- Joined
- Jan 27, 2006
- Messages
- 497
I thought this might be of interest as a stand alone thread, so i copied it from a related thread that was more for a wishing it were available knife,....
......and now i have one!
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Well,.....i didn't have to wait as long as i thought for my "baby" ZT 0200. I spent several hours yesterday and into the wee hours of today to think thru and execute a cesearan on a full size ZT 0200.
I just "knew" there was a baby in there!
I still have to get a keen edge on the front half of the blade,.....but that will have to wait until i can order some sharpening equipement. All the work done so far was with my jewelry repair equipement,......made up mostly of a Foredom Flexable shaft machine and using thin stone separating discs, and an assortment of files.
I first tore the knife down to get at the steel liners, and made a decision to save as much of the original length as i could and still end up with a 3" blade length. I used a magic marker to mark the outline, and decided to keep the 3rd set of spacer holes intact in order to have the upper part of the knife fill my palm.
I cut one liner at a time, and after i roughed them both out i made a couple of aluminum rods to fit in the two outermost spacer hole sets. (from a slightly thicker knitting needle that i cut & thinned down) These were fitted tight so that the two liner halves could be matched up perfectly in the final finishing.
After finishing the steel liners i put the frame together with the spacers and G10 scales attached,......but left out the blade. The scales, of course, hung way outside of the liners at this point,.......but i was able to trim them pretty quick using a separating disc to remove most of the excess scales,.....followed by one of my old diamond setting steel burs to blend in close to the steel liners. A final fitting with a rubber abrasive wheel and a quick polish with jewelers polish made the butt end look pretty nice.
I originally was planning on either cutting the 3rd set of spacer holes out totally,......or leaving at least one hole on a single liner to allow for attaching a cord. I chose to eliminate the cord attachment idea,.....and opt for the longer handle in my palm. I think i made the right choice as it fills my hand very nice! Also, the 3rd set of functional frame screws keeps the frame stronger than just 2 sets, i would think.
I then took it apart again and washed it all down,.....before re-assembly with the blade in place. I wanted to be sure how to profile the blade before i cut it. Reinforced tape was placed over the blade's sharp edges while i worked, and i used magic marker again to get the profile i wanted. I actually made a cardboard sample of the blade shape, and traced it over the blade with the marker.
I then worked slowly to keep heat from building up in the blade, and used my cutting disc again over about an hour to get thru it. Repeated dippings in water also helped. This blade is HARD,......and i wanted to keep it that way!:thumbup:
I then freehanded a decent edge base to work from,......once i get some sharpening equipement in. The blade would probably benefit from a bench grinder's re-grind,.......but i'd loose the tungston coating so i'll wait to see what kind of edge i can get without going there.
Anyway,.....all in all a fairly nice "baby",........
...i guess all my jewelry repair experience payed off again.
BTW the weight of the original was 7.9 ounces and the baby weighs in at 6.8 ounces.
Overall length dropped from just a tad over 8 3/4 inches to 7 1/8 inches.
Closed length shrunk from 5 1/4 inches to a more pocketable 4 1/2 inches.
......and the blade is a fiesty 3 inches.
Save for a section at the top where i had to re-profile the blade to come to a point,......NO high tech coatings were injured in the making of this knife!
Please note ADDITIONAL PHOTOS with the knife broken down at post #21
......and now i have one!
=========================================================================
Well,.....i didn't have to wait as long as i thought for my "baby" ZT 0200. I spent several hours yesterday and into the wee hours of today to think thru and execute a cesearan on a full size ZT 0200.
I just "knew" there was a baby in there!
I still have to get a keen edge on the front half of the blade,.....but that will have to wait until i can order some sharpening equipement. All the work done so far was with my jewelry repair equipement,......made up mostly of a Foredom Flexable shaft machine and using thin stone separating discs, and an assortment of files.
I first tore the knife down to get at the steel liners, and made a decision to save as much of the original length as i could and still end up with a 3" blade length. I used a magic marker to mark the outline, and decided to keep the 3rd set of spacer holes intact in order to have the upper part of the knife fill my palm.
I cut one liner at a time, and after i roughed them both out i made a couple of aluminum rods to fit in the two outermost spacer hole sets. (from a slightly thicker knitting needle that i cut & thinned down) These were fitted tight so that the two liner halves could be matched up perfectly in the final finishing.
After finishing the steel liners i put the frame together with the spacers and G10 scales attached,......but left out the blade. The scales, of course, hung way outside of the liners at this point,.......but i was able to trim them pretty quick using a separating disc to remove most of the excess scales,.....followed by one of my old diamond setting steel burs to blend in close to the steel liners. A final fitting with a rubber abrasive wheel and a quick polish with jewelers polish made the butt end look pretty nice.
I originally was planning on either cutting the 3rd set of spacer holes out totally,......or leaving at least one hole on a single liner to allow for attaching a cord. I chose to eliminate the cord attachment idea,.....and opt for the longer handle in my palm. I think i made the right choice as it fills my hand very nice! Also, the 3rd set of functional frame screws keeps the frame stronger than just 2 sets, i would think.
I then took it apart again and washed it all down,.....before re-assembly with the blade in place. I wanted to be sure how to profile the blade before i cut it. Reinforced tape was placed over the blade's sharp edges while i worked, and i used magic marker again to get the profile i wanted. I actually made a cardboard sample of the blade shape, and traced it over the blade with the marker.
I then worked slowly to keep heat from building up in the blade, and used my cutting disc again over about an hour to get thru it. Repeated dippings in water also helped. This blade is HARD,......and i wanted to keep it that way!:thumbup:
I then freehanded a decent edge base to work from,......once i get some sharpening equipement in. The blade would probably benefit from a bench grinder's re-grind,.......but i'd loose the tungston coating so i'll wait to see what kind of edge i can get without going there.
Anyway,.....all in all a fairly nice "baby",........
...i guess all my jewelry repair experience payed off again.
BTW the weight of the original was 7.9 ounces and the baby weighs in at 6.8 ounces.
Overall length dropped from just a tad over 8 3/4 inches to 7 1/8 inches.
Closed length shrunk from 5 1/4 inches to a more pocketable 4 1/2 inches.
......and the blade is a fiesty 3 inches.
Save for a section at the top where i had to re-profile the blade to come to a point,......NO high tech coatings were injured in the making of this knife!
Please note ADDITIONAL PHOTOS with the knife broken down at post #21
