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DallasSTB

DallasSTB

Gold Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2009
Messages
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I stumbled across this during my morning coffee web browsing. Something about this knife looked a little odd to me, but I'd like to hear your opinions. I hope that I'm stepping on any toes with the seller possibly being a BF member, but I thought this would be an interesting exercise for CR buyers in general. I'll comment later if anyone else sees what I see. Otherwise I guess I'm just off my rocker.

(( link to live auction removed ))

Edit - Until Esav says it's cool to post the link again, I'll give you guys some pictures of the knife I'm referring to. It is my opinion that this Sebenza has a regular blade put into a Classic frame. I've asked the seller to confirm the origin of the knife, but I honestly don't expect anything back. This was mainly to help everyone in spotting part swapped knives.

9218e9a6e89772ef667ef59be9f2dadb44ed87122a03111b80f30b9a692ef6a65g.jpg


234d6b2451d292c98e678f3fdfd62f07874ebfad775ab7f877a5766e4734f77c5g.jpg


The irony of this is that I'd order a knife like this if I could - 21 frame, regular blade, polished with silver hardware and a swedge. mmmmmm tasty.
 
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I really cant see anything weird about it. Seems correct compared to any of the pictures I have of the old Classic MM.
 
I've got two problems with this thread. First of all, linking to a live auction is generally not allowed, in fact, it's an infraction. Only when it is done for information purposes will we go along with it.

But you aren't giving us information, you're playing guessing games. Where's Waldo? No, thanks. Unless you're going to start off this discussion thread by actually discussing the question you've alluded to, I have to edit out the link.
 
DallasSTB can you tell me what you saw that looked weird? I was considering bidding on that.
 
Comparing pictures of the regular and old classic when the knives are closed and look at how the blade goes into the handle there seems nothing wrong. The classic blade dissapears into the handle faster then the regular blade shape even if swapped (do a search it has been swapped in the past)
 
the first picture looks like it has the correct blade, because like marthinus said it goes into the handle quicker than a regular blade, but the rest of the pictures appear to be a regular blade on a classic frame, makes you wonder if the lock-up picture is with the regular or the classic blade on it.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
...Unless you're going to start off this discussion thread by actually discussing the question you've alluded to, I have to edit out the link.
Click to expand...

Fair enough. I've often found that people will understand things better if they try to figure a problem out for themselves first. There are a lot of new CR fans these days and I don't want our friends here to get hurt. We're a good community.

This appears to be a blade swap with a Regular style blade in a Classic frame. Changing parts around is something of a personal issue with me, especially when these expensive pieces hit the aftermarket for the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or later owners. That's a discussion for another time though.

I'd like to put the original link back up there and edit the description as I've just outlined. Let me know if that works for you, Esav.

Thanks.
 
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One thing to keep in mind, is that swapping blades between Classic and Regular is that sometimes, part of the blade sticks out due to it being a little thicker in the belly and the thinner profile of the Classic handle, if you squeeze it just right you can cut yourself. Just FYI, it's happened before.
 
Interesting that the seller indicates its brand new and never been used.

Is it possible that a Classic slipped out of the Chris Reeve factory with a regular style blade?
 
Sharp Dog said:
Interesting that the seller indicates its brand new and never been used.

Is it possible that a Classic slipped out of the Chris Reeve factory with a regular style blade?
Click to expand...

I guess that this scenario is possible, but whether it is likely can be debated. CR checks each knife as it goes out the door and this would be a HUGE oversight. Also note that there appears to be some traces of blue anodizing left around the edges of the rings on the thumbstud. That can happen if you use a Dremel tool to polish the anodizing off to match an existing silver backspacer.

In fairness the seller did send me a message stating that he is the original owner, with the caveat "as far as I know". I'm not sure what that means, but if I was a potential purchaser I would still be cautious. During my short CRK collecting career, I've seen much more aftermarket part-swapping issues that I have with CRK making mistakes like this. Bidders will have to decide for themselves, of course.
 
That is the Regular blade profile. I have no doubt. The birthcard shows 2007, so Regular blades were probably not still floating around CRK other than for warranty work. I'm leaning towards part swap. As long as the blade fits fine and it is going to be a user, NOT a collectable, looks like a fun setup.
 
Hey guys, great thread. I was the one who asked the buyer to post additional pics of the blade as I noticed the regular sebenza blade right away. I was not sure if the first classics had a regular blade or not, never had one. To the best of my knowledge, they always had the 21 style blade. But the additional pics added definately showed it to be a regular blade in a classic frame.............As for blade swapping.......lol. The regular large sebenza that was on the bay last week, well I got it and the knife is beautiful, except for the 30% lock-up. There was lots of pocket lint and I took it apart and cleaned and lubed thoroughly and yep, still 30%.
ing
SOOOOO, this was clearly a blade swap. It can easily be fixed by crk by taking a shaving off the blade tang, but it pissed me off to say the least. I was sending it for engraving anyways ( I promise to show pics when I get it back ). But its still the point. If you wanna swap blades and keep the knife forever, fine, do what you want............BUT, if you do and then sell the knife later with the swapped blade, thats just X&#%$&*@%^
 
nyefmaker said:
Hey guys, great thread. I was the one who asked the buyer to post additional pics of the blade as I noticed the regular sebenza blade right away. I was not sure if the first classics had a regular blade or not, never had one. To the best of my knowledge, they always had the 21 style blade. But the additional pics added definately showed it to be a regular blade in a classic frame.............As for blade swapping.......lol. The regular large sebenza that was on the bay last week, well I got it and the knife is beautiful, except for the 30% lock-up. There was lots of pocket lint and I took it apart and cleaned and lubed thoroughly and yep, still 30%.
ing
SOOOOO, this was clearly a blade swap. It can easily be fixed by crk by taking a shaving off the blade tang, but it pissed me off to say the least. I was sending it for engraving anyways ( I promise to show pics when I get it back ). But its still the point. If you wanna swap blades and keep the knife forever, fine, do what you want............BUT, if you do and then sell the knife later with the swapped blade, thats just X&#%$&*@%^
Click to expand...

I completely agree. I had placed several bids on Ebay for a couple CRK sebenzas. I lost all the bids, and I am glad I did. I decided to go with an authorized CRK dealer. If the dealers are swapping blades too, then we have a problem. I bought a brand new Mnandi from one dealer, which I know will not be an issue. I did buy a like new never carried older Sebenza, and I'm still waiting to see what I get. Ebay is fine, but I think only if you are buying NIB and from a CRK dealer, other than that you are taking a chance.
 
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