problem sharpening ZDP Delica

Y

yongfei

Joined
Nov 29, 2005
Messages
21
I have a blue ZDP Delica. It was very sharp out of box.
After it was dull first time, I tried to sharpen it with Lansky system and sharp maker many times, but I can't make it shaving sharp as other blades(VG-10.s30v,154cm...).
I searched the forum to get some tips of sharpening ZDP, but none of them worked.
Anyone has the similar experience?
To me, if I can not make it sharp it has no value at all.
 
Gotta be your angle. I had no problem with either of mine on waterstones. ZDP sharpens up nicely and isn't as hard to sharpen as a lot of other steels, though it may take a bit more elbow grease.
 
I used Lansky to profile it at 17 degrees per side first - because the width of the blade, I guess the real primary bevel should be 12-13 degrees.
And then I tried:

1. use lansky stones to set 20 degrees secondary bevel - it can hardly shave

2. use sharp maker to set 15 degrees secondary bevel according to what I learn from sharp maker DVD( I worked for other steels) - particularly I sharpened it with patient at final step( white rods flat) - more than 100 passes per side lightly( tested the edge after every 10 passes) - still can hardly shave

3. I think maybe my skill is not good enough to set 15 degrees bevel for ZDP, so I changed to 20 degrees bevel - still I can't get it sharp

That's all I can try.
 
I've personally had the most luck using the Spyderco SharpMaker and recommend it to anyone. If you cannot get the knife sharp as you please, Spyderco does it for free. The downside is a rather long turnaround time.
 
Don't spend so much time on the white rods, you should be shaving on the medium ones first. Going from 20 to 15, you went from maybe on the edge to cutting the shoulder again, so it wouldn't get sharper until you removed a whole lot of zdp all over again, and you were trying to do that with the fine ceramic. And then switching to 20 on the sharpmaker, it probably doesn't match up all that well with the 20 on the Lansky, so you might not be hitting the edge. Heck, you might not have hit the edge at all, that'd be something to check first.
 
yongfei said:
1. use lansky stones to set 20 degrees secondary bevel - it can hardly shave
Click to expand...

What exactly did you do, step by step.

use sharp maker to set 15 degrees secondary bevel according to what I learn from sharp maker DVD( I worked for other steels) - particularly I sharpened it with patient at final step( white rods flat) - more than 100 passes per side lightly( tested the edge after every 10 passes) - still can hardly shave
Click to expand...

This would not do anything productive because it is lower than the Lansky angle.

I think maybe my skill is not good enough to set 15 degrees bevel for ZDP, so I changed to 20 degrees bevel - still I can't get it sharp
Click to expand...

You may not even be hitting the edge, even from the Lansky.

-Cliff
 
1. right after reprofiling it at 17 degrees lansky(real angle 12-13 degrees, I observed the burr to guarantee to hit the edge), I used fine hone(purple one) to sharpen it at 20 degrees lansky(real angle 15-16 degrees) both sides.

2. and 3. I used the marker trick to guarantee I hit the edge in sharp maker.

My sharpening skill was proven by making other 9 folding knives in different steels scary sharp.
 
Have you cleaned your Sharpmaker stones? Once clogged, they're pretty ineffective.

cbw
 
The burr was a little bit hard to remove, finally I switched to sharp maker, after 2 light passes per side on brown rods at 20x2 degrees, I couldn't feel the burr - I don't have microscope to see what really happened in the edge. but still the knife was not sharp after all these efforts.
 
run to radio shack and get the 10$ lighted microscope. It's hand held and the range is 60x to 100x. The best sharpeing item I'v got yet, and I have around 300 bucks in sharpening items, this thing is sweet. (hello, my name is Randy...and....I am a knife knut)
 
I tried to shave in both sides - it can not shave in both sides.

Radio Shack in Canada doesn't sell that portable lighted microscope - I live in Canada.
 
that microscope is made in china, At that price I would think any gadget type store will have it. It is made crappy but works very well for the money. I would just keep your eye out when your in those gadgetity type stores. I say this because Radio Shack's name is not on it anywhere.
 
It can not shave in either side - it shouldn't be burr problem.
Maybe the grain size of that ZDP steel in my Delica is too big.
 
If it isn't shaving on either side it sounds like a fracture problem. Ideally I would suggest going to a softer abrasive, ideally a natural waterstone. If this isn't available then you can lighten passes and use a lot of strokes on the microbevel, as much as 20-40 may be necessary and this is after the edge is formed.

To ensure you are hitting the edge completely, first make a couple of passes right into the stone to fully blunt the edge to the point where it won't even slice paper. Then reset the edge on a coarse stone so that it slices paper, towards the end as the edge starts to pick up some bite, start going really soft. With the edge reset, microbevel and again go very light.

-Cliff
 
Cliff,

Thank you very much for your help.

I have a waterstone, but I don't have the skill to keep the sharpening angle.
For the second method, I don't really understand what the "stroke" means.
Usually we use "pull" to sharpen knife in sharp maker, does "stroke" mean : slide knife up and down to sharpen microbevel?
 
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