First CRK, came a little dull.

S

Snecx

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Jun 27, 2015
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Hi, first time posting but have been a long time reader. Just wish to share my experience with you all.

I just got my first CRK last week. It's a Sebenza 21 (born May 2015). Fit and finish is perfect. Blade centering is spot on, detent is good, smooth bank vault movement, no lock stick, no blade play, can be thumb-flicked (no wrist flick), lock up at solid 60%, even cutting edge bevel all the way. I've admired this knife for a while up close. Perfect tolerances. Almost... Maybe except for sharpness. Or lack of it.

Only the straight portion of the blade was sharp enough and it can barely shave. But belly to tip can't even slice printer paper. I've stropped it on Wicked Edge, but it didn't improve much. Still the dullest of all my knives. I have sharpie'd the edge to check for the factory edge angle. It came with 50 degrees inclusive, closer to 60 degrees nearer to tip. Upon inspection, light can be seen reflected off the edge. To me, it's really dull.


This was Sharpie removed with a few passes on 5,000 grit sandpaper at 25 degrees per side.

Not good. I took the courage to reprofile this brand new 21 on the Wicked Edge, taking care not to remove too much materials. Only enough to get to the apex and that's it. A little nerve-wrecking since this is my first expensive knife.



I've spent close to 4 hours on it, mainly because I was being so careful with this brand new 21. I was a little scared of making mistakes. I did a lot of inspections with a jeweller's loupe, making sure I've hit the apex, having symmetrical bevel especially at the tip and heel, and making sure I've removed scratches from previous grit.



I went from Wicked Edge 100/200 diamond stones to 400/600 then silicone carbine sandpaper of 800, 1000, 1200, 1500, 2000, 3000 and 5000. Followed by stropping. I only got the basic WEPS set and the higher grit stones for WEPS have not arrived yet.

And now I'm happy!



Hair whittling and can split hanging hair from either direction. Probably not necessary, but I get so much satisfaction knowing it can get this sharp.

Position on WEPS: top hole, A.25, 19 degrees on the arm divot, actual measured 18.5 degrees.
 
Looks like a great job there. My first Sebenza, a 25 came the same way. After not getting the results I wanted I sent mine off to Josh at Razors Edge. What I got back tries to cut me whenever I even LOOK at it! Now I am happy with it for sure. I ha e gotten two other Sebenzas, a large 21 and a UG 21 large Damascus. Both were satisfactorily sharp from the factory. Don't understand why the 25 was like yours.
 
Very nice job! Great that you got over your hesitation to make your Sebenza 'yours' by reprofiling the edge, not everyone has the guts to do so.

It will be interesting to see how the edge does over time. I redid one of my CRKs on the Wicked Edge, but stropped it pretty aggressively to get the stronger convex edge back as much as I could.
 
Tim_Z said:
Looks like a great job there. My first Sebenza, a 25 came the same way. After not getting the results I wanted I sent mine off to Josh at Razors Edge. What I got back tries to cut me whenever I even LOOK at it! Now I am happy with it for sure. I ha e gotten two other Sebenzas, a large 21 and a UG 21 large Damascus. Both were satisfactorily sharp from the factory. Don't understand why the 25 was like yours.
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Thinking about sending mine to josh as well. Just curious, what degree did you have him sharpen the edge? Thanks.
 
That is a very nice edge. I think S35VN can be taken to 15DPS without worry so that is what I reprofiled mine to. I read an article that basically stated why should we pay extra for high performance steels, yet not take advantage of their ability. I usually stop at the 1000 grit stones on mine. One of these days I will go the extra mile and try to do an edge like yours.
 
Poromenos said:
Thinking about sending mine to josh as well. Just curious, what degree did you have him sharpen the edge? Thanks.
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I asked his opinion on profiles. If it were his EDC what would he do.
I believe he said 15 dps. There was some other talk of different angles but it is scary sharp. He said it should hold up real well. Did I mention that it is sharp? The factory is 22 dps or so, correct? The new bevel is much higher now. When I get home I can snap a picture for you. Well, have not posted any pictures on forums before. Let me know if you want me to send you a picture.

Tim
 
Thanks everyone! Yes it was tough to take the plunge to reprofile a brand new knife. But it's really worth it.

Lo/Rez, that's good to hear! I couldn't get much lower with my basic WEPS kit without risking grinding away the clamp. I might try lower angle in the future.

What angles did you guys have great success with? The Sebenza has a really nice hollow grind, so it's really thin near the edge. The bevel for 18.5 degrees seems to be perfect for me! Less than 2mm of bevel width. For my other knives 20 degrees usually produces a very wide bevel.
 
I know it can be a little nerve racking to sharpen up an expensive knife, but you did it well:thumbup:
 
Dull from the factory is quite common. Outstanding job you did. I'm not of a fan of mirror edges for my personal use, but glad you are happy with it now. My favorite edge with S30V and S35VN is a well worn 1000 grit with a few passes of the 3.5 strop to take advantage of the very effective toothiness of these steels. Your V edge will be fine. I've a thread somewhere around here about a ton of cardboard I cut up with this edge, and it far exceeded my expectations.
 
You did a fine job thinning out and polishing up that edge. I have found that most of my S35VN Sebenzas have come with similarly wide angled edges. Not all but many. Granted, most of the wide angle edges I've had from CRK have been pretty sharp but this is not all too uncommon. I'd prefer narrower angled edges myself but am proficient enough at sharpening to not worry about it much. Enjoy the new knife! Good choice getting a plain Jane for your first. :)

Regards,
 
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I kind of think they want the user to set their own bevels, sort of how japanese knife makers will not send a sharp knife.

I have never got a sharp CRK knife, but who cares, anyone who buys a 300-1000 dollar knife BETTER know how to sharpen.
 
When I got my first and (so far) only Sebenza back in 2002, it came extremely dull brand new. So dull that I could run my thumb along the edge and not come close to getting cut. Keep in mind I don't make a habit of doing that, but my Sebenza was that dull.

I used my Sharpmaker on and off for a good while, over a few weeks, to eventually re profile the edge. It was also my most expensive knife at that time, and I didn't want to screw it up by removing too much metal at any one time. The S30V blade wasn't complicated to reprofile, it just took a lot of work to do it. I took down the shoulders using the Sharpmaker's 15 degrees per side setting, and eventually finished the edge at 20 degrees per side. It's performance improved a LOT, though I still wish CRK would sharpen their bevels to a V-grind. IMO, the overly thick convex edge bevels totally cancel out any benefit from the tall, thin primary hollow grind.

My 2011 Umnumzaan came with a much better and thinner edge grind, though obviously still convex. It came serviceable out of the box.

Jim
 
HwangJino said:
I kind of think they want the user to set their own bevels, sort of how japanese knife makers will not send a sharp knife.

I have never got a sharp CRK knife, but who cares, anyone who buys a 300-1000 dollar knife BETTER know how to sharpen.
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n

hmm.....or know a good guy who knows how to sharpen till i can learn how myself.....lol
 
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