"Waving" a ZT0200 in 5 minutes flat ...

Los Angeles

Los Angeles

Joined
Jul 4, 2009
Messages
1,201
... without altering the knife itself!

- - - - -

I've wanted to "wave" my ZT0200 ever since I got it a few weeks ago.

While it has a small thumb ramp near the thumb studs that could be ground away to accomplish this, I also didn't want to do something to the knife that I would hate or regret later on. I wanted to keep it in at least "good/excellent" condition should I ever decide to sell.

What I came up with couldn't have been simpler. All I needed was a 6" length of 16 gauge copper wire and a leatherman multitool (I used a wave). On the leatherman, I used the pliers, the wire cutters, the file and nothing else.

A couple of notes before I get to the photos:

1) Why copper? It's pliable (easy to work with bare hands and pliers), and it's softness won't harm the blade in anyway.

2) I was extremely lucky choosing 16 gauge right out of the box - it fits within a few thousandths of an inch into the thumb ramp jimping, and it ALSO fits within a few thousandths into the space between the thumb studs and the handle when the blade is locked open. It was a miracle fit on both counts.

- The most important step here is the tightening of the "twist" with the pliers. That's what "locks in" the mod and secures everything.


I'll leave most of the explaining to the photos:

All you need:

5834394864_454789049c_b.jpg



Put the wire into the pliers about 1/4" behind the nose (roughly the same width as the blade):

5834394406_1a75bfd091_b.jpg



Bend the wire into a "U" with a flat bottom:

5833839281_9490d39218_b.jpg



Place the "U" into the second notch along the thumb ramp - it should nestle in perfectly - and send the copper wire behind the thumb studs:

5833838353_82a14c12cc_b.jpg


Bend the wire around the base of the thumb studs:

5833838001_00f80deeff_b.jpg


Being careful to keep the copper wire as close to the base of the thumb studs as possible, begin twisting the wire:

5834381964_a534322ce9_b.jpg

5834381008_4dc24b4889_b.jpg


Use the nose of the pliers to get it good and tight (but not so tight as to break or tear the wire)

5834380124_99919b4654_b.jpg


Here's what mine looks like after it was tightened up:

5833820193_41aa768ba1_b.jpg


Cut the wire, leaving about 1/4" of the helix.

5834373692_3ca63cd02d_b.jpg

5833815971_32cc3ac7e8_b.jpg


Use the file to soften the corners and remove any burrs (be careful not to accidentally mar the blade).

5833815917_6b20d1bcc2_b.jpg



ALL DONE!

5833814579_646160e671_b.jpg


5833814325_e76218d035_b.jpg


5834367072_8de43d3506_b.jpg



HOPW YOU'VE ENJOYED THIS!

Kent
 
:thumbup: Looks great to me! I'd personally spray the copper black in order for it to match the rest of the knife, but that looks very usable for a non-permanent wave.
 
You're not finished! Great job with the mod, but now you need to do a Youtube video demonstrating it in action :D
 
Looks great to me. You might consider a piece of shrink tubing for the twisted part. Bow shops might be a place to locate some.
 
Birchwood-Casey gun blue might work too. I couldn't find a bottle in my gun-cleaning kit so I couldn't test it on copper. Good thinking, though, Kent.
 
P.S. You might also see if you can keep the blade cool but heat the twisted copper enough to get it to hold solder. Then you could do a little file work and smooth it out.
 
Great suggestions, everyone!

I've EDC'd this setup for a couple of days and I find that there's one big problem: The scales on the 0200 are REALLY abrasive/grippy. which means that the tightness of the clip combined with the texture underneath the clip combine to slow down deployment quite a bit. So much that you really have to yank the thing to get it to "fire." Success rate: 75% - or not nearly good enough.

I was really into babying this one, but then my buddy decided to use this blade to cut into some aluminum cans of beer in order to "shotgun" them. Now that the black finish is marred by the point, I think it's OK for me to get a little more aggressive with the knife. For starters, I'm going to see if I can gently smooth out the scale underneath the clip and maybe slightly reduce the clip tension. Beefing up or strengthening the "hook" is next after that. both lo-temp solder or a bit of cable insulation would likely work pretty well.

I'll keep everyone updated.

K
 
Los Angeles said:
Great suggestions, everyone!

I've EDC'd this setup for a couple of days and I find that there's one big problem: The scales on the 0200 are REALLY abrasive/grippy. which means that the tightness of the clip combined with the texture underneath the clip combine to slow down deployment quite a bit. So much that you really have to yank the thing to get it to "fire." Success rate: 75% - or not nearly good enough.

I was really into babying this one, but then my buddy decided to use this blade to cut into some aluminum cans of beer in order to "shotgun" them. Now that the black finish is marred by the point, I think it's OK for me to get a little more aggressive with the knife. For starters, I'm going to see if I can gently smooth out the scale underneath the clip and maybe slightly reduce the clip tension. Beefing up or strengthening the "hook" is next after that. both lo-temp solder or a bit of cable insulation would likely work pretty well.

I'll keep everyone updated.

K
Click to expand...

Let me quickly say that you can easily remove the aluminum deposits of the Tungsten DLC coating with a toothbrush, soap, and water. The coating has a rockwell of 80+; some aluminum can't hurt it :D
 
I'd put a tube of heat shrink over the twisted ends. Actually, I would heat shrink the entire thing for a black look.
 
I know this is an old thread, but does anybody have any idea what hes talking about? With pics gone, its hard to tell
 
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