Help Authenticating Sebenza 21

T

Thetimefarm

Joined
Jul 28, 2015
Messages
98
First off, this is my first post so forgive me if I'm posting this in the wrong spot. So I have been into knives for quite a while but I'm young and never really had the funds to get anything nice. Anyway, I'm at a point now I felt I could spare the money for a nice knife. After a lot of research I decided upon the large sebenza 21 because it just seemed to check all my boxes. I should say that I've never been a huge fan of buying used so I was pretty set on buying new until I saw a craigslist ad for a large sebenza 21 ladder Damascus nearly new in box for $300. Now I figured it was at least worth looking into for the price so I contacted the seller and arranged to meet to see the knife (I don't buy used if the seller refuses to meet before the sale). Well we met at his house and he had the knife and everything in the box, I looked it over and all the knife info matched the card and it felt good, if a little stiff, but I figured that was to be expected for a knife that hadn't been lubricated in 4 years (it's a 2011). We agreed to meet the next day and the transaction went smoothly. It might be worth noting he lived in a nice development in a large house and had multiple sebenzas, he certainly didn't strike me as a scammer. Out of the box it had a shaving sharp mirror edge and opened pretty good, but it was very stiff. I've had it a few weeks and re lubed it with flourinated grease like CRK recommends 3 times and the action is now very smooth, if still a bit stiff but I assume it just needs more breaking in. Anyway I'm addicted to the knife and open and close it all the time and the action still works great. Their's no blade play and the centering is dead on. The knife seems to be legit but there have been a few things that make me nervous. The big one is the price, I've heard people say and seen first hand that used sebenzas are barely cheaper than new ones. This was actually a draw to me originally, if I hated it I knew I could sell it. But this one was $250 off it's new price. Second, and this is really nit picking, the channels in the hole for the bushing aren't as pronounced as they seem in videos but they're still present. Third, and this may be because of my own ignorance, the blade is starting to get what look like speckles of rust. I thought the Damascus was stainless steel, but I could be mistaken or it could just be a high carbon stainless I honestly didn't look into it much. Those are the only three things and none of them are huge but I can't shake the feeling that it's not legit, as I've never really used another sebenza so I don't have anything to compare to. I don't think any pictures of the notches around the bushing would show up well so I'm probably not going to tear the knife down just to try and photograph them unless someone really needs to see them. Honestly I think it's real but any opinions would be great, do you guys with more sebenza experience think I got scammed or just got a good deal? Sorry for the slew of crappy photos, I tried to compensate for quality with quantity.

http://imgur.com/a/s7scD
 
Looks good to me, but I'm sure others will chime in too. I think you got a great deal. Also, unless counterfeiters are FAR better than I give them credit for, a CRK knife just "feels" precision. You kind of "know"

The fact that you can see the damascus pattern on the spine is a good sign too. Meaning unless it's some crazy etch, it's more than likely real damascus, something counterfeiters would be less likely to make. I'm not really sure what-all they're up to these days though.

My sebenzas (and birth cards, etc.) all look just like that as far as I can tell. And yes, the Devin Thomas damascus is stainless, damasteel, AEB-L and . . . er. . . something else stainless I can't remember at the moment.

If you don't like those little spots (which I wouldn't sweat, unless they bother you cosmetically. They're likely just schmutz or some surface effect), or have any doubts about anything, be sure to send it to CRK service. They're incredibly helpful and will surely get it looking like new for a very reasonable cost. Considering what you've already saved it's an easy fix. Otherwise, just get out and use it. Using a truly fine tool how it's meant to be used is a real joy .

I'm not sure what you mean when you say the action is/was stiff. If it's slow you can loosen the pivot slightly, but if it has just been re-assembled it'll probably break into glass-smooth in a few days on it's own. If the action is jerky though, or easy for one part of the opening/closing arc but really hard in others, you probably pinched a washer in there. It's pretty easy to do. There's usually a little side to side play associated with this as well, although sometimes it's hard to tell. Just take the knife apart and put it back together. repeat until it operates smoothly. You might need to look up how to re-assemble, these can be a little tricky with that bushing system.

Cheers
 
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Welcome to BFC Thetimefarm, it looks like you got a good deal. So, you're ahead with the price you paid. I'd say send it in to see what can be done about the stains on the blade. CRK has excellent customer service. There could be several reasons why the blade has stained. I'd be concerned that it could get worse. A trip to the spa can make it new again. Yes, stainless can rust and get discolored, I've got a couple of other knives that are stainless and have some light specs on the blade.
 
Great knife at an awesome price! That is the same configuration as my EDC. I use it hard and when the patten gets a little faint I just re-etch it.
 
looks legitimate to me. good deal! can't say ive seen a fake Damascus one that was actually branded CRK though.
 
Congrats on a smokin' introduction into the world of CRK, you started with a tremendous knife at a stupendous price.
 
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