chris reeve sebenza is unreal

Tom does a lot more than just bead blast. He resharpens the Sebenza to VERY sharp, smooths up the action, adds double thumbstuds, drills holes, and anodizes. Here's a pic of mine:

DSCN1719.jpg


I'll e-mail you about the cost, glorfindel
 
Thanks! Your Sebbie looks good! Nice customization.
Just one more question: Mayo can make seb smoother than original one?:confused:
 
Originally posted by glorfindel
Thanks! Your Sebbie looks good! Nice customization.
Just one more question: Mayo can make seb smoother than original one?:confused:
Click to expand...

Yes he can. He makes the blade open and close even smoother :cool:
 
Dylan, that looks FANTASTIC! I like the darker color. Is the anodization really harder than the original Ti! I guess by harder I mean more scratch resistant. Does the Sebbie feel just as "grippy" in your hands?

If you don't mind, would you message me with the cost info as well--I'm very interested in this service. Thanks.
 
No, the Ti is a bit smoother actually. The beadblast is also shinier than the factory beadblast. Maybe Tom can pop in and explain...

E-mail on it's way.
 
My older small Sebenza I've often carried in my pocket, along with coins and other stuff. I've grown to like the way the finish has taken on a "stone washed" look.

I'm pretty sure Chris Reeve will restore the finish on the handle. I'm not sure how much he charges.

dylan_d, great looking modified Sebenza.

Rich
 
Thanks guys.

I decided to see how scratch resistant the handles really were, so I ran a little test. Since Rich mentioned coins, I took out a nickel and proceeded to scratch my Sebbie :eek: However, I had diassembled the knife and was only doing it to the insides of the slabs. Appplying light pressure did nothing really. When I applied medium pressure, there was a maybe a scratch (I don't know if you could even call it that). But once irubbed my fing er over it, it went away. I applied more pressure, same result. It's only when I really dug in that I managed to scratch through the bead blast and make a small scratch, but it still wasn't anything too bad. i'd say that's pretty good :D
 
Tom's my boy, lord knows i have a bunch of TnTs and think they are overall the finest tac/utility folder out there at any price, but, you do not need Tom to make the Sebenza smoother, its very easy to do yourself, most of the stiffness is because the lock bar is putting a LOT of pressure on the blade via the ball detent, be careful when tweaking it, but if you take some of the pressure off by bending the bar to the left just far enough to reduce its spring tension a bit, the blade can be ultra smooth and not stiff at all, and if you do it right, you still have more than enough tension to ensure perfect lockup, greasing the ball detent also helps. The friction/stiffness you feel has little to do with anything other than the ball detent against the blade, see for yourself, push the lock away from the blade and see how easily the blade moves in its washers, let the lock back to the right, you'll see where your stiffness is coming from. Just make sure you dont reduce the lockbar tension too much or youll compromise lock integrity, but if you do, just bend it back to the right again until you find the sweet spot.
 
Great post megalo, it's amazing how smooth it is without the bar pressing on it. It just glides...
 
Odd.

I have a had a Sebensa for a couple years and it's the only knife to pass this test...

With the blade locked and in a horizontal position...press the lock mechanism...does the blade fall to a vertical position?

To me..this is the definition of smooth. Yes, some of the axis locks will do this, but not confuse smooth with dangerous.

I have been nicked by a BM940, a beautiful knife, well designed for cutting and very 'smooth', a bit dangerous. The senenza on the other hand, not dangerous, reliable,, quality.

[chuckle) I suppose it depends on your life style. :)


Steve-O
 
that's just a test of the tightness of the pivot screw. i can tighten my BM axis knives so that it won't fall down as you describe. i'm sure the sebenzas could be loosened to that. don't see the validity of that test as my sak slipjoints wont fall like that.
 
I like and own/buy quite a few knives and have owned my large regular Sebbie since Oct. '02. I carry and use mine, and I actually don't mind too much the scratches on the handle that accumulate over time through carrying and using. It gives my knife its own character, and anyway I bought it to enjoy it which, in my case, means to carry and use it. I tend to have a hard time enjoying knives that I'm afraid to carry or slightly 'ding' through normal use. Obviously when you carry and use any knife long-term it will forever lose its mint condition.

As far as the Sebbie's integral frame lock, IMO it's the most secure. Early on, I had what I call "Sebenza thumb," from unlocking the lock bar repeatedly. Since I like reliability more than speed unlocking I have no beef with that. And eventually you develop a type of callous on the end of your thumb that allows you to unlock it without any pain.

It's already been said many times, but knives are indeed a very personal thing. Cheers.
Jim
 
There are many high quality folders available on the market today. I own some knives which have the same cutting ability, the same strength than the Sebenza. I think many knives are nicer too, many knives offer the same safety in hard use conditions. The Sebenza advantage is, for me, elsewhere.

I remember the day when I was using my Benchmade 942 (a wonderful knife) for cooking. The knife was working very well to cut vegetables and meat. But when the time was coming to clean it and its Axis-Lock system, I also remember I wasn't very happy to do it. It is not easy to remove small food bits form the Axis holes. :yawn:

As I like to say, to clean my Sebenza, I need a "3in1" lubricant spray, a 2mm Allen wrench and 15 minutes. The first Sebenza advantage is for me the easy maintenance.

Concerning the scratches, you can see some pictures of my small Sebenza (after more than 3 years of daily using) here. It is not dramatic... ;)

(Dylan : can you please send me too a little mail ?)
 
Don't know the validity of this, but I really think the lock bar pressure has been adjusted to exert a greater force on the newer Sebenza's. Reason I say this is that I had one back in the mid to late 90's and the blade would swing open with just a thought, and holding it on a horizontal plane and releasing the lock bar would result in the blade swinging past 90 degrees and dangerously close to my fingers!:eek: The Sebenza's I now have do not exhibit these traits. Instead they require more force to open and the lock bar requires more force to unlock. Result; just to my liking!!
 
As far as the lock failing, I'm probably being overly critical, but isn't that half the fun of debating knives? :)

Alright Sebenza owners, take out your large Sebenza and open the blade. Now grasp the blade in your hand (be careful, and I won't be responsible for any cuts! ;)), while holding the blade try twisting on the handle in a counter-clock wise direction. You should feel your index finger pressing against the lock bar at this point. Now, if you have a good grip and hold on to the whole handle tightly you'll probably be okay. However, try letting more pressure go to your index finger and letting the rest of your grip relax a bit. Try and disengage the lock on purose while twisting to get a feel for it. I can get it to pop open fairly easily when doing this.

Now, how many of us stick our knives into something and do a lot of twisting? Probably not to common, but again, I'm just being overly critical. :) Now, while you might argue it shouldn't unlock like this if you have a proper grip, most accidents happen because people aren't paying attention. Meaning if you were to stab into something and twist and you didn't have a solid grip on the knife you might release the lock and close the blade on your hands.

This issue has been brought up by others on these forums. So I'm not just some wacky guy making this up. :) I might be wacky for making an issue of it though.
 
Originally posted by WadeF
As far as the lock failing, I'm probably being overly critical, but isn't that half the fun of debating knives? :)

Alright Sebenza owners, take out your large Sebenza and open the blade. Now grasp the blade in your hand (be careful, and I won't be responsible for any cuts! ;)), while holding the blade try twisting on the handle in a counter-clock wise direction. You should feel your index finger pressing against the lock bar at this point. Now, if you have a good grip and hold on to the whole handle tightly you'll probably be okay. However, try letting more pressure go to your index finger and letting the rest of your grip relax a bit. Try and disengage the lock on purose while twisting to get a feel for it. I can get it to pop open fairly easily when doing this.

Now, how many of us stick our knives into something and do a lot of twisting? Probably not to common, but again, I'm just being overly critical. :) Now, while you might argue it shouldn't unlock like this if you have a proper grip, most accidents happen because people aren't paying attention. Meaning if you were to stab into something and twist and you didn't have a solid grip on the knife you might release the lock and close the blade on your hands.

This issue has been brought up by others on these forums. So I'm not just some wacky guy making this up. :) I might be wacky for making an issue of it though.
Click to expand...

I just tried this with my Mnandi (left my Sebenzas at home today), but the blade wouldn't budge. With regard to the scratch issue (raised in a previous post), well, my Sebenzas are all users. So what if they show signs of use? At any rate, if you're interested in a Sebbie that doesn't show scratches as much, pick up a wood inlay model. I have one that I've been carrying to the office for months now, with nary a scratch on it.
 
I'm not an expert on stabbing people or animals, but I find the Classic 2000 version of the Sebenza (large and small) feels more secure when is comes to my hand slipping forward if I hit a bone.

But, since I have not tried stabbing things with my Sebanzas, maybe the regular Sebenza is just as secure, as far as ones hand slipping forward. Maybe slashing is a more important part of knife fighting?

About the BM Axis lock, I'm sure it is strong but a little pressure backward on the lock buttons and the lock easily comes unlocked. What if in the process of stabbing someone his jacket pushed back a little on the buttons of the Axis lock? I think the frame lock is a more secure system. Even Strider has gone to the frame lock for their SnG and SMF.

By the way, I like Benchmade knives with the Axis lock.

Rich
 
Not only are those superb knives, but the customer service at Chris Reeve is second to none!! My large Seb is with me every day.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top