Zero Tolerance 0300 Expert Needed (ZT300)

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dieselpusher6262

Joined
Jun 3, 2009
Messages
34
a little back ground. i have a zt300 that i reground the entire blade almost completely by hand to get the black coating off, and to thin the blade some. anyways i am happy with the shape that i got, i also reprofiled the edge down to 13.5 degrees and have it pretty close to a mirror finish. oh the rest of the blade is a polished finished also. so my questions are 1. got bored of sanding the blade and started to work on the reprofiling (also by hand on a homemade jig/rod holder) now the edge is pretty close to the mirror polish i want but there are still some scratch marks on it. I worked my way up from 150 grit wet/dry to 2000 (taking the time to make sure all the scratch marks from the previous grit was gone. the used sears black compound, the green and finally a higher quality red rogue. any ideas on how to get a satin like finish without undo the hours i spent on the edge. i am looking for a finish that is a not mirror because the knife is used at work, and i dont want to see every little scratch. and with the edge being polished i was thinking the contrast between the blade and edge would look pretty nice. i have a hf belt sander (dont have any higher grit belts through) and a buffer. I would prefer to do it by hand since i have limited experience on both machinces. also i forgot where but i read about taking the steel liner out, why would do this and what would be the benefit and disadvantage? Finally throughout all of this i really never noticed before but when closed the blade almost sits against the steel liner (why i wanted to know about taking the liner out). it doesnt rub but its right next to it. when opened there is no play and everything is nice and tight. when i looked online the only detailed picture i could find showed the blade centered when closed, but there where a lot of things that where different like the bronze (?) washers where both large. Anyways thanks for any suggestions, i am so close to having everything the way i would like and i would really like not to take any steps backwards.
 
Giant wall of text. Yikes... I'm not an expert, but I had a ZT 0302 at one point.

I would not remove the steel liner, it was built to a specification that included it there. If you remove it and leave it out you are going to change the mechanics of the lock interface and potentially have a very unsafe cutting tool.

The washers are not the same size on my 0302 knife. If you disassemble the knife you can the the circular marks left by the washers on the steel, that is how they belong (provided you did not go to town on that part without making a note somehwere).

The blade can be sentered by tightening/loosening the pivot and handle screws in a specific sequence. loosen every screw on the knife. Tighten the pivot first and using a piece of paper folded a couple times wedge it in between the liner/lock to center the blade.

Tighten the pivot down a bit. With the paper in place, tighten the rest of the screws (hand tight, no need for torque). Remove the paper and see where the blade sits. Repeat as necessary. Hope this helps.
 
if this works i am in your debt. i have assembled and disassembled this knife so many times. tomorrow its the first thing on my list. thanks
 
I don't know about other people, but I used 400-600 grit aluminum oxide powder glued to buffing wheels to get a nice satin finish. It could just be because of my unsteady hands, but I find that power tools give me a more consistent finish than if I sanded by hand.
 
You cold use some fine scotch brite or scotch brite belts for your 1x30 and give the balde a nice matt finish. Otherwise you will need to go back and start the sanding process over.
 
got bored and started the sanding process all over. i quite likely will regret this since its already 1 in the morning, and i just started to get into the 400 grit. about the buffing wheels, how do you glue the AO powder to them?
 
Sounds like you did some good work on the blade. Can you post some pics?
 
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