Daddy, why are you burning your knife? Charred Sebenza.........it's inflammatory.

kidcongo

kidcongo

Joined
Jan 12, 2013
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3,195
My daughter asked me a good question. Why was I burning my Sebenza?

Long story......I have this small 21 with box elder inlays. The box elder is a totally gorgeous inlay, but I felt it just was too nice for carrying around the jobsite. I really enjoy carrying my small 21 at work, but I always felt like I was pulling out an art-knife or something to cut some strapping etc. Anyways, being that I already committed this knife to hard use: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1163889-Here-we-go-daily-carry-and-use-of-a-small-wood-inlayed-sebenza?highlight=daily+use+box+elder I kept looking for ways to toughen up it's appearance. I tried dyeing the inlays, which worked well enough, but was not exactly to my taste either: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1211297-Dyed-my-Box-Elder-inlays-(inspired-by-Bark-River)?highlight=dyed+box+elder

Anyways.....as if this poor little 21 didn't already have enough abuse heaped on it, I came across a post about flame-treating maple for wood bowls etc. Maple is very heat resistant, and can be charred to a dark colour without losing it's strength or falling apart. Needless to say, I had to take the risk and proceed with this further experiment on my little 21. I have been carrying the result for several days and no regrets. I really love it, but wouldn't recommend it on a whim. Over the course of some very careful and measured steps I slowly worked up to producing the finish you see. It was a learning process, but I like the way it ended up. The scales are still rock-solid as I was careful to only darken the maple, and not burn it. It was really hard to get any colour to appear at all, and I was further surprised at just how incredibly tough these CRK maple inlays are. Pretty much indestructible, even fire can barely touch them.

In summary......

I don't expect a lot of folks to understand or like what I did. Clearly the box elder is lustrous and beautiful as it comes from CRK, and is deep and gorgeous in appearance without any charring required. Also if I wanted a darker wood knife, there are lots to chose from that CRK offers, without having to burn my Sebenza. However, I really like this particular knife, I already owned it, and I also like experimenting a bit when I think I might find success. In this case things worked out for me, which makes up for all the times when I regret taking the plunge> :rolleyes: ;). I can attest that these inlays are no less tough than they ever have been. Maybe they are even tougher? I know the North American Indians hardened arrows using flame. Also for those wondering, this work was done with the knife apart, and I kept the Ti cool as I could during the process. I didn't want it to turn blue! :eek:, or warp.

Here are several pics of the charred-box elder inlays on my Sebenza. The knife looks very different in different lights, so I took many pictures.

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Looks good.

What type of a finish was on the inserts? Urethane? Did you have to refinish them when you were done?
 
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ElConquistador said:
Looks good.

What type of a finish was on the inserts? Urethane? Did you have to refinish them when you were done?
Click to expand...

No. I did not refinish them. They maintained their semi-glossy finish. It's a little more matte than they were originally, but i was really careful to go very slow and not burn the maple. I believe the maple is stabilized, which I think means it's impregnated with plastic. Having said that, the wood did not bubble, or smell like burning plastic, nor did any layer on top delaminate. The surface of the inlays does not appear to be coated based on what i observed heating it. The shine on the original inlays comes from polishing the surface of the stabilized wood smooth, not by having a coating on top, if that makes sense.
 
Personally, I think it looks great. You and I are alike in the sense that we can't seem to stop playing with the finish of our Sebenzas. Though I sold my "modified" (if you wan't to call it that) small, I thoroughly enjoyed watching it transform through it's multiple finishes, and it seems like you have enjoyed yours too.

Rock on Cody.
 
Zeta33 said:
Personally, I think it looks great. You and I are alike in the sense that we can't seem to stop playing with the finish of our Sebenzas. Though I sold my "modified" (if you wan't to call it that) small, I thoroughly enjoyed watching it transform through it's multiple finishes, and it seems like you have enjoyed yours too.

Rock on Cody.
Click to expand...

:thumbup::thumbup::)
 
That looks really cool. I think it is safe to say that you have really big balls. Haha
 
Have you thought about taking up a hobby:)
While I highly doubt I would do any of the processes you have done to this knife, it is just a form of pimping and the results have been interesting and you seem to be having fun. There is no fault in that.
 
I'm one of those that doesn't understand what good you thought would come from this. :p You may find that the inlay does indeed crack or lift over time, let's hope not !

That said you have made it look more like iron wood to my eyes and the darker, richer colours are more inline with my tastes. :)

Out of interest the colouring of Titanium happens at fairly high temeratures. You are looking at about 380 C for the golden straw colour and about 450 C for "Ti blue". The dark brown oxide layer you see on the lock bar is from rapidly heating to "white hot", your bit of wood is long gone by that point though. :D
 
Thanks Haze. I agree it does look like the same colour range as ironwood. I am interested to know those temperatures for colouring Ti, and see now that I was no where near bluing the Ti, so thank you for sharing those. I am pretty confident that the high-bonding tape and the bulk of the wood of the scales is still sound and intact as I was very careful not to get anything too crazy hot for too long. I will be carrying this knife a lot so will report any defects that arise. If nothing else it serves as further testament to the durability of the stabilized Box Elder / maple scales, and the tape used to affix them. If they can suffer my experiments, they are good-to-go!
 
Thanks everyone who liked the results! The positive feedback was unexpected, so thanks! :)
 
I think you will be OK to be honest. CRK are quality through and through and use properly cured and/or stabilised woods. That "sticky tape" they use is not Micky mouse stuff either. :):thumbup:
 
Cody, a little off topic but I was wondering about something while looking at some of your pics in here and the scenery thread. How do you carry your 21? Clipped to the front pocket, back pocket, loose in your pocket? The reason I ask is, the polished Ti shows some fine scratches from wear but both your clip and inlays looks more or less unscathed. I know you use this knife whenever the need arises but, for being a pretty much daily carry (correct me if I'm wrong), it stays looking close to pristine.
 
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