Received today: ZT 0566

SpringAssisted said:
Because some people like the knife but not the assist. After owning many knives I have found out I prefer manual. (Ironic because of my username :rolleyes:) I like everything about the ZT0566 now that it's deassisted.

I say go for it. I'd actually like to see how it turns out. I think it would be pretty cool. :thumbup:

It would be a lot easier, but not as fun :p And maybe he can't afford the higher price or he doesn't like the look of it. I mean, when we buy knives, don't we go for the ones we like the look of? :cool:
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Okay, knifenutz... here's the deal... What I really want, is a slightly larger version of my favorite EDC knife right now, the Fantoni HB02: http://www.knifeart.com/fantonihb.html
Mine is 'ALMOST' like the picture, except for some cool thumb reliefs cut into the G10, to access the studs a little better. Beautiful little knife... titanium liners, AND pocket clip. Even Carbidized where it locks against the blade. G10 over the titanium. Open construction of course, titanium barrels. 3-3/16" (3.188") long S30V blade at 60-61 HRC (.124" thick). Love, love, love the ergonomics and feel; shape of the handle and crazy jimping, not to mention a sweet blade shape and great thumb ramp, for a total of 3.100 ounces... So, yes it's a little $$$.... BUT it has everything I want, and really nothing I didn't. To put it another way... the BM943 is a sweet EDC knife, but this Fantoni totally out-classed it, and made it feel like something of a lightweight toy. (Which I KNOW, IS NOT true!!! Benchmades' hold up admirably for years, and are tougher than their light weight gives them credit for!). I liked the 943, a lot!, but it was short-lived after feeling the action of the Fantoni. This is personal preference to be sure, but as smooth and fast as the axis-lock is, I just wasn't satisfied by it. It works reliably and all, and gives you a nice little click when engaged; but give me a manly knife, with a little more heft to it, and that you feel that heavy snap all the way through the quality materials when it locks up... and :) :) :) .... and pretty much why I sold off the 943... Thin, little aluminum knife just didn't hit all the marks for me. Won't be springing $260 for a CF-scaled 940-1 either... and don't particularly need S90V. I don't know... I ordered a 0566 this am, from GPK. It has the stout look I like, in something with thumb-studs and liner or frame-lock. Slightly larger than the 'badass baby Fantoni' I carry discreetly during the week at work. Looks like maybe 20% beefier over-all, just about perfect.... Modifying and tinkering is NOT a problem, nor is getting MY 0566 to fire exactly the way I want. (Polish if needed/a little white lithium grease/relieve the clip off the locking lever a bit, and presto!) I'll probably do a small relief into the G10 again, and cut-off wheel the flipper to my liking (to something like the Fantoni). And maybe even lighten it just a hair, since the ONLY thing that people really cried for on this knife was a titanium lock-side! (Thanks much rpttrsn- you need a job over at KAI/ZT!!!) So, spend an hour at my baby drill press (no milling machine, darn it :( ... and I'm betting we get 1/2 to 3/4 of an ounce lighter. Fun stuff; actually enjoy doing the mods, and I think the 0566 is a perfect canvas to start with... Make a little sense now? Kinda see where I'm coming from? And YES, I'm hugely picky on what size, shape, materials, and quality I'm after. I don't collect knives.... If they feel at all flawed, or less than what I'm ultimately after, then they're only a stepping stone and get sold off. Would have LOVED the new 0562(G10/Elmax FINE)..... SCALED DOWN A BIT to the 0566 size. Gorgeous, ergonomic design, love the huge chamfers all the way around for good 'hand feel', and that SLICER blade!!!, but still a hair larger than what most people want to EDC, and I realize that. (Not in cart!)................ Oh, almost forgot.... since the 550 was mentioned.... Yep, nice materials and construction, but as Jethro Tull said "thick.... as a brick!" Just wouldn't carry a squared-off brick like that.. (also, ...Not in cart!) ....... and nuthin' at all against Spydies', but just don't much care for big holes and oddly-shaped knives... I'm OLD, and kinda traditional that way... Native isn't bad tho'... :) Nuff said. Modding knives is cool!
 
rpttrsn said:
The local Post Office scale is not that accurate, but it was the only scale available to me at that time. I didn't think that much was removed to make it much lighter as I had posted before. The SS material of the liner is 1/16" (.062) in thickness. After weighing at the post office I did go to the SS locking side (.128 thick) and removed some of this material as well. Five blind holes 1/4" dia. x .090 depth. I feel that this frame being made of stainless has made this knife more handle heavy then I like. I guess titanium would make it better IMO. Thanks for your calculations.
P1010462-vi.jpg


thick
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Nice friggin job there, rpttrsn :) I ordered my 0566 this morning, so should have it shortly, and will more than likely: 1) de-assist; 2) polish, clean and white lithium grease; 3) do a flipper-ectomy, after I check for nice thumb-stud action; 4) grind a small thumb-relief into the G10, for better access to studs: and, 5) lighten a little just as you have (I think this knife would be amazing! at 4.00-4.25 ounces...). Well... double checking the math again, you probably only got it down maybe .200 to .225 ounces for the work you did, but there's still room for a lot more (if you ask me..). I bet 10 or 12 of those 1/4" holes would work just fine, and another 4 down in that lockbar portion too. Still PLENTY of room to hog some more out, which would never be noticed externally, or in needed handle strength. So, what's your set-up for those counter-bored holes? You have some kind of mill? What kind of plunge end mill did you use? (sorry, I'm NOT a machinist, but I would like to know!- save me some time maybe...) Thanks man :)
 
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Blairtech,
The following is how I did it. Others might have different methods.
I used a drill press which is not heavy duty. You need to be careful in a drill press using an end mill. It is easy to bend the arbor. Mount the liner/frame to a piece of wood so you can secure it in a vice. Use cutting oil if you can.

1. Mark location
2. Center punch the location of each hole
3. For each cutting tool set you drill press stop for your depth
4. Center drill each punch mark to the max. depth you want.
5. Drill a smaller hole then your finished size.
6. Drill your finish size to the depth of the center drill. You don't have a flat bottom hole at this time.
7. You can now use a two flute end mill ( same size as the drill you just used ) in the drill press to clean out the hole. I also make a flat bottom drill out of a drill bit to accomplish the same thing. Need to know how to sharpen a drill for a counter bore.
8. Use a drill approx. 1/8" or larger then the hole to break any burrs by just running this bit, and lightly touch the top of each hole.
9. Lightly stone surface if necessary. Any stone marks can be removed with scotch brite.

I also enjoy doing mods to my knives. It might not be what someone else likes but its not their knife. With the amount of holes I put in, I figure I can always add more but can't make the hole go away. Maybe tomorrow.
Enjoy making you knife personal.
Ron
 
blairtech said:
Nice friggin job there, rpttrsn :) I ordered my 0566 this morning, so should have it shortly, and will more than likely: 1) de-assist; 2) polish, clean and white lithium grease; 3) do a flipper-ectomy, after I check for nice thumb-stud action; 4) grind a small thumb-relief into the G10, for better access to studs: and, 5) lighten a little just as you have (I think this knife would be amazing! at 4.00-4.25 ounces...). Well... double checking the math again, you probably only got it down maybe .200 to .225 ounces for the work you did, but there's still room for a lot more (if you ask me..). I bet 10 or 12 of those 1/4" holes would work just fine, and another 4 down in that lockbar portion too. Still PLENTY of room to hog some more out, which would never be noticed externally, or in needed handle strength. So, what's your set-up for those counter-bored holes? You have some kind of mill? What kind of plunge end mill did you use? (sorry, I'm NOT a machinist, but I would like to know!- save me some time maybe...) Thanks man :)
Click to expand...
Definitely post some pictures when its finished :thumbup:
 
rpttrsn said:
Blairtech,
The following is how I did it. Others might have different methods.
I used a drill press which is not heavy duty. You need to be careful in a drill press using an end mill. It is easy to bend the arbor. Mount the liner/frame to a piece of wood so you can secure it in a vice. Use cutting oil if you can.

1. Mark location
2. Center punch the location of each hole
3. For each cutting tool set you drill press stop for your depth
4. Center drill each punch mark to the max. depth you want.
5. Drill a smaller hole then your finished size.
6. Drill your finish size to the depth of the center drill. You don't have a flat bottom hole at this time.
7. You can now use a two flute end mill ( same size as the drill you just used ) in the drill press to clean out the hole. I also make a flat bottom drill out of a drill bit to accomplish the same thing. Need to know how to sharpen a drill for a counter bore.
8. Use a drill approx. 1/8" or larger then the hole to break any burrs by just running this bit, and lightly touch the top of each hole.
9. Lightly stone surface if necessary. Any stone marks can be removed with scotch brite.

I also enjoy doing mods to my knives. It might not be what someone else likes but its not their knife. With the amount of holes I put in, I figure I can always add more but can't make the hole go away. Maybe tomorrow.
Enjoy making you knife personal.
Ron
Click to expand...

Thanks a bunch Ron. That does help, just to know to finish the bottoms out with the 2-flute. Now I wonder where to buy one or two? I could always order through someone like Grainger or McMaster-carr, but wondering about local, like maybe Ace h'dware, Sears, Lowes', etc.... I'll figure it out. Good to know you did it with a press too.... I have a a baby Delta, and a nice little Palmgren vise, and the good Cobalt bits to get things started. By the way.... I also have a solid modeling program (Alibre) on my home desktop, so will probably model up just what I want to do, before I start to cuttin'.... P.S.: GPK, that I ordered from, commented on what I wrote to THEM, that the blade specs should actually be 3.25", and NOT the 3.50" that they show. They said they measure on their own, and also double-checked, and what do you know.... they confirmed that the blade is actually 3.50", and NOT 3.25" as advertised by KAI/ZT, as well as anyone and everyone else who sells the 0566!!!! Wow... first I've heard! How hard is it to get the blade length right??? I'm fine either way, but really, KAI/ZT can't check their advertising and give accurate measurements? How goofy...
 
SpringAssisted said:
AHHHH! Beat me to it! lol I'm planning on getting one on Thursday or Friday :thumbup: Is that supposed to be the blue one? It looks purple :p
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Most of everyone else out there has the blue or green ones so I wanted something different and went with a purple one. Hoping to be different from 'the crowd' :P

Here are some wider views of it:

0566_l.jpg


0566_m.jpg
 
aZhu said:
Most of everyone else out there has the blue or green ones so I wanted something different and went with a purple one. Hoping to be different from 'the crowd' :P

Here are some wider views of it:

0566_l.jpg


0566_m.jpg
Click to expand...
Beautiful! I am in the blue crowd lol I don't see the purple on their website, did you ask for a custom anodizing?
 
aZhu said:
Yeah I gave Pete a call and worked it out with him. Can I see some pics of the blue on your 0566?
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Thats really cool, I love the purple. I'm gonna be purchasing mine on Thursday or Friday, but when I get it I will definitely post pictures :thumbup:
 
Just picked up an 0566 off the Exchange today. I keep reading through this thread.

The wait is gonna kill me ;)
 
Congrats on the purchase! I think your patience will be rewarded. The 566 has been my main EDC blade since getting it in November.

grownstar said:
Just picked up an 0566 off the Exchange today. I keep reading through this thread.

The wait is gonna kill me ;)
Click to expand...
 
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