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Nope. Found now.
As I understand it was a prototype, but of what?
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New ZT0550!!!
- Thread starter PropThePolecat
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As I understand it was a prototype, but of what?
Thomas W
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As to the Vanax 35 steel, we are currently testing it. It looks as though it will come in at 60-61 Rc.
As to the "hype" with it, this is a tad from Uddeholm:
A corrosion resistance as good as austenitic stainless steel, a hardness of
60+ Rockwell and a wear resistance and edge retention of a vanadium alloyed
PM steel? Sounds like a dream come true for any real knife enthusiast.
In Uddeholm Vanax 35 we have made this happen by a revolutionary method
of replacing most of the carbon with nitrogen to optimize the amount of chromium
in solid solution. The nitrogen forms extremely small (<1 μm) and hard
vanadium/chromium nitrides, enabling a great combination of wear resistance,
edge retention, grindability and toughness.
Uddeholm Vanax 35 is truly the most innovative powder metallurgical knife
steel on the market today. This product is currently under development and
being tested by a selected number of key knife makers in the USA.
As to the "hype" with it, this is a tad from Uddeholm:
A corrosion resistance as good as austenitic stainless steel, a hardness of
60+ Rockwell and a wear resistance and edge retention of a vanadium alloyed
PM steel? Sounds like a dream come true for any real knife enthusiast.
In Uddeholm Vanax 35 we have made this happen by a revolutionary method
of replacing most of the carbon with nitrogen to optimize the amount of chromium
in solid solution. The nitrogen forms extremely small (<1 μm) and hard
vanadium/chromium nitrides, enabling a great combination of wear resistance,
edge retention, grindability and toughness.
Uddeholm Vanax 35 is truly the most innovative powder metallurgical knife
steel on the market today. This product is currently under development and
being tested by a selected number of key knife makers in the USA.
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While I don't disagree with your statements, and with all due respect to the knife in the image, that knife ain't no ZT.
I think this board has discussed (in tremendous detail) most every locking mechanism and the strength/weaknesses that are associated with each. I'll say that if you can get an epic fail going with the 0550 you're doing something that no folding knife should be exposed to.
+1 :thumbup:!!! Hey TW ... the fiancee' and I had a great time talking with you and the rest of the gang at Blade. Take Good Care and Be Safe Always.
-ROOK-
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Thanks Thomas! Any particular reason why Vanax 35 for this knife and Vanax 75 for the other folder? Just "steel experimenting" or more based on their properties?
And would you happen to have same piece of "hype" about Vanax 75 from Uddeholm?
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Hello Everyone! Thank you all for your kind remarks and enthusiasm regarding the new ZT 550 ! I must say that I am SUPER excited about the 550 project and working with Kershaw/ ZT!! The guys did a awesome job on my design! This knife is a workhorse of a folder as alot of you have remarked and when the production 550's come out you'll all be very pleased!!
As some noticed at the show the knife is very comfortable in the hand...in the handle design I brought the hand forward slightly up more on the pivot, this enables alot more force over the blade for the really heavy cuts. Of course it has the overall beefy/tough build like my XM-18..
As I said I am thrilled to be working with Kershaw and ZT and as Thomas said we will be very busy in the future!
Rick Hinderer
As some noticed at the show the knife is very comfortable in the hand...in the handle design I brought the hand forward slightly up more on the pivot, this enables alot more force over the blade for the really heavy cuts. Of course it has the overall beefy/tough build like my XM-18..
As I said I am thrilled to be working with Kershaw and ZT and as Thomas said we will be very busy in the future!
Rick Hinderer
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Hello Everyone! Thank you all for your kind remarks and enthusiasm regarding the new ZT 550 ! I must say that I am SUPER excited about the 550 project and working with Kershaw/ ZT!! The guys did a awesome job on my design! This knife is a workhorse of a folder as alot of you have remarked and when the production 550's come out you'll all be very pleased!!
As some noticed at the show the knife is very comfortable in the hand...in the handle design I brought the hand forward slightly up more on the pivot, this enables alot more force over the blade for the really heavy cuts. Of course it has the overall beefy/tough build like my XM-18.
As I said I am thrilled to be working with Kershaw and ZT and as Thomas said we will be very busy in the future!
Rick Hinderer
Congratulations on your new partnership. Personally, I'm very excited about the 0550. One of your designs that I'll be able to afford.
It looks like a great knife for your first collab with ZT. Can't wait to see what the future holds. :thumbup:Ummmm...the 0350 has...wait for it...a 3.25 inch blade! So your knife-fu is also FAIL!
... it was like 5:00am my time, I meant a ZT 0300. My bad you are correct.
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^^^
Judging by the pictures, it doesn't look like it will be an AO blade....
ETA: I don't see a torsion bar anywhere..
Judging by the pictures, it doesn't look like it will be an AO blade....
ETA: I don't see a torsion bar anywhere..
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I, for one, am pretty happy with it just the way it looks in these photos. :thumbup:
No flipper, no A/O, sturdy looking framelock, and a sub-3.5 inch blade sounds like a winning combination for a hard use knife, imho.
No flipper, no A/O, sturdy looking framelock, and a sub-3.5 inch blade sounds like a winning combination for a hard use knife, imho.
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3.25" blade sounds fine to me. Since everyone is clammoring for 3.5" and 3" XM-18's, wouldn't it make sense to split the difference on the production collaboration to try and please the majority? I'm a fan of blades around the 4" mark, but I wouldn't let a gem like this pass by because the blade isn't 4 inches long.
I'd also like to ask what everyone is going to be doing with this knife that they are worried about the lockbar failing? Seriously. Let's get real with eachother here. The majority is going to be cutting open boxes and envelopes, I'd like to know how hard the hard users are going to be using it that they fear the lockbar cutout. Look closely at the pic of the bent framelock on that HD-7. Is anyone else seeing the obvious square cutout? Structurally, much weaker at a near 90 degree angle than a semi-circular cutout no matter how thick or thin the cutout is. And look where it failed. Right at the 90 degree angles on the edges of the cutout. Now someone says that was done by battoning, but I'm not so sure.
In my opinion, to get a failure like that it seems to me that there has to be some pretty extreme force downward on the blade toward the lock for that to happen. Almost like someone put the blade in a vice and stuck a cheat bar on the handle and applied weight straight downward. Any solid proof that was done by battoning?
I'd also like to ask what everyone is going to be doing with this knife that they are worried about the lockbar failing? Seriously. Let's get real with eachother here. The majority is going to be cutting open boxes and envelopes, I'd like to know how hard the hard users are going to be using it that they fear the lockbar cutout. Look closely at the pic of the bent framelock on that HD-7. Is anyone else seeing the obvious square cutout? Structurally, much weaker at a near 90 degree angle than a semi-circular cutout no matter how thick or thin the cutout is. And look where it failed. Right at the 90 degree angles on the edges of the cutout. Now someone says that was done by battoning, but I'm not so sure.
In my opinion, to get a failure like that it seems to me that there has to be some pretty extreme force downward on the blade toward the lock for that to happen. Almost like someone put the blade in a vice and stuck a cheat bar on the handle and applied weight straight downward. Any solid proof that was done by battoning?
Hello Everyone! Thank you all for your kind remarks and enthusiasm regarding the new ZT 550 ! I must say that I am SUPER excited about the 550 project and working with Kershaw/ ZT!! The guys did a awesome job on my design! This knife is a workhorse of a folder as alot of you have remarked and when the production 550's come out you'll all be very pleased!!
As some noticed at the show the knife is very comfortable in the hand...in the handle design I brought the hand forward slightly up more on the pivot, this enables alot more force over the blade for the really heavy cuts. Of course it has the overall beefy/tough build like my XM-18..
As I said I am thrilled to be working with Kershaw and ZT and as Thomas said we will be very busy in the future!
Rick Hinderer
Excellent !
Tostig
Yes, there is proof, this pic came from STR's blog where the knife was sent to him to be repaired. The owner said the failure came from batoning, so unless he was lieing, that's what we have to go on. On that note, if you were batoning really close to the pivot (which you'd need to on a folder to have enough blade to stick out) and the wood was hard this is totally believable.
And I don't think it's a real "i'm gonna use this knife so hard that it might fail" type issue with the lock cut-out. I think it's more of a preference that some people, myself included, would just like it to be thicker. I will be buying this knife and using it for whatever, but more than boxes, and I would just be happy if it were thicker. I would like to have something substantial for when I push to close it, I know that's what's happening.
But way besides all of that, I would agree with another poster saying I haven't even seen or held the knife yet. So it's just my opinion that a thicker cut-out would be nice, however, I'm sure what makes it to production will be a solid and dependable product.
Then on top of that, isn't the point of a thread like this to share our opinions and discuss whatever about the knife? See what other people are thinking, what's good, what's not, and what's new. It's doesn't really need points like "woo, calm down, don't talk about the frame lock failure" because it's not an issue to you. Like sure, if it's not you can play up why it isn't, but it's more beneficial to everyone if you present your view as an alternative and accept the others.
It's clear already that there's a group that's into ~3" blades, a group that's into ~4" blades, a group that's into the glass breaker and one that's not, and a group that's into the frame cut-out and one's that's not. And all of that is valuable and interesting information for all of us who are posting here. We're all just pumped to get the knife in hand and to see who else is looking for the same/different stuff as we are!
Inside I would say everyone, at least me for sure, is hoping that maybe our posts might make it to one of the production versions!
Me, I'm still holding out on a 4" version with a 3/16 spanto blade(DLC or SW), nice flipper, IKBS (or the one off the (Tilt) and thicker than usual framelock! I realize that thicker might be annoying for some people, but there is a market for folks like me that just want that 4" folding workhorse :-D
man this turned out to be a longer post than expected!
(4" folding workhorse FTW)
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Thanks, I was just looking for some confirmation on that. I figured it would be 5/32, but the 0350 was a 1/8 and their blades lengths are the same, so I was worried on that note.
Thanks for getting back to me on that though
And at the end of my above post I mentioned the IKBS (ones from the Tilt). I'm really wondering if they could possibly be featured on this knife too?? We haven't seen any inside snap shots, like on the Tilt, so it's still up in the air, no? Anyone else on that train with me?
I've heard they're quite strong/dependable and even function with sand in them and missing bearings; I think it'd be a very cool thing to have on working folder
From looking at the photos it would seem like a no but I'll ask anyways - is there any jimping in the forward choil or the... Ummm, whatever you would call that other area where your index finger would rest if you weren't choking up on the blade and using the choil 
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