Stone River SRG1STLB (Blade Mag Best Buy Of 2010)

[SteelSnob]

Does anyone have one of these?

It's blade is Black Zirconium Oxide and is 87RC. It's a Titanuim Framelock with a MSRP of $119.

It sounds cool but it might be impossible to sharpen without power tools.

What do you guys think?

 

[Dnullify]

Zirconium Oxide? what the heck?

Ti framelock though... is it new?

 

[SteelSnob]

Is what new? The knife or the blade material? I believe the knife is new.

 

[kya]

I assume that's the original that inspired this? http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8522212&postcount=385

 

[kidcoyote]

don't they make sharpeners designed for ceramic knives now.

 

[A_Blade_Afficionado]

"Best Buy of 2010"? Definately not, but it is cool. I look forward to a review though.
Can it be sharpened by diamonds?

 

[nevermind35]

I saw that in blade magazine too and was curious about it myself. I thought it looked a lot like the new Boker Ti framelock with ceramic blade (Not sure if its out yet). In the magazine it said that the blade had a rockwell somewhere in the 80s, can't remember exactly, but it'd be fun to give it a whirl.

 

[SteelSnob]

I've never even heard of a blade that hard. The article says it 87rc. That's why sharpening it concerns me. I don't know which came first, the Boker or this but I know the Bokers have been around a couple years atleast.

 

[Sep]

Diamond is still harder than this stuff, but the difference is not great enough to enable manual sharpening without taking an entire day. Sharpening a ZDP-189 blade at "mere" 64 RC with diamond stones is no picnic; at 87 RC this zirconium oxide blade is positively torturous.

 

[SteelSnob]

That's what I thought but I'm not sure. Isn't it a synthetic diamond material? It has Zirconium in the name. It might be as hard as some stones,right?

 

[zyhano]

Then again, it won't need to be sharpened often

 

[Jason B.]

I'd be worried about destroying my stones, caramic blades can do enough damage. I'm sure its possible but what kind of edge would it take? how sharp? Is the blade brittle like glass?

Sounds cool but I doubt it offers any advantage over good knife steel.

 

[Sep]

I heard that kitchen knives made of this material is lightweight, very sharp, and stay sharp for a very long time. The downside: the blade is so brittle that the instruction says to never use on hard things (like bone) else it may chip. You're not supposed to crush stuff with it either (many people crush garlic with the side of their kitchen knife) else it may shatter. Prying and twisting is out of the question.

So, it's not ideal for hunting because it might hit bone, it's not ideal for hard use because it can't pry, and it's not ideal for warehouse work because it might hit a staple in a cardboard box.

Looks like it's gonna make an excellent sandwich cutter and letter opener.

 

[marcinek]

Zirconium oxide....isn't the Yoshi Blade made of that?