Satin blade on my 0560 (before & after shots)

M

Murky Depth

Joined
Apr 18, 2005
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200
Hey everyone, just wanted to share these since anyone can do it if you have the time & patience. I got the idea to 'satin-ize' my blade from NorCalMtn2, who's done this to a couple of his ZTs. I used 1000 grit wet dry to knock down some of the stonewash texturing (which is basically impossible since the nicks go so deep), followed it up with 1500, then finished with 2000. Surprisingly, the laser etching survived all the sanding almost completely unaffected. Pocket clip was finished with 2000 grit as well. I got my sandpaper at a local auto body supply shop. Still need to do more detailing to smooth out some scratches from the lower grits. Kept the knife assembled the whole time, set it on top of 2 mouse pads to have a soft surface to work on. Gonna send it to Richard J to get the poorly done factory edge evened-out & wicked (out of the box, grinds were uneven on both sides from base to tip, one side had a wider grind than the other, unlike my 0200KW which is 100% perfect). Here are the before-afters, thanks to everyone on this forum for the great ideas & tips I've received.

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Looks nice. I personally prefer the stone wash but it looks pretty good :thumbup:
 
Bad-juju - Thanks. I lust can't leave well enough alone.

SOC - Not even a quarter of a sheet for each grit (1000, 1500, 2000), I used small pieces at a time. Pocket clip was a bitch to get completely rid of the ZT logo. The laser etching is serious on these things. I should have paid more attention to how long it took, but I would say easily 12 hours. I tried to get the primary grind a bit more mirrored than the flats, which I kept more brushed. Keep in mind that I've never done this before, just learning as I go. I'm sure a pro could get this done in a fraction of that time.
 
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Murky, you used 3m sandpaper? That stuff lasts a long time.

I prefer the stonewash finish, but not a bad job there.
 
Looks great. Do you have any plans to have a new scale made or something to dress up the handle? Polish the hardware and then heat bronze them?
 
oregonknifenerd said:
Looks great. Do you have any plans to have a new scale made or something to dress up the handle? Polish the hardware and then heat bronze them?
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I actually love the factory scale, it's a thing of beauty & function. I just wasn't crazy about the factory stonewashing on this particular model. I don't imagine any more mods, although I really like the look of Rival's scales. I definitely will delve into his work at some point.
 
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