Industrial Sebenza

[Steven Andrews]

I own a small plain Sebenza and I would have to say that it is an ugly knife, but I don't have a problem with that. I appreciate the knife as a pure, superbly manufactured cutting tool.

The Sebenza has a kind of "industrial" beauty. I would love to see a Seb produced that has no "beautifying" treatment. No polishing , no blue annodizing. Just the materials left "raw". An "Industrial Techno Sebenza"!!
What are your thoughts?

 

[The General]

Something like the Strider folders then?

I don't think it would work, enough call it the grey.... thingy as it is!

 

[Chris Reeve Knives]

You can order a Sebenza with uncolored thumblug and back spacer if you wish. That is as far as we can go in terms of "lack of beauty treatment". Anything less would leave the knife unfinished, which is not practical. Plain titanium is quite uninspiring and the knife would look incomplete. The stonewash on the blade has the effect of polishing - it seals off the steel and helps the corrosion resistance. With the stonewash, the scratch marks are in every different direction - with conventional polishing, the scratch marks are in the same direction. Again, an unpolished blade would be incomplete.

Anne

 

[Architect]

Hello Anne - since you are looking at this thread, and the subject is "industrial", I wanted to inquire about your beadblasting process.

I happen to like "un-beautified" titanium. I have taken it upon myself to purchase virtually every plain scale titanium scaled folder that is out in circulation over the past couple of years.


While the bead blast finish on the scales lends additional "grippiness" to the knife handles, there are varying levels of blast and finish employed by both other factories and custom makers.

Current examples of less agressive beadblasting can currently be found on the Spyderco Titanium Salsa, the Tom Mayo TNT, and the Columbia River S-2. Although each of these knives has a slightly different bead blast finish, they are all milder than the CRK process. They fall somewhere between your beadblast finish and your "frost" (handrubbed?) finish found on the decorated and inlay models.

Have you and Chris ever considered offering a less agressive bead blast. I can vouch for the fact that aggressive bead blast is not essential to good grip on these knives. Ask any TNT user.

Thanks for your thoughts. - Stuart

 

[Humpty]

I think the Sebenza is a beautiful knife. It has that simple, yet timeless look to it. I would definitely not call it ugly... if you wish for something a little more nicer looking, how about a wood inlaid or leather? Those still keep a rugged look but dress it up a bit.

 

[Chris Reeve Knives]

The "grippiness" of the beadblasting has a lot to do with how thoroughly the job is done, the type of "sand" that is used and how new the "sand" is. We use silicone oxide - I have no idea what the other companies use. The granules break down with use and the finish becomes finer. We set our standard for quality at a fairly grippy finish because, as the knife gets used by the customer, the handle becomes smoother.

Anne

 

[bagman]

I love the texture of the titanium and the fact that if you carry IWB it is noce and warm to the touch when you take it out to use it.

I had never had a titanium handled knife before my Sebenza but now I am a convert.

I don't think that the Sebenza is a beautiful knife but it does a beautiful job. I find myself taking it out just to look at far more than I have done before with knives.

I like best to look at it under the spot lights in our kitchen as the stonewash finish show up superbly (dont do this when my wife is around however as she has enough reasons to think I am a nutter as it it )