Feeling a bit disappointed

magicblade

magicblade

Joined
Mar 10, 2013
Messages
491
I got my new large sebenza TNK spirograph damascus today and was kind of disappointed at the quality of the pattern. Im well aware that it's not suppose to be perfect and wasn't expecting it to be but Im just not happy with it. I got 4 other damascus sebenzas and non of them have this type of inconsistency. I've also seen pictures of the same knife posted on the spirograph damascus thread and images online and haven't seen one like mine, it amost looks like they smeared the metal specially right on the middle of the blade.
I think for a $700 knife I was expecting more when it comes to quality control, I know for sure I wouldn't sell a blade like that.
I'd like to know your opinion in regards to this, thanks in advance.
Best regards
Jair



 
Can you post a couple more pictures? It's hard to tell with the Damascus looking kind of faded in these pictures. (I know it is difficult to capture Damascus blades - I always have a hard time.)
 
Send it back, you're not the first to have issues with this batch of knives coming from TNK. They are great, and so is their CGG, but many of them have been flawed. That looks pretty terrible and I'm sure they'd understand the return.
 
I'll try to take some more pictures, Im not real picky but that middle section just stands out too much:grumpy:
I've seen previous batches and compare to them, this last batch looks a bit sloppy IMO
 
Yeah, I'd send it back. They have made the pattern a lot more irregular, which I like on the raindrop damascus more, but that pattern looks terrible in some spots.
 
If the retailer takes it back ... you are good to go. But frankly, there is nothing "wrong" per se with the blade. There is nothing consistent about any Damascus pattern. This is one reason I would need to see a picture of the actual blade before I bought it ... much like I would need to see an actual picture of a wood or Mammoth inlay. They are all different. I would bet the farm that CRK would tell you nothing is wrong with the blade .... that is just the way it came out. If memory serves me correctly (and that happens less and less frequently) one of the reasons CRK stopped using Spirograph is because they were having some etching problems with it (or at least the batches they were receiving from DT). Now, the dealer might very well take it back (and either exchange it or refund you) as a good will gesture. Hopefully, it will work out that way for you.
 
I would support what d.r.h. is stating. Damascus pattern are always different. There are some raindrop pattern I prefer over other raindrop. I have also learned my lesson with the wood inlays, where color, brightness and pattern can vary quite a lot. Some dealers do not take pictures of the knifes in stock, but just sample pictures. As I said. Learned my lesson. Now preferrably buying from dealers CR with damascus and inlays who show actual pictures of their knives in stock ..... which TNK is doing for instance if you look at their dress Mnandi.

Coming back to your issue. I have both, small and large and this is how my blades are looking:

21, TNK flag, Spirograph L&S, 06 at Flickr

21, TNK flag, Spirograph L&S, 07 at Flickr

21, TNK flag, Spirograph L&S, 08 at Flickr
 
d.r.h. said:
If the retailer takes it back ... you are good to go. But frankly, there is nothing "wrong" per se with the blade. There is nothing consistent about any Damascus pattern. This is one reason I would need to see a picture of the actual blade before I bought it ... much like I would need to see an actual picture of a wood or Mammoth inlay. They are all different. I would bet the farm that CRK would tell you nothing is wrong with the blade .... that is just the way it came out. If memory serves me correctly (and that happens less and less frequently) one of the reasons CRK stopped using Spirograph is because they were having some etching problems with it (or at least the batches they were receiving from DT). Now, the dealer might very well take it back (and either exchange it or refund you) as a good will gesture. Hopefully, it will work out that way for you.
Click to expand...
I agree with you, that's why I called the dealer before placing my order requesting pictures of the knife but I was told they ship from a different location so looking at pictures prior to purchase wasn't an option.
I also agree that damascus blades are all different, I wasn't expecting a symmetrical or perfect pattern but those spots on the blade look more like defects than character. Even my wife asked me way the blade looked that way.
"That's the way it came out" wouldn't be a good excuse for me, Im gonna call the dealer on monday and see if they are willing to exchange it, otherwise I'll just get a refund.
 
d.r.h. said:
......... Now, the dealer might very well take it back (and either exchange it or refund you) as a good will gesture. Hopefully, it will work out that way for you.
Click to expand...

Fair warning that when I tried to exchange my small, Neil got in a snit about it. He'd previously promised to send me some pics of some other knives he had, admitted he forgot, and refused to send them at all after I contacted him about the ugly pattern of my small. He refused an exchange, so I had to return for a refund. Now he doesn't answer my emails at all. So be forewarned.

BTW, the pattern on my large isn't great, but it's pretty good.


This pic of the small I had isn't a good one, but you can see the swirl near the center that put me off.

TNK_Flag-1_zpscwxlgmu4.jpg
 
Last edited:
Here's a couple more pictures





Please tell me it doesn't look like someone messed up and smeared his finger on the pattern...
I can live with one of those but 3 on the same side...? I think that's a bit too much.
When you look at it, your attention goes straight to those spots instead of the actual pattern.
 
Last edited:
Lone_Wolfe said:
Fair warning that when I tried to exchange my small, Neil got in a snit about it. He'd previously promised to send me some pics of some other knives he had, admitted he forgot, and refused to send them at all after I contacted him about the ugly pattern of my small. He refused an exchange, so I had to return for a refund. Now he doesn't answer my emails at all. So be forewarned.
Click to expand...

Noted, thank you :thumbup:
 
magicblade said:
Here's a couple more pictures

Please tell me it doesn't look like someone messed up and smeared his finger on the pattern...
I can live with one of those but 3 on the same side...? I think that's a bit too much
Click to expand...

Again .... it's the nature of the beast. Here are some pics of spirograph blades I have (or have had). ALL are DT spirograph. All are different. Some exhibit etching similar to your. Others are totally different and much cleaner.

spiro.jpg


spiro3.jpg


spiro1.jpg


spiro4.jpg


spiro5.jpg
 
Dang..That is disappointing

I look at most of the lineup expecting perfection..when I ordered my spirograph,..I expected something different,..but anything but perfection..almost chaotic with a mixture of both randomness and symmetry. To be truthful,..I am amazed it turns out as well as it does considering the process to make it.

I would probably keep it myself..sure would make it easier to use..more so than one that is "perfect"
 
Those smudges are something that happen when making damascus, grinding a blade can also see all sorts of unexpected things happen to a pattern. That said, your blade does indeed have more than the smudge or two one might expect. The second picture of the presentation side is perhaps passable to me, but the pattern on the lock side is not great. That pattern does usually look much crisper.

Edit: Looking at the better pitures, I would say something definitely went wrong there. I would not be happy with that blade either. I hope you can get fixed up, good luck with that from what I hear. :)

magicblade said:
I got my new large sebenza TNK spirograph damascus today and was kind of disappointed at the quality of the pattern. Im well aware that it's not suppose to be perfect and wasn't expecting it to be but Im just not happy with it. I got 4 other damascus sebenzas and non of them have this type of inconsistency. I've also seen pictures of the same knife posted on the spirograph damascus thread and images online and haven't seen one like mine, it amost looks like they smeared the metal specially right on the middle of the blade.
I think for a $700 knife I was expecting more when it comes to quality control, I know for sure I wouldn't sell a blade like that.
I'd like to know your opinion in regards to this, thanks in advance.
Best regards
Jair



Click to expand...
 
Ive had a bunch of diff spiros and they were all really diiferent also. Id agree with CRK saying its normal. Try to get a refund from Neil, but Lone Wolfes encounter is similar to one i had yrs ago lol, so he may block you too lol!(his site is one of the best tho:)
 
I was going to say that damascus is not suppose to be perfect, but these days the bar has been raised and with it, expectations.

Honestly, it does not matter what I or anyone else thinks. It is your money and potentially your knife. It should be your choice alone if you should keep the knife or the money. I would not give a darn if the dealer got upset about it, it is a VERY simple matter of you being satisfied with a purchase (or returning it).

I doubt I would pursue an exchange in your position...just my opinion/suggestion.
 
bhyde said:
I would probably keep it myself..sure would make it easier to use..more so than one that is "perfect"
Click to expand...
That's a good point. Thanks for the replies everyone, Im not trying to be a pain in the butt but as knife enthusiasts you guys know that some times we are bother by different stuff, early lock up, late lock up, scratches on handles, different kind of finishes on the blade, etc, while most people don't even pay attention or don't really care about it. I guess I was just expecting something a little bit different based on the pictures I had seen before. But it still bother me and my OCD :p
 
Haze said:
That said, your blade does indeed have more than the smudge or two one might expect. The second picture of the presentation side is perhaps passable to me, but the pattern on the lock side is not great. That pattern does usually look much crisper
Click to expand...

You read my mind there :)
 
700 bucks and you are obviously not happy. For that money I would definitely want one without blemishes like that in the beautiful damascus. Perhaps you should get a refund and try some other batch or dealer. Thats what I would do, and just my opinion.
 
Firstly its your knife and you have to be happy with it. If it's "like-new" and you don't like it TNK should return it in good faith, which I am sure they will.

Having said that, it's important to understand these are not true "Damascus Steel" blades, though that term is used universally to decribe them these days. They are 'pattern-welded' blades. The pattern is not created by the acid etching, the etching simply reveals the pattern that is there. These patterns exists in three dimensions, and are not uniform though the stock of the blade, like you might think. The swirls of the "Spirograph" effect get larger and smaller, and the side of the knife simply reveals one plane of that pattern, which may contain "smudges", which are in fact the places where the pattern is transitioning from one steel to another. When the blades are ground it is impossible to predict where these smudges will be, so a portion of the cost of Damascus blades is to cover discarding blades that turn out very smudged, that customers would reject. All of the CRK patterns have these smudges on them, in varying degrees, with some very sought-after perfect patterns popping up from time to time. The ladder Damascus seems to the least prone, and the smudges are almost unnoticeable in the raindrop due to its already mostly random nature.

That is the crazy crux of the Damascus blade issue. The repetitive pattern appeals to our OCD, but the pattern itself is often flawed, which annoys us! CRK could issue only perfect DT Damascus blades, but they would have to discard a hell of a lot more blades than they do.

Good luck with whatever you choose!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top