How to "provoke" a nice used finish?

[JNewell]

Quite frequently I see some of you posting pics of beautiful used look sebenza. It seems that my edc usage is definitely too soft to create such a great finish. Introducing my new edc sebenza:

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/large-21-wilson-combat-starbenza-insingo.1533735/#post-17616847

we came to the point saying that pics of the well worn knife would be great. So now I have the question whether there are ways to speed up getting a used look at this knife. Any recommendations?

I'm sorry, but I really have to ask: why not just _use_ it?

 

[Glock Guy]

James Longstreet
So do you have any updated pics with the wear so far???

 

[James Longstreet]

I'll do. What I can tell you right away is that due to that milled Wilson Sunburst design it is far more "scratch resistant" than a standard plain Jane. I carried it together with my keys and it is hard to see any scratches. Typical snail trails we all know from plain Jane Sebenza do not really happen. Its more like the scales receive some blank, kinda polished spots from keys and stuff. I think if you want to create a nice used look finish at a WC Sebenza you need to treat it much harder than an plain Jane Sebenza. I'll take some close up pics during the weekend to show the current stage of wear.

A buddy of mine has his own metal shop and offered to throw the scales in a tumbler they use to finish metal parts they are selling. Not sure whether I'll do that. Until now I haven't undertaken any measures to force the wear off. Just carrying and using it.

 

[Megabassx7]

Not to derail this thread at all but I can seriously take a scotch brits pad to my pj inkosi and if I send back to the spa they won’t void the warranty??

 

[Mike Large]

I 'kiiind of' prevoked it on my first small sebenza and regreted it. Sent it to be engraved so had it spa'd but really worth just letting nature take its course my friend. Trust me on this one

 

[James Longstreet]

I 'kiiind of' prevoked it on my first small sebenza and regreted it. Sent it to be engraved so had it spa'd but really worth just letting nature take its course my friend. Trust me on this one

Yep. I do trust you So far I resisted my initial thoughts about speeding up a used look and I just carried it instead. However. Still I don't see anything wrong with it doing so. Some people here may have only very light edc tasks with their knife but still like such a well used look. I don't see a big difference adding a bead or one of these fancy clips to the knife compared to adding some used finish. Its just individualization. Nothing more. Will do some pics today.

 

[James Longstreet]

Okay. Here we go. It is quite difficult to capture. You need to have the right viewangle and light. At first glance there are just a few spots visible:

21, Wilson Combat, Insingo, 15

A closer look, in combination with a slightly darker exposure of the pics at my computer makes more wear visible:

21, Wilson Combat, Insingo, 16

21, Wilson Combat, Insingo, 17

21, Wilson Combat, Insingo, 18

21, Wilson Combat, Insingo, 19

 

[91bravo]

Just carry them in your pocket with other stuff. If you use a CRK with dirty gloves, you'll get a worn finish pretty quick.

 

[PNWhovian]

After a few years of off and on carry/use.

 

[tomsch]

I'm not much into creating artificial patinas so all of my CRKs earned their scars from carry and use. Now that my wife and I both have cars with black leather seats that means no more clips to scratch things up. All my Insingos now just get dropped in my right front pocket with my keys. That puts a nice overall wear but there bigger hits come from use. For example just last weekend I used my large Insingo to trim rose bushes in the back yard. That meant a lot of cutting and then laying the knife down on the concrete surrounding the pool. I'm sure I picked a few more character marks but that is what these knives are for...... work.