Re: Saber-ground zdp 189 endura. How crazy is this?

hank_rearden

hank_rearden

Joined
Jun 7, 2002
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I want to try converting the grind into a half-height convex, through free-hand sharpening. this is somewhat inspired by the rockstead knives. is this possible within the realm normal humans?
 
Hank,

If you mean no motorized tools (merely stones, sandpaper, etc), yes you can with tons of patience;)

Check out my post on sharpening fatigue thread. That Enlan 9Cr steel took me several attempts to get where it is (recurve removed, thin down bevel angle) abd the last one was 2 sessions over two days (about 3 hrs total)
 
chris and CP,

thanks. i'll be using a two-sided carborundum which i always use for re-profiling, and then sandpaper from 280 to 2500. i'm trying to put a mirror polish on my flat-ground zdp endura. i'm at the 2000 grit stage and it's a less-than stellar job. right now it looks like cloudy mirror. but at least i now have a pretty good feel for zdp 189 with regard to sharpening and sanding.

i was thinking of buying a new zdp endura but this time with a saber grind. what i need is one that's a bit thick right at the edge.
 
hank_rearden said:
I want to try converting the grind into a half-height convex, through free-hand sharpening. this is somewhat inspired by the rockstead knives. is this possible within the realm normal humans?
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Possible yes, but it would take a while with that much metal removal on ZDP. Maybe on a 24 grit Nubatama stone it would be a lot faster.

Though I'm honestly not sure how convex it would actually be when using a flat sharpening surface. Ideally you might want 60 grit or lower sandpaper, but I can see that taking a very long time.
 
I think I did something similar with a ZDP Stretch (if I understand exactly what you are wanting to accomplish).

Mine came out more like a zero flat grind (but it has a very slight convex.

I used Diamonds to do mine and it took a while, but it came out well and is a seriously unique performing blade.

Old photos:

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1382214390.804882.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1382214436.130307.jpg
 
Okay that ZDP Stretch is just pure awesome. That thing must cut like a real scalpel.

For reprofiling any steel, I recommend roughing it out on powered sharpeners. I reprofiled my Quartermaster Murdock and my ZT 550 and taking both to around 30° inclusive took me nearly 10 hours total. The edge change was just a few degrees. ZDP is already a nightmare to grind powered, I can't imagine how bad it is by hand.

Taking both of those knives down more (ZT to about 20° inclusive and QM down to around 25° inclusive) took me around an hour on my Worksharp using the medium belt, which I had mistaken for the coarse. A 220 grit belt did what my XC DMT did in literally 1/10 the time.
 
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