ZT0560 edge DESTROYED by plastic zip tie

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Zip ties are easy to slice thru, but a lot of times I've watched people slide the end of the knife under the tie then apply a little sideways motion as well as forward motion. This puts a lot of stress on a small section of the blade edge. I've done it myself.
 
Send it in to ZT to have them sharpen with a letter, they will have it back to you in 2 weeks with a brand new edge! I blunted my edge sharpening on a work sharp and they fixed it better than new.
 
gytheran said:
I'd like to know the details... I've been looking at this blade for a while and I find it hard to believe that a $260 knife is going to perform worse than any knife I have ever used in my life.
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As anyone here will tell you; the ZT 0560 is an Awesome knife. :thumbup:
 
gytheran said:
I laughed out loud when I read zip ties being one of the worst things to cut...
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I am glad you were amused. Tells me exactly how much you really use your knife. :rolleyes: Larger zip ties are hell on knife edges. They're designed to be tough bastages. Search a little on here, and you'll find many posts like the one above. Not that a knife won't cut through them, but it is not hard to cause damage in the process.
 
I'm thinking about using my 0560 to cut some ties and see how it holds up.
 
Heavy zip ties are much harder to cut than plastic banding. I cut both all day. It does not matter how good, thick or thin the steel is. If you start a cut on a heavy zip tie and torque the knife wrong it will damage the edge. Softer steel will roll easily even on a straight cut. Tie edges not trimmed properly after being cut are like razor blades and will slice the crap out of you. I have scars 10 years old from getting cut from improperly cut tie ends. We even removed a vendor who refused to trim the ties on material they sent into us. We use small wire snips to cut the ends flush with the fastener. The fix for the edge is an easy one but will take time with a sharpmaker.
 
SOLEIL said:
Heavy zip ties are much harder to cut than plastic banding. I cut both all day. It does not matter how good, thick or thin the steel is. If you start a cut on a heavy zip tie and torque the knife wrong it will damage the edge. Softer steel will roll easily even on a straight cut. Tie edges not trimmed properly after being cut are like razor blades and will slice the crap out of you. I have scars 10 years old from getting cut from improperly cut tie ends. We even removed a vendor who refused to trim the ties on material they sent into us. We use small wire snips to cut the ends flush with the fastener. The fix for the edge is an easy one but will take time with a sharpmaker.
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Spoken like someone with true experience. Thanks for your post! :thumbup: I am SpyderPhreak, and I approve of this message. ;)
 
SpyderPhreak said:
Tells me exactly how much you really use your knife. :rolleyes: Larger zip ties are hell on knife edges.
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Really it doesn't... It means I allow the knife to do the work instead of trying to pry and snap the tie. If I can manage to routinely cut 500lb polypropylene strapping, I'm positive(from experience, thank you) I can handle a "larger" zip tie. At no point should a zip tie be the bane of the knife world... :rolleyes:
 
SpyderPhreak said:
I am glad you were amused. Tells me exactly how much you really use your knife. :rolleyes: Larger zip ties are hell on knife edges. They're designed to be tough bastages. Search a little on here, and you'll find many posts like the one above. Not that a knife won't cut through them, but it is not hard to cause damage in the process.
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only if not done properly.... I've cut thousands and thousands of various sizes, types, etc of zip ties. They are not hard to cut "if cut properly"....

Looks to me like OP tried to twist his knife into position so that he could then cut the zip tie and chipped the end of his blade in doing so....I've chipped/snapped a handful of blades this way. I would bet a nickel this is what he did.
 
gytheran said:
Really it doesn't... It means I allow the knife to do the work instead of trying to pry and snap the tie. If I can manage to routinely cut 500lb polypropylene strapping, I'm positive(from experience, thank you) I can handle a "larger" zip tie. At no point should a zip tie be the bane of the knife world... :rolleyes:
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What about those annoying metal reinforced ones?
 
When cutting a zip tie, you're knife makes a small slot just as you start applying pressure - and the pressure pinches the slot together - it compresses like a pair of pliers. The amount of force pinching your knife edge is INCREDIBLE! Add to that the malleability of the material - it actually conforms to the surface of the knife edge and holds tight - making it even harder to push through.

Only three ways out:

1) Reverse the motion - back up and save your blade. Use something else instead.

2) break on through and perhaps break your knife edge at the same time

3) Release the pressure by TWISTING your knife and DEFINITELY chip your knife edge all to hell.

It only takes a couple of attempts before we all swear to go with #1 forever and ever. :)
 
asupernothing said:
What about those annoying metal reinforced ones?
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Well anything over plastic gets the steel banding cutters or if there's enough tension, a band breaker. Sometimes I even break the plastic strapping with the band breaker. :) I don't have to deal with the metal reinforced zip ties... but of course, a knife isn't really the appropriate tool for the job. :)
 
gytheran said:
Really it doesn't... It means I allow the knife to do the work instead of trying to pry and snap the tie. If I can manage to routinely cut 500lb polypropylene strapping, I'm positive(from experience, thank you) I can handle a "larger" zip tie. At no point should a zip tie be the bane of the knife world... :rolleyes:
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We're just going to have to agree to disagree. I am not going to take this any further.

Los Angeles said:
When cutting a zip tie, you're knife makes a small slot just as you start applying pressure - and the pressure pinches the slot together - it compresses like a pair of pliers. The amount of force pinching your knife edge is INCREDIBLE! Add to that the malleability of the material - it actually conforms to the surface of the knife edge and holds tight - making it even harder to push through.

Only three ways out:

1) Reverse the motion - back up and save your blade. Use something else instead.

2) break on through and perhaps break your knife edge at the same time

3) Release the pressure by TWISTING your knife and DEFINITELY chip your knife edge all to hell.

It only takes a couple of attempts before we all swear to go with #1 forever and ever. :)
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It is far too easy to damage the edge when cutting large zip ties (when I say large, I am talking about any that are more than about 1/8" wide max). Mitigate the risk and just use the right tool for the job.
 
This is the exact kind of zip tie and way I cut it. Yes I was twisting as well to "pop" the zip tie. Done it 1000s of times.

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Yeah, that'll chip out a blade. Think about it, you're applying a levered force to only the edge of your blade. It'd be the same as putting your cutting edge against that counter and twisting into it as hard as you can. Honestly, 1000's of popping zip ties... I'd say that ELMAX held up like a champ.

If you're gonna use it like a prybar.... get a prybar.

If you put a little more of the blade through and rotated the knife counter clockwise (so the tip is resting against the fastener end and you slice through the tie on the right) you'll be using the blade edge in the way it's designed for.
 
the reason zipties are so bad (in my experience) is because they are made of a material Very similar to g10 or delrin) flexible yet strong as hell because of the glass fibers that are all melted together within the zipties
 
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