Rockstead Higo-J in ZDP189

Nemo

Nemo

Joined
Oct 16, 1998
Messages
1,697
Hi,

please find on my blog the first part of my review dedicated to the Rockstead Higo in ZDP189.
(There is lot of photos...):cool:

Cheers
Nemo

rocksteadhigo.jpg
 
Last edited:
If its a Rockstead, it always gets my attention! Thank you.

Très excellent site, will keep an eye on it :thumbup:
 
Merci beaucoup for the kinds words untamed. :-)

I have update it with my mighty bottle but cutting test...

Green.jpg


The edge and the grind are so powerful... And the ergos are with no surprises: the torque is transmit to the blade at 100%.
(This is not the case of every knives YMMV !Many knives that I love were not able to cut the but of a plastic bottle as easy as this one.
The grind, the ergos and the way the force is applied to the medium are very important factors.)
 
Rockstead is the nicest high end brand that I know.
I've examined them several times already and they are impressively made. Even more so than the already excellent Sebenza, in my perception. They ooze precision.
 
Fasinating knife. I am enjoying your review and am interested in how you find it to function over a longer period. I would like to know aswell how you maintain the edge.

Enjoyed you knife blog! The little Spyderco Walker sure is a sweet little knife!

JD
 
J D Wijbenga said:
Fasinating knife. I am enjoying your review and am interested in how you find it to function over a longer period. I would like to know aswell how you maintain the edge.

Enjoyed you knife blog! The little Spyderco Walker sure is a sweet little knife!

JD
Click to expand...

Thank you for the nice words. :)

This is all the point to see how the Higo goes on longer period.
As far as I'm using it, I did not notice a single scratch on the miror finished blade.
The high rockwell seems to protect it from that.
It's a light and solid knife easy to carry.

It's only little drawback so far is it is not as smooth as other knives I own with the same kind of lock.
My smoothest is the Spyderco Gayle Bradley or my good old Sebenza (15 yo) which is as smooth as the very first day.
The Higo perharps needs to be used to break in. (WHen I release the lock the blade pivots with great ease thanks to its very big bronze washers but when the lock press against the blade during the opening and the closing it acts as a strong brake. I use to have the same issue with the Sage2 until I found a way... not sure of how I did it though...:confused:)
Time will tell.

The ergos are so great and gives ease to a lot of different uses. The sharpness is unearthy and really it cuts like an lightsaber in hard plastic soft and delicate materials (toilet paper is a good test for sharpness... and I do it just for test not for sparing ! ;)). It's very elegant and feels solid in the same time. Very easy to clean and keep clean. A pure pleasure to strop as the mirror blade is just caressing the leather...
I will go next week to the countryside and will test it in the woods.
I would like to test the ergos on harder cuts ! The liners are thick (and so light) so i should not need gloves.
Will see !:D

I maintain the edge so far by stropping with some compound on my old leather belt. It did not see enough use to jusdge yet and Rockstead asked only to strop it on an old denim nailed on a plank of wood with some compound on it. So no ceramic, no stone only stropping. This suits me as 99% of my touching up is done that way.

Cheers
Nemo

PS: and yes, the little C22 Walker is such a jewel ! Thanks to a fellow from Holland, Jur, who offered it to me now. This is a great little knife to EDC. Light, strong and sharp as hell ! I bought another one to offer it to one of my friend who is hunting in Italy. It will be used as a skinner and EDC knife. ZDP189 is an amazing stuff when you know how to keep it sharp ans strop it regulary...
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the extra information. Just what I was looking for!

I find zdp still a little tricky to sharpen. Sometimes I get it right and sometimes I screw it up. I am curious how your Italian friend will find the Walker as a skinner. And yes, Jurphaas is definetly a good guy!

JD
 
And he should be back from Corsica... (which take us back to the Corsican Douk !)

My italian friend is not as "anal" as myself about sharpness.
He can be happy with "mezzo mezzo" sharpness and goes to diamonds for a teethy edge.
Especially he uses his knives (actually a paramillie) on wood, strings and "after" for skinning...
He loves S30V. ZDP is going to be a all new affair ! ;-D
 
ZDP189 is very stropping friendly.
The Higo-J is so super sharp and poslished , I don't notice any difference yet though...
 
very nice review,

i have the same experiance with my Tei,
after more than a year off use ( alot aff card board ) , and only stropping the knive every ones in a while, riding my pocket was hard for the handle materiaal.

it will need a little sharpening, it is stil sharp, but not as scary sharp as it came
i have send it back to Rockstead for resharpening,
next time i will try my self

rockstead is top notch,

regards, Martin
 
These knives are 100% industrial. All made by computers and CCM machines but the finish is handmade like on Samurai Swords. WIth love and patience.

My ZDP189 blade was "chipping" today (!!!) quite badly on the tip (Arrrrgh!!!). So I have decided to passe it gently on ceramic before to strop it for an hour on leather.
Now it's much sharper than before and I know my edge is stronger.
Amazing grind !

http://nemoknivesreview.wordpress.com/2010/10/14/rockstead-higo-j-zdp-189-fears-and-cures/

Where you can find some pics....
 
Last edited:
That's a great review Nemo. Thanks for that:thumbup:. If I had the extra dough, I'd get one myself, but it is very high priced for a production knife. I'd be interested to know if continues to chip. What were you cutting that resulted in the chipping the last time?
 
Kaizen1 said:
That's a great review Nemo. Thanks for that:thumbup:. If I had the extra dough, I'd get one myself, but it is very high priced for a production knife. I'd be interested to know if continues to chip. What were you cutting that resulted in the chipping the last time?
Click to expand...


Thank you !
I did not cut anything. But the tip may have been in contact with an hard surface without me noticying it....
The more I think about it (and when I see how I could fix it)
I think it was the very edge which rolled chaotically giving the look of a bad chipping but which could be fixed with a light sharpening (without removing matter)
The edge has touched something hard (it's happen at the tip and this could have happen without me to notice it)

"The bottom of this blade edge is 30 degrees, and it's continuously change to top of the blade.The top edge's angle is 24 degrees."
30 degree (15 by 15) with a very hard steel can be tricky when the edge is brend new.

Anyway I gently realigned the edge with white ceramique and strop it a lot.
I my have created a secondary (and stronger) edge, but the stropping should minimize its effect in pure sharpness loss.

Any knives are made to be used. It's easy to hit something which alter the edge. A good tool should be able to withstand that, get fixed and ask for more.
The Higo-J, as an excellent tool, is no exception.
Bob Terzuola says: "If you knife is still sharp, it means you don't use it enough !"
So let's use it ! :D
 
Last edited:
"We realized the best edge angle near the haft of the blade is 30 degrees and in the point of the blade 24 degrees.(We adjusted the angle to 30 degrees in the haft side because power was most concentrated there, which improved toughness, and 24 degrees at the tip of the blade, where power was low. The angle changes continuously.)"

Ok the angle at the tip is shallower... that's why the tip is more fragile ...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top