Damascus Blades on a Sebenza 21

C

Ctarant

Joined
Jul 13, 2016
Messages
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I love the look of the damascus blades and would like a large sebenza 21 with a damascus blade but am torn on which pattern to choose. Is there any currently available pattern that is more popular or collectible? Do any of the patterns affect cutting performance? Or is the choice simply personal preference?

Thanks
Ctarant
 
All patterns perform the same. I like Basketweave the best. I used to dislike Ladder, but now I like it almost as much as the Basketweave. Raindrop is not bad as long as it's the older Raindrop. I do not care for the new Raindrop at all.
 

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nyefmaker said:
All patterns perform the same. I like Basketweave the best. I used to dislike Ladder, but now I like it almost as much as the Basketweave. Raindrop is not bad as long as it's the older Raindrop. I do not care for the new Raindrop at all.
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Hi, from your experience, to which modern day steel can be compared to the damascus that CRK uses?
 
I agree with nyefmaker. My preference is basketweave, ladder then raindrop but I would only buy raindrop if I could actually see the specific blade I was getting because some look great and others look like a child scribbled spirals. Spirograph is actually my favorite that you can currently buy new but it's only available as a True North Knives Flag exclusive.

 
Agreed. Old style Raindrop is one of my favorites. The current raindrop offerings are embarrassing and inconsistent. My Small 21 with stretched raindrop is amazing; never seen a Large 21 with it, just the small. Spirograph is my favorite. I have a Large 21 Spirograph that I like quite a bit.
blanco112 said:
I agree with nyefmaker. My preference is basketweave, ladder then raindrop but I would only buy raindrop if I could actually see the specific blade I was getting because some look great and others look like a child scribbled spirals. Spirograph is actually my favorite that you can currently buy new but it's only available as a True North Knives Flag exclusive.

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Another vote for Spirograph
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I like Basket Weave myself the best. Know if I can only find a Large 21 Droppoint with Micarta inlays I will be set.
 
To answer your questions (which was done by my fellow BF CRK members above already), it is a personal choice depending upon your taste. I doubt that we would be able to identify performance differences among current raindrop, ladder and basketweave. I would always recommend to buy from shops which are presenting pics of the damascus pattern from the actual knife for sale and not sample pics or pics from previously sold knifes with the same damascus pattern.

When it comes to collectors value the general rule applies: Everything which has been discontinued is now more desirable :)

The Spirograph blade of above shown TNK Flag Sebenza is not eactly a dealer exclusive, as it will most likely not produced again. At least not with Spirograph. I understood from Neil that this was a last batch of Spirograph, found in stock at CRK and used for this what he calls "closed run". According to him approx 18 small and 25 large were made.

Among the current damascus patterns indeed raindrop is the "most criticised" within CRK community, as the pattern has developed away from the earlier tight pattern. But again, that is all about personal preferences. Basketweave always appears to me and for my eyes more "shiny", "glossy", if you know what I mean. Don't now the reason. I do not think that basketweave receives extra treatment, coating, whatsoever. Maybe it is the pattern itself, which appears like that.

21, CF Inlays, Basket Weave, 03

21, Plain, Basket Weave, 06

21, UG Night Sky, Basket Weave, 03

Spirograph you may have as modern stainless damascus or old non stainless, even colored, like bronze or blue.

Regular, UG Spirograph, 05

Coming back to "collectors value", this is a "dot matrix" damascus, made by Devin Thomas for Chris, in order to propose a new damascus pattern. I think they made just a handful of knives with this damascus and then it was cancelled.

21, Plain Titanium, Dot Matrix, 05
 
James Longstreet said:
The Spirograph blade of above shown TNK Flag Sebenza is not eactly a dealer exclusive, as it will most likely not produced again. At least not with Spirograph. I understood from Neil that this was a last batch of Spirograph, found in stock at CRK and used for this what he calls "closed run". According to him approx 18 small and 25 large were made.
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Interesting information. I wasn't sure if it was still produced or how that worked. I know mine is two years old and TNK still has them in stock. With those limited numbers above, I'm surprised it's still around, but it does make me appreciate mine.
 
jumpstat said:
Hi, from your experience, to which modern day steel can be compared to the damascus that CRK uses?
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I have always likened CRK Devin Thomas Stainless Steel Damascus to the same performance of S30V. S30V has long been my favorite CRK blade steel. I love it...!!! It's not super hard to sharpen and holds a nice edge. I have been using damascus more and more lately and absolutely love it.
 
Thank you all for the great information and fantastic pics! I certainly appreciate these blades even more.
 
What nyefmaker said (it's not hard to sharpen and holds an edge) I love this Steel for a user blade
 
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