ZDP-189 Worth it?

[skidoosh]

I'm going down the path in a bad way.  Last year I got a spyderco dragonfly (thanks GraysonK) and love it.  One of the best knives I have ever owned.  However, I'm not so impressed with VG-10.  It holds an edge ok but retention has not been what I expected in the edge department.  I hear plans for a ZDP-189 dragonfly which I am interested in but hear two ends of the spectrum on the steel.  Is it really that hard to sharpen and is the edge retention worth it?

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Never tried that steel, but the edge will chip compared to the VG10's roll, so that might be something to consider

[jekostas]

Before you judge VG-10 too harshly, but a new edge on the Dragonfly or get a professional but a consistent bevel on it.  Spyderco's factory edges sometimes leave things to be desired as they sharpen everything at ~35 degrees out the door.

As for ZDP-189.

-Edge retention is awesome, seriously awesome.  Yes, it's more brittle than VG-10, but not really brittle.

-God help you if you ever actually need to sharpen it from a dull edge.  It'll take hours.  As long as you touch it up every week or so, it's not bad.

The bigger problem I had with ZDP-189 is corrosion - there's a massive amount of carbon in the steel, with some chemical trickery to keep the steel from forming large carbides in production.  I had but no longer use a Delica in ZDP because of corrosion problems, but to be fair there's something about where I live and my skin chemistry that gives me corrosion problems on a lot of different steels.

[sawman]

I'm no expert to the different blade steels but I know I like how my Leatherman blades have held up, especially the 154cm.

[prime77]

I was a little hesitant to get a ZDP-189 blade but man am I happy that I did. I was worried about corrosion and difficulty in sharpening issues. Both are really overblown IMO. I got a CF Spyderco Stretch and put a new mirror edge on and it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. I used the heck out of it in my EDC and it will still shave the hair right off my arm. As for corrosion issue it will stain and form a patina or darken. But not rust like some claim. The patina is actually a good thing as it will form a protective barrier against rust. You can see this darkening in these pics. I did nothing to protect this blade just wiped it off after use. I cut everything from food to cardboard to zip ties. I have no chipping issues either.

[rp252]

I've been after getting a ZDP-189 blade for a while.  I think you just convinced me to get one.

Spyderco here I come

[Mr. Whippy]

I was a little hesitant to get a ZDP-189 blade but man am I happy that I did. I was worried about corrosion and difficulty in sharpening issues. Both are really overblown IMO. I got a CF Spyderco Stretch and put a new mirror edge on and it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. I used the heck out of it in my EDC and it will still shave the hair right off my arm. As for corrosion issue it will stain and form a patina or darken. But not rust like some claim. The patina is actually a good thing as it will form a protective barrier against rust. You can see this darkening in these pics. I did nothing to protect this blade just wiped it off after use. I cut everything from food to cardboard to zip ties. I have no chipping issues either.

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What do you use to sharpen this?

[David Bowen]

I personally don't think i'll venture into the zdp-189 stuff, i'll stick with 154cm, s30v, D2 and VG10 as my steels. Something as hard as zdp scares me, when it comes to resharpening I would be screwed. I can sharpen but sometimes the harder steels already give me trouble if I let them get too dull before resharpening. I have 3 ceramic knives and i'm almost afraid to use them for fear of having to sharpening them.

[prime77]

What do you use to sharpen this?

I used DMT stones coarse through extra, extra fine followed by stropping with diamound paste at 6,3, and 1 micron.

[sawman]

I also will pass on this new steel.  I prefer the softer variants as they are easy to sharpen in any state and I don't mind doing a touch-up as needed.  I prefer 154cm or lesser