another "my first sebenza" post

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seiryu

Joined
Jun 28, 2010
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94
So last week I decided to pull the trigger on my first sebenza. I spent the weekend trying (unsuccessfully) to under hype the knife so that I wouldn’t be disappointed when it arrived. I scoured forums looking for various things that people have said are wrong with the knife and prepared for the worst. The biggest thing I was worried about was that people had said that it was hard to open.

Well, I got the knife tonight and all I can say is wow. I’m not sure if it’s just mine or what but it opens very smoothly and very easily. I had a Bradley alias II and that in my opinion is much, much harder to open. Anyway, the knife met and exceeded my expectations ( pre-under hyping:) ). I now realize why this is the standard to which others are held. I’m very happy with this purchase and scared for what future purchases this may lead too….

Anyway, here are a couple of pics

openqv.png


closedi.jpg
 
Congrats. All of my Sebenzas open smooth. Actually all 12 of my CRK's do.
Is that Lignum Vitae? I love that wood.
 
Great looking pattern on the wood!

Very clean and classy.
Oh...the thing with CRKs is that they prefer to have family.
Can't wait to see future family shots!
 
Thanks guys. Yes, the wood is Lignum Vitae. When I had first seen the pictures I was a bit worried. They made the inlays look really yellowish gave the knife a really odd look. When the knife arrived I realized that this wasn't the case and that the wood looks very nice.
 
Beautiful! I am seriously considering acquiring a 21 (it will be a companion piece to a titanium hip that I should be getting some time in the not-too-distant future).
 
Lignum vitae!!! :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup: I have small and large LH Classics with LV inlays. I love 'em! :D

I have since had the large double-lugged.

lignum1.jpg


lignum2.jpg
 
Welcome to the club, seiryu! I love the LV -- For some reason, my girlfriend thinks LV means Louis Vuitton . . . but we all know it means Lignum Vitae!

Congrats on a great piece.


seiryu said:
Thanks guys. Yes, the wood is Lignum Vitae. When I had first seen the pictures I was a bit worried. They made the inlays look really yellowish gave the knife a really odd look. When the knife arrived I realized that this wasn't the case and that the wood looks very nice.
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Ive noticed a smoothness difference between older regulars/classics and the 21's. The 21's don't seem to open as smooth IMO.
 
freq18hz said:
Ive noticed a smoothness difference between older regulars/classics and the 21's. The 21's don't seem to open as smooth IMO.
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Some people have mentioned that feeling. My guess is the classics and regulars are older and probably more broken in by use. FWIW I haven't noticed any smoothness differences. If I buy one and it feels a bit gritty or rough I strip it down and clean everything, then reassemble with some CRK grease and it's all set.
 
I really am starting to like the LV inlays. The dense, micro-grain structure of the wood is very appealing. Congrats on a great-looking knife.

freq18hz said:
Ive noticed a smoothness difference between older regulars/classics and the 21's. The 21's don't seem to open as smooth IMO.
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Don't worry about it. It's all in your mind. Don't go wasting your time searching around the internet or various knife shows looking for old Sebenza's.

and nevermind my signature line.
 
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Very, very rarely does a Sebenza not exceed expectations. The ONLY CR that ever underwhelmed me was the Professional Soldier, but then that is a different knife altogether. A Sebenza is a unique piece in the hand and feels every bit like an extension of your hand. The Sebenza and the NYALA are probably my two favorite pieces from CR and of those in my collection.
 
DallasSTB said:
I really am starting to like the LV inlays. The dense, micro-grain structure of the wood is very appealing. Congrats on a great-looking knife.

Don't worry about it. It's all in your mind. Don't go wasting your time searching around the internet or various knife shows looking for old Sebenza's.

and nevermind my signature line.
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I can't vouch for the following from Wikipedia, but it sure makes interesting reading about LV. I bolded some of the text to highlight uses for speed-reading.

Due to its weight, cricket bails, particularly 'heavy bails' used in windy conditions, are sometimes made of lignum vitae. It is also sometimes used to make lawn bowls, croquet mallets and skittles balls. The wood also has seen widespread historical usage in mortars and pestles and for wood carvers' mallets.

It was the traditional wood used for British police truncheon until recently, due to its density (and strength), combined with the relative softness of wood compared to metal, thereby tending to bruise or stun rather than simply cut the skin.

The belaying pins and deadeyes aboard the USS Constitution and many other sailing ships were made from lignum vitae. Due to its density and natural oils, they rarely require replacement, despite the severity of typical marine weathering conditions.

Due to Lignum Vitae's toughness, it can also be used as a lap in the process of cutting gems.[citation needed] The wood is covered with powdered industrial diamond, attached to a spindle, and used to smooth rough surfaces of gems.

Master clockmaker John Harrison used lignum vitae for the critical parts of his early and nearly all-wood clocks, since the wood is self-lubricating.

For this same reason it was widely used in shaft bearings. Commonly used in ship's propeller stern-tube bearings, due to its self-lubricating qualities, until the 1960s with the introduction of sealed white metal bearings. According to the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association website, the shaft bearings on the WWII submarine USS Pampanito (SS-38) were made of this wood.[4] The aft main shaft strut bearings for USS Nautilus (SSN-571) the world's first nuclear powered submarine, were composed of this wood. Also, the bearings in the original 1920's turbines of the Conowingo Hydroelectric Plant on the lower Susquehanna River were made from lignum vitae.

After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the urgent need to rebuild the streetcar system and the inability to obtain regular composition, porcelain, or glass insulators for the electrical feeders fast enough, a significant number of insulators were turned from this wood.[5](readily available from the ships in the harbor as ballast) as a 'temporary' solution. Many of these lasted into the 1970s with a small number remaining in service as of 2009 (all these that had been removed were done so as part of a project to move these 600 V DC feeder wires underground[clarification needed]).​
 
This is the exact model sebenza im looking at buying with tax returns. How are the inlays attached to the titanium?

Oh btw great pics!
 
From the CRK website:

Epoxy was my first choice for holding the inlaid section but there were disadvantages with that. The solution came from the 3M Corporation in the form of VHB™ (very high bond) double-sided tape. This is not your ordinary tape from the local hardware store. 3M VHB™ tape is used in a variety of industrial applications such as wings on aircraft, name plates, truck cabs and the mirrored ceiling panels used in the tunnels under the runways at Chicago O'Hare Airport. With the precision fit of the inlay, combined with the holding strength of the double-sided tape, the inlays will never come out of the handle.
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Link
 
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