Spyderco Stretch 2 replacement Clip

[ganit]

hey guys, new to knife forums and relatively knives in general. This appears to be the place to ask though...

I have a spyderco stretch 2 that i used quite hard for a year or so, ended up chipping the blade and breaking the clip. After carrying other knives for a bit, i'm ready to give my stretch some TLC and start carrying it again.

So my questions:

(1) I'm not the most experienced with knife sharpening, but i could do it–*my concern is that this ZDP 189 is intense steel, is it worth my time to attempt getting this mild chip out myself, or should i send it in (say to spyderco) to get it sharpened?

(2) The clip is not salvageable, but i hated the stock clip on it anyway. I've seen quite a few people with replacement clips that were chrome or whatever, where's a good place to look for these? my concern is buying a clip and having it not fit, or suck.

(3) Lastly, there appears to be small dots of rust ( i assume it to be rust since i cannot simply wash or polish it off easily) around the blade. Small enough that you need direct light and careful inspection to see. Is this something i should spend time removing? ifso.. suggestions on how to do that without destroying my blade would be helpful

 

[Orion's Belt]

If you try to sharpen out the chip all at one time, you'll remove way to much metal and shorten the lifespan of the blade. A few sharpenings and it'll be in the past. There are low ride titanium clips that USA Knifemaker offers. As for the rust, you can try to remove it with a metal polish such as Flitz or Simichrome.

 

[pwet]

for the clip if the only thing that bothers you is that it's not shiny it's something very easy to deal with. ask spyderco a new polished clip, it's their standard hourglass that comes polished on several other knives iirc.

if not ask for a new black one and polish it by hand, about one hour of work depending how shiny you want it and if you don't have access to a buffer.

 

[ganit]

Apparently, ZDP 189 isn't as stainless as many other types of steels; which can cause the spots i'm seeing. I picked up some flitz for $11 from yourcornerstore.com (don't care if nutn fancy sucks, the store he promotes has great prices!) to polish that out.

Most of the clips i've seen around will not fit this knife. But i did a little more digging and found that spyderco's factory outlet store will sell clips directly to customers.
Directly from the spyderco site:
Replacement Clip Kits may be purchased directly through SFO (Spyderco Factory Outlet) Store: 800-525-7770 X107 or 303-279-8383 X107 or sfo@spyderco.com

I emailed them to find out information on clips available to me.

I'm still undecided as to attempt to sharpen this ZDP 189 myself or send it somewhere. Although Orion's Belt solved the chip problem, just wait for it to go away through sharpening.

 

[Orion's Belt]

ZDP is tough to sharpen, or should I say, time consuming. It is VERY hard and just takes time. What type of sharpening equipment do you have?

 

[ganit]

a generic rod system. I'm looking to upgrade to free hand stones– still researching what is the best in my price range (below $100) i'm not a huge fan of guided systems, they just aren't fun to use. Where as free-hand sharpening is a lot of fun, just takes time to learn. Something i'm willing to do, but before that i want to get some stones!

I'm looking at a few diamond coarse 200-300grit, 60 micron / medium 600ish grit 20 micron stones and then a high polish or ultra fine stone, 3-7 micron. I'm looking at spydercos ultra fine stone and also ultra fine arkansas stones, not sure if diamond ultra fine is where i want to go. And then lastly, a strop. probably can't get all of this for under $100, but i'll try

Again, i don't really know if these are the blocks i should be looking for, just kinda going off what most kits seem to put in.

i found this kit- which i like, but its not diamond, and since i have a few super steel knives, is that a worry? http://www.bestsharpeningstones.com/catalog/Norton_Waterstone_Starter_Kit.htm

 

[Orion's Belt]

If I were going to start a free hand setup, I'd do it right and be done with it. It will be expensive but worth it in the long run. I would look into some DMT plates.