Sharpening in Las Vegas

Antihero17

Antihero17

Joined
Feb 23, 2007
Messages
541
The knife I usually carry is my ZDP/TI leek. I cannot get this thing shaving sharp to save my life, I can get it "kinda" sharp but nowhere near as sharp as I would like it to be. Anyone know someone in Las Vegas that could sharpen it?
 
I mailed my ZDP Leek to the guy who created/owns the APEX knife sharpening system company. He sent it back about a week later with a letter stating that only a real pro, like himself, can make these types of knives super sharp, due to the strength of the steel. After reading that letter, I gave up on ever trying to sharpen it myself. It is razor sharp to this day, even after opening countless packages.
 
You can email him. I believe he lives in Oregon. Very nice guy, quite helpful. I rarely carry anything but my ZDP leek at this point in time- it's my favorite knife by far.

edgepro@gorge.net
 
I have the apex system, and I cant get it sharp. I tried reprofiling it to 15 degrees per side and it just looks like crap now and the edge looks a little convex. If I am going to send it to someone it would probably be Tom Krein. I want to see if there are any local options first though. Thanks for the idea though. How much did it cost?
 
He didn't charge me a dime. I think I put five bucks in the package to cover the return shipping.

I'm pretty sure if you mentioned that you already own an edgepro, he would sharpen yours for free as well.
 
Actually, let me expound on that last post. The owner offers to sharpen one knife, for free, to prove that the Apex Edge Pro is really effective. I sent him my ZPD leek, and he did sharpen it, but he included that letter stating that such a knife should only be sharpened by someone who really, really knows what they are doing.

So even if you have an Edge Pro, the ZDP leek is difficult to sharpen, as you have found. That's why I think he would help you out, as you already own his product.
 
I would send it to Tom Krein, though Ben Dale will definately get it spooky sharp. You can ask Tom to sharpen it more acute and it will be easier to resharpen. If you want to spend $35, Tom can regrind the knife to a much thinner edge so it will cut MUCH better and be much easier to sharpen. You can call Tom to discuss just a sharpening or a regrind, and he is very helpful over the phone. Also, you can try a microbevel at a more obtuse angle in the meanwhile to get the knife sharp, as you may not be reaching the edge. Using a sharpie on the edge bevel and then sharpening will quickly let you know if you are reaching the edge or not. If the edge looks convex it could be that you didn't get the new angle all the way to the edge, as the Edge Pro bevels are usually extremely flat. Once the bevel is set properly I got really sharp edges when using a borrowed Apex, but rebevelling was much slower than using my DMT XX Coarse stone.

Mike
 
Spend what you would probably feels is an inordinate amount of time on your coarse stones. ZDP-189 is very wear resistant, so it's going to require more work. You should be able to get a shaving edge on the coarsest Apex stones on any knife, it's just that a 'super steel' will take longer to get there. There isn't much point in going to finer grits until you set the edge; you just slow yourself down with each subsequent grit, which of course is the point to them - less and less metal removal to refine.
 
hardheart said:
Spend what you would probably feels is an inordinate amount of time on your coarse stones. ZDP-189 is very wear resistant, so it's going to require more work. You should be able to get a shaving edge on the coarsest Apex stones on any knife, it's just that a 'super steel' will take longer to get there. There isn't much point in going to finer grits until you set the edge; you just slow yourself down with each subsequent grit, which of course is the point to them - less and less metal removal to refine.
Click to expand...

I spent 3 hours last night trying to get it sharp, does that constitute an inordinate amount of time? lol.
 
with what stones? There's no point changing grit if you don't get a burr or shaving ability.

If you spent 3 hours on just your coarsest stone, then I would suggest using more pressure and/or speed.
 
hardheart said:
with what stones? There's no point changing grit if you don't get a burr or shaving ability.

If you spent 3 hours on just your coarsest stone, then I would suggest using more pressure and/or speed.
Click to expand...

That was with the coarsest and then the next one up from the coarsest. Maybe I am just doing it wrong. The edge comes up a lot higher now and looks a little concave, I was trying to get it to 15 degrees per side.
 
where did you get you 15 degree measurement? The sharpening angle of the Apex depends on the way you lay the blade on the table. With a Leek, I'm guessing you didn't have it lying on the very small flats ahead of the studs, and probably on the primary grind. If you used the color coded marks on the shaft of the Apex, the 15 degree setting might be cutting lower (the centerline of the blade is not parallel to the table), and probably hitting the shoulder more.

It's one reason I didn't care as much for the tool, thin/thick, saber and full grinds require different settings for the same angle.
 
I also have a sharpmaker and I kinda eyeballed the 15 degrees by using the sharpmaker first and then adjusting the apex
 
ok, if the angle is where you want it, it should just be a matter of removing more metal to reach the edge. If the factory setting was closer to 20 degrees, the you have to cut off the shoulder with a really wear resistant steel.

I cut the edge off my zdp Caly Jr., and it took a fairly long time on my D8XX to get it sharp.
 
should the shoulder come up higher on the blade when I reprofile it? Let me see if I can get a picture so you can see what I mean. By the way, thanks for your helpfulness.



How do you add a picture?
 
upload the pic to a host - imageshack, imagevenue, photobucket, etc., and put the url in tags

the shoulder will come up higher if you are sharpening at a lower angle than the original. Like, if you get this sharp at 15 degrees, then decide later on you want to try 10 degrees, the bevel will get wider again when you drop the angle. If you go low enough, there won't be a separate edge bevel, and you'd do a zero grind.
 
Yes, the shoulder of the edge bevel will come farther up the side of the blade as the angle gets more acute. As hardheard said, use the coarsest stone and more pressure. The knife should be shaving sharp with that stone before moving on. I find my D8XX works better with huge amounts of pressure. The D8XX rebevelled my ZDP Endura from 15 to 10 per side in minutes, and it can turn a VG-10 Endura into a zero grind in under 15 minutes. On the Edge Pro, however, I found it to be much slower rebevelling than my D8XX, so it will take some time.

Mike
 
Ok that took a few tried but I finally got it to work
ZDPLeek.jpg
 
Well its coming along a little better, its hard to get a good burr going on this steel. I can hardly even tell its there.
 
trakker45 said:
I mailed my ZDP Leek to the guy who created/owns the APEX knife sharpening system company. He sent it back about a week later with a letter stating that only a real pro, like himself, can make these types of knives super sharp, due to the strength of the steel. After reading that letter, I gave up on ever trying to sharpen it myself. It is razor sharp to this day, even after opening countless packages.
Click to expand...


I am sorry, but this is simply UNTRUE!! :confused: It may be more difficult, but it CAN be done!!

If you can sharpen a knife of D-2, S30V, CPM 154, etc... you can sharpen ZDP-189!! You will just need a little extra time and some diamond hones!

Some day I hope to be a REAL PRO like him.... :barf:

:)

Tom
 
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