- Joined
- Feb 2, 2005
- Messages
- 4,270
An envelope arrived from OK yesterday. Inside were two ZDP-189 PE D4s with titanium back spacers. How sweet it is... (sorry, Jackie). I had gotten as far as r/a one of the D4s with two of the barrels in place in the spacer, but Steve had to tweak them to get the third barrel in. He did that in very short order and they were back home and ready to go to work (my wife and I use our D4s as our work EDCs).
I have not had much of a chance to do anything with the D4s except sharpen them and play with them... and play with them... and play with them... but I can tell you that both the appearance of the knives and their "feel" as far as the lockup goes, is 100% improved. The Delica is already a high-class working knife... tough and dependable. And the ZDP versions are great for edge holding over a long haul. But that metal gleam running all the way along the back edge of the handle just makes it look as tough and classy as it really is.
Now, as far as the performance benefits of the Ti spacers goes... the main thing I noticed, even when I had my D4 assembled with just two barrels, was that the spring action of the lockbar was firmer and more consistent than with the FRN spacers. To me, this is a good thing. I don't like weak springs in anything, whether it's a knife lock or a ball point pen.The bar's action has a very solid and firm feel to it now, and the travel is very smooth. It isn't particularly hard to operate the lockbar, it's more that the spring feels like it's being held firmly in place so the tension is more evenly distributed along the whole range of motion.
The other thing I noticed (and this may be entirely my imagination) is that the whole knife package feels more solid when I hold it and do anything with it. This one is going to be impossible to demonstrate or "prove", but I just think that the knives have a more solid feel in hand.
I have several pix of the D4s apart and the Ti spacers, but I'm at work now. I'll post them this evening when I get home.
Nice work Steve... I'm really looking forward to the "Return of the Native".
I have not had much of a chance to do anything with the D4s except sharpen them and play with them... and play with them... and play with them... but I can tell you that both the appearance of the knives and their "feel" as far as the lockup goes, is 100% improved. The Delica is already a high-class working knife... tough and dependable. And the ZDP versions are great for edge holding over a long haul. But that metal gleam running all the way along the back edge of the handle just makes it look as tough and classy as it really is.
Now, as far as the performance benefits of the Ti spacers goes... the main thing I noticed, even when I had my D4 assembled with just two barrels, was that the spring action of the lockbar was firmer and more consistent than with the FRN spacers. To me, this is a good thing. I don't like weak springs in anything, whether it's a knife lock or a ball point pen.The bar's action has a very solid and firm feel to it now, and the travel is very smooth. It isn't particularly hard to operate the lockbar, it's more that the spring feels like it's being held firmly in place so the tension is more evenly distributed along the whole range of motion.
The other thing I noticed (and this may be entirely my imagination) is that the whole knife package feels more solid when I hold it and do anything with it. This one is going to be impossible to demonstrate or "prove", but I just think that the knives have a more solid feel in hand.
I have several pix of the D4s apart and the Ti spacers, but I'm at work now. I'll post them this evening when I get home.
Nice work Steve... I'm really looking forward to the "Return of the Native".
