Cts 204p steel

[Gene Fariss]

I just ordered a zt 0562 CF. Just curious as to how hard is it gonna be to sharpen and how well it should hold an edge.

[Marc H]

Gene, the hard part of sharpening folding knives like that one is the limited amount of flat clamping surface you have to position and clamp the knife for sharpening.  Then you may have a thumb stud to contend with that may limit that clamping room also. It appears to have a sharpening choil so that’s helpful.

It won’t be an issue if the Wicked Edge sharpening stones can sharpen the steel this knife is made with.  The stones can do it.  It’s just the stone’s users that need to learn how to use the stones to sharpen that steel.  Once you get past the hurtles the steel will get sharp and hold the edge if sharpened properly.

From what I’ve read the steel is pretty durable, with good edge retention and stain resistant though not as hard as some other steels used in knives like that.

Marc
(MarcH's Rack-Its)

[Jeff]

Gene, Mark is 100% correct on the clamping.  It does take a bit of fussing to get that typical ZT / Kershaw blade style clamped just right. The partial flat grind with the small swedge creates an interesting geometry right where you want to clamp.  I haven’t had issues with the thumb studs on just two models I have sharpened (not a 0562) although they did come close to the stone.  It may be somewhat dependent on the angle you are sharpening.  Make sure you put some painters tape around the pivot area to keep filings out of the mechanism.

Regarding the difficulty to sharpen CTS204p, that is a relative question to the types of steels you are used to sharpening.  If you are used to sharpening VG10 or 8CR13Mov you will find it more difficult. If you sharpen S110v or Maxamet, you will find the 204p very easy.  The difficulty is really just in the time it takes to set the initial bevel.

That CTS204p, CPM20cv, M390 family is a great all around steel for an EDC knife.  I don’t personally have the CTS204p steel in any of my knives but I do have the M390 Bohler steel version.  It is up there on my “favourite list”  along with a couple of others and that is based on my personal perception of difficulty to sharpen vs. edge holding time between sharpenings.

3 users thanked author for this post.

Haffner, NotSharpEnuff, Marc H

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