves or us against KAI. It shouldn't be.

I think we can all agree on a few things here:

* The knives should not have shipped in the rusty condition that they were
* We all trust KAI, Kershaw and ZT as much as any MFG we know
* We as consumers have a right to expect a quality product from anyone regardless of the circumstances that brought the product to market
* We also have a right to comment on our experience - that is partially what forums are
* I'm sorry someone lost their job over this
* I hope the individual wasn't a sacrificial lamb on our accord
* None of us should be criticized for speaking about something that is considered a serious matter in the knife world
* A brand new knife from a world class company was shipped with some mostly hidden rust issues.
* Unfortunately this knife is now suffering from the built up hype and its own success
* But only because of one major issue that should not have happened. Unfortunatley, rust perpetuates without intervention
* This is not the consumer's fault regardless of why this knife was conceived
* Everything will hopefully work out for EVERYONE
 
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Thomas,
If it’s not proprietary information or some such, can you tell us exactly what kind of steel the rusty liners are made from??

I’m far more concerned about the rust RETURNING, especially if used as it was designed and mentioned by Rick for “hard use”. I've worked with/familiar with most of the Austenitic alloys and I've never seen corrosion like this. Corrosion resistance is a primary concern for me because I get wet/muddy, work in high humidity conditions in the Summer and frequently wash my EDC folder with water to clean them up. I’ve carried several CRK Sebenzas for ~15 years in this role and have never had one bit of problem with them.
 
I played with the pivot tension and now it's perfect. The only problems are a couple cosmetic issues that won't require sending it back in. Thanks for addressing the issues. Without this thread I wouldn't have ever noticed the liners.
 
RDA said:
What do you think of these two pictures:

IMG_4665.jpg


IMG_4668.jpg


Regards,

Rich
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First things first.
I have owned 3 ZT knives and every one of them was very well made and had fantastic F&F. I was very surprised that the rusty liners ever made it through to the public on this newest offering. I probably would buy another ZT knife without any concern for quality since my past experience with the company has been stellar.

That said, I am rather surprised that nobody from KAI ever saw these pictures. With the advent of the internet forums, and video clips showing alleged “flaws” of many good quality knives, one would think that manufactures would at least know what is going on out there. Although there are many myths perpetrated on the internet, i.e. CRK S30V Green Berets are fragile, 3V pits, etc.; there are some factual additions as well. The bin of rusty 0550 liners seems legit. I believe this photo was released a few months ago. Nobody at KAI caught it, (or apparently even reads any knife forums concerning the upcoming 0550)?
If there was “pressure” to get the knife out that led to this, then shame on ZT. “Pressure” is no excuse. Look how that backfired.
Oh well, at least the “Valuable 6 year employee” was fired, and a few people were written up. Some good came out of it. However, it still leaves a lot of egg on ZT’s face. It embarrasses Rick also, I would imagine.
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
Time to be an ass. What do you want them to say? Everyone gets a free hug and a Kleenex? Everyone gets a complimentary 0551? Will admitting something got overlooked and an apology make anyone happy? Or that everyone should send there knife back and they will re-finish the liners assuming that people don't make a thread on some forum hounding them to get finished? Because that obviously didn't work the first time. I opened the 2 threads on the 0551 about 12 times to see how things were going over the last couple months. I always ended up shaking my head because it sounded like a bunch of unruly kids who don't hear their father's belt come hissing out of the belt loops near enough, on Christmas eve yelling and crying and bouncing off the walls. What did everyone think was going to happen when a knife was squeezed into production during the holidays, and then a couple hundred people groaning and moaning for it to be in their sweaty little hands? It is great to have Thomas on the forums but this is probably part of the reason the Kershaw forum was shut down.

It looks like a finishing step was missed on the liners. They are still made out of stainless steel but that does not mean stain proof, but stain "less". Since the liners appear to be quite rough it is very easy for rust to start as there are lots of nucleation sites. Every red blooded American male should have some sandpaper and it should take about 5 minutes to clean up. It should never just completely rust away like a carbon steel could, but it can have surface rust which is an eye sore.

Having dealt with Kershaw's warranty department a couple times I am sure they will take care of any problems people feel they have. I just hope that everyone is patient to get their knife back since there will probably be quite a few returned from the sounds of it. This happens all too often with sprint runs and I feel it is always because the company gets pressured to get them out and things are rushed and corners cut. Which is sad because the sprint runs are supposed to be perfection and many times end up in disappointment for at least some. No it shouldn't happen and is not an excuse, but I can think of numerous times it has happened with the big popular companies (Spyderco, Benchmade, and now ZT).

/rant
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i couldnt agree more.

look guys, shit happens. learn to roll with the punches. man-up and use some sandpaper and fix the rust.

as for the lockbar issue- clean off the lube. if that doesnt do it, call Kai.


yes. i know. its 200$.

like i said, shit happens. i think everyone here with the right mind to just relax and call kai with whatever issue they have will get straightened out. canceling orders and barking about you wont buy one because some bad eggs popped up is pointless. this is a limited run, why pass up the opportunity? if you have an issue, theyll fix it and you've still got a fairly unique knife.

were obviously going to see all the bad eggs on the thread- a few have said theirs were perfect- mine included. of course every forum member who had an issue is going to be barking about it online.
 
Thanx,Thomas.

Got mine today: serial # 0104.

An Incredible Handful Of A Knife!

Some visible liner rust,but I'm convinced it'll be taken care of.

When I called the 800 number you had listed above,the folks there were nice,but very puzzled,and directed me to call Kershaw/ KAI directly.I spoke with Claudia in Customer Service @ Phone: (503) 682-1966,and will send it today.

REALLY like this knife....Hate to let go of it & mail it back!

~Gnarly
 
I can honestly say this is the first production knife I've ever bought that I wouldn't change anything if I could.
I knew Thomas would make everything right.That sucks that someone lost their job over this.
 
...and the only reason I'm sending it back is because I'm afraid to take it apart!

~Gnarly
 
Pvt.snoballz said:
i couldnt agree more.

look guys, shit happens. learn to roll with the punches. man-up and use some sandpaper and fix the rust.

as for the lockbar issue- clean off the lube. if that doesnt do it, call Kai.


yes. i know. its 200$.

like i said, shit happens. .
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Shit doesn't "just happen", people make it happen.
Quit making excuses.

How many other ($50 and over) knives have any of us ever bought that came complete with rusty liners?
 
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