ZDP 189 Steel

[jvan]

Thanks so much for all of the info it is grealy appreciated. Kel aa raised a good question that I would also like see answered and that is, all things being as equal as possible could someone list the various steels in order of their relative costs? Thanks again.

John

 

[kel_aa]

For the Leek I understand there is 420HC mother of pearl ones, 440A, S30V with G10, and your future ZDP189.

From the above link provided, savonswordsandknives

The prices are $58, $40, $70 dollars, for the first three. I'm guessing you'll be looking at $90 dollars for the ZDP? Don't worry about all the academic talk. I'm just griped up about Spyderco releasing ZDP Delicas while the price of the secondary market ZDP Caly Jr's have increased so much when they could be releasing more ZDP Caly Jr's to make it more accessible. Sort of like the village blacksmith making more plows when what they really need are hammers. Sure, the plows are good plows and people will buy the plows, but we still need the hammers.

 

[J85909266]

For the Leek I understand there is 420HC mother of pearl ones, 440A, S30V with G10, and your future ZDP189.

From the above link provided, savonswordsandknives

The prices are $58, $40, $70 dollars, for the first three. I'm guessing you'll be looking at $90 dollars for the ZDP? Don't worry about all the academic talk. I'm just griped up about Spyderco releasing ZDP Delicas while the price of the secondary market ZDP Caly Jr's have increased so much when they could be releasing more ZDP Caly Jr's to make it more accessible. Sort of like the village blacksmith making more plows when what they really need are hammers. Sure, the plows are good plows and people will buy the plows, but we still need the hammers.

The ZDP Leek will have titanium framelock handles, and the MSRP is $200.

Also, Spyderco has had the release of the Delica in ZDP planned since before the ZDP Caly had even been released, so they couldn't have anticipated its popularity at that point. Not to mention they already have another Caly Jr. ZDP Sprint run on the way in black handles, so I'd be ready for that when it happens if I were you.

Reference:
http://savsonswordsandknives.com/spcajr1.html

 

[kel_aa]

J85909266, thank you for giving some perspective on the issue. I must admit I didn't know the inside detail and from the outside that is what it look like.

 

[gunmike1]

STR, can you guestimate what the edge angle is on the ZDP Delica? I should get mine next week, and was kind of curious. My Endura 3 was around 15 per side before I reprofiled it. I am thinking Spyderco might have thinned that out in deference to the ZDP. Also, as a side note, How do you like the new handles on the D4? When I handled an E4 in the store, I was shocked by how much more solid the knife felt compared to my E3. It seemed worth the extra weight to get that solid feeling in your hand.

 

[STR]

The Delica has never been my favorite knife from Spyderco. I really like this new one though. The handle is noticably more comfortable in the hand and the knife has a good hefty quality feel to it now thanks to the liners.

Two things I do not like though are this. 1st, the spring holder is FRN instead of steel. A touch more heft could be had if they had made that of steel like they did in the Ocelot. Why they chose FRN is beyond me.
2nd. The position of the lanyard hole is a bit of a screw up in my opinion. I put one of my hand tied ones on it yesterday and in two opening and closing the thing was already frayed because the blade hits it when you close it and the dang thing is so sharp it cut it so to me thats a big oops.

Otherwise the knife itself is super.

STR

 

[JD Spydo]

I am not professing to have the intricate knowledge that some of you guys have. I am not professing to be a cutlery expert by any means. But I am a cutlery enthusiast and my hobby of such is close to the obsession stage. I have taken a couple of metallurgy courses and some machine tool courses. I have quite a variety of knives with almost every type of steel imaginable. Nothing cheap in my line up either. I am a Steel Junkie though because I try to get knives with virtually every steel on the charts.

One of my favorite hobbies is sharpening knives and tools of all types just to see how sharp I can get them. Also I love the compare the abrasion resistance and the different steps you got to take to get certain steels hair poppin sharp. Here is what I have to say about ZDP-189 ~~>>......

In my humble opinion it is up till now the very best blade steel I have ever used. Now I will admit that my use extensive as it is on different materials I've used it on is somewhat limited in scope to my Burgundy Calypso Juniors ( 2 of them) that I have been using for almost a year now. What's really kind of funny is that it is not the hardest, most difficult steel to sharpen that I have encountered up till now. I even find 440V and D2 both significantly harder to abrade, more difficult to re-profile and much harder to put the final edge on. ZDP-189 in my observation is at this time my favorite blade steel for all the right reasons. I would love to see how this steel would perform in a fixed blade hunting knife or even a Big Bowie ( which I am sure would be cost prohibitive ) But ZDP-189 has my vote barring any new steel that might be coming down the pipeline.

 

[Habeas Corpus]

In my humble opinion it is up till now the very best blade steel I have ever used. <snip> ZDP-189 in my observation is at this time my favorite blade steel for all the right reasons.

I tend to agree, having used my Caly for almost as long as you have. One caveat though: I feel good carbon steels are still better by quite a margin - provided you can live with them not being rust resistant.

Hans

 

[windycityjim]

lost my Cj and replaced it with delica zdp couple of days ago - paid $75 at my dealers, saw them gong for $69+ online. the delica seems much sturdier and I like the blades configuration. both Benchmake and Spyderco are such great companies to do business with I never worry about the future with their knives and being a real pig when it comes to sharpening and using them I often take advantage of their largesse - windycityjim

 

[STR]

Gunmike I checked using the EdgePro on the three Delica ZDPs I have in the safe at the moment. (well, one is on my pocket) The edge on them seems to be between 10 and 15 degrees. 15 on the EdgePro is not steep enough to cover it all and 10 is too steep. If I had to guess I'd say half way between 10 and 15 probably about 12.5 on the back part of the blades and it seems to be closer to 15 toward the tips for the edge angle. Since there are no marks between 10 and 15 on the EP I can't say for sure. It is probably being sold as 15 would be my guess.

STR

 

[gunmike1]

Thanks, STR. That is around where I thought it would be, as when I reprofiled my E3 to 10 degrees per side it was getting close to being flat to the stone. I look forward to seeing how it compares to VG10 and S30V for the EDC chores I put my knives through.

 

[WadeF]

I would love to see how this steel would perform in a fixed blade hunting knife or even a Big Bowie ( which I am sure would be cost prohibitive ) But ZDP-189 has my vote barring any new steel that might be coming down the pipeline.

From what little I know, ZDP-189 in a big bowie is not what the steel is designed for. Unless you want to use the bowie as a letter opener? They sandwhich the ZDP-189 bewteen "tougher" and more flexible steel on the little Calypso's for a reason. A blade purely made of ZDP-189 would most likely have a tendancy to snap.

When I bought my Calypso ZDP-189 I got it because I am a steel junkie and just wanted to add it to my collection of other steels, and wanted to check out it's performance. I know enough to realize one doesn't buy a knife like the Calypso ZDP-189 to go out and try and pry things, used it as a screw driver, chop at metal wires, etc. At least, until Cliff or someone says it's okay.

These knives aren't mass produced, they are put out there for those of us who want to play with exotic steels. We should be responsible for understanding the advantages and disadvantages of these exotic steels and enjoy them accordingly.

 

[FliGuyRyan]

Has anyone heard the "street price" of the ZDP Leek yet? Any educated guesses? I know MSRP is $200... so what of the realistic price?

Thanks,
Ryan

 

[bubinga]

"Hair-poppin'" is an understatement. The hair dives out of the way before the blade edge can hit it!

Can't wait for the ZDP Leek!

 

[WadeF]

I haven't heard much about this Leek with ZDP, but it sounds like a winner. Did I hear someone mention titanium? A titanium frame lock leek with a ZDP blade would make a great gents knife.

 

[SteelDriver]

ZDP189 is nice for small pocket knives, but forget about using it for anything that will see rough use.

In Charpy U-notch tests, ZDP189 @ 67.5HRC scored 8.4 J/cm^2. ATS34 @ 60.0HRC scored 21.2 J/cm^2. This is straight out of Hitachi's own data sheet for ZDP189. While Charpy tests are not the final word on a steel's toughness, it's pretty obvious that ZDP189 is not designed for high toughness even among stainless steels.

 

[bubinga]

I haven't heard much about this Leek with ZDP, but it sounds like a winner. Did I hear someone mention titanium? A titanium frame lock leek with a ZDP blade would make a great gents knife.

It is indeed titanium, and it's coming out soon--can't wait to add this one to my ZDP collection (one knife so far!).