Is this Large Sebenza I just purchased real, and original??

mcraft · Dec 12, 2012

Hi All,
I posted a thread earlier on a fake Sebenza I purchased vs. my real ones (4 now if this one I just purchased is real). I couldn't afford it, but when I saw the price, the unique scales, and the 100% feedback of the seller, after doing my best via the pics confirming it is real I didn't think twice before someone else jumped on it. So now that I have bid on it and the auction is closed, here is the blade, from the pics can you guys confirm whether real or not, and to anyone's knowledge have Sebenza scales been made like this before, or did someone just take a fricken blow torch to it? I emailed Reeves as well, but figured I would try here too. Thanks in advance for everyone's help!!

My previous post on fake Sebenzass, where several said that they have seen much better fakes, which bothers me :/: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...nza-21-vs-new-version-of-fake(with-many-pics).

The one I bought, but haven't paid for until I can get confirmation that it is real: http://www.ebay.com/itm/160938831986?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

Steel_Addiction · Dec 12, 2012

It's real, just had some nasty flame work done to it.

And it is not...

“This knife has never been used and is like new”

...by any means.

mcraft · Dec 12, 2012

Oh man, SOB. I first thought the same thing, but what kind of dumbass would take a torch to a Sebenza?!??!?! That was my second thought, hence why I jumped and decided to verify later, given if it WAS original then I got one heck of a deal (IMO). If someone torched in on the other hand, thumbs down

. The main thing that made me suspicious was that the card didn't mention anything about the unique handle... just says Titanium.

EDIT: No offense to anyone here who has taken a torch to your Sebenza

, if it is yours, you are free to do as you like or course, that was/is just my opinion, every Sebenza is beautiful just as it is IMHO, and taking a blow torch to one of my Sebbies would be sacrilegious, I cringe at the thought of it.

EDIT 2: Also no offense if you or someone you know does this to knives, but know what they are doing, it DOES look cool

. Just hope that it was done in a manner not to screw up the metal.

franzdom · Dec 12, 2012

In my opinion this one is to be avoided.

dinokay · Dec 12, 2012

I almost bought that one myself because of the price but got sidetracked with a beautiful slip-joint I just purchased. You basically have a sebenza that you can either keep as is or re-blast or scotch bright the scales (if you wish) for a very good price.

LethalNjection · Dec 12, 2012

Might not be fake. Theres a guy here in Birmingham that flame and chemically anodizes sebs and other high end knives I had one the I bought at marks outdoors (the only crk dealer in al) at the time I thought it was a factory finish until because it was the first he'd done.. Since theyve got a case full now I asked who was doing them and they told me... I would think this aftermarket customization would hurt the value and possibly void the warranty but was a beautiful knife none the less. It's all according to what you will pay because all it is/was to begin with was a basic seb... I noticed this because I lost mine and my heart started racing because I thought I had found it haha.

mcraft · Dec 12, 2012

Steel_Addiction said:
It's real, just had some nasty flame work done to it.

And it is not...

“This knife has never been used and is like new”

...by any means.

Other than the "heat treatment", are you saying that it has been used for other reasons as well? I didn't see any evidence of real use, but then the pictures suck, and I normally look at the clip for wear but obviously with this one it is hard to tell. The thumbstud still looks like it doesn't have blue missing on it though, which I know from my other Sebbies is the first thing to wear, I open one about 20 times and some blue has worn off :/.

LethalNjection said:
Might not be fake. Theres a guy here in Birmingham that flame and chemically anodizes sebs and other high end knives I had one the I bought at marks outdoors (the only crk dealer in al) at the time I thought it was a factory finish until because it was the first he'd done.. Since theyve got a case full now I asked who was doing them and they told me... I would think this aftermarket customization would hurt the value and possibly void the warranty but was a beautiful knife none the less. It's all according to what you will pay because all it is/was to begin with was a basic seb... I noticed this because I lost mine and my heart started racing because I thought I had found it haha.

Oh that BLOWS you LOST yours

. I assume you figured out it wasn't yours because it has the box and everything, unless you lost it with all of that stuff. I hope you find it man,I get email alerts from eBay, if I see another one I will send you a note.

So when you purchased yours, was it the same $410 MSRP, or higher, or ? I do think it is very cool looking, but I would be worried about the value as well as what structural damage may have been done by the after market "heat treatment". Thanks for the info for sure, I can email the dealer you are talking about and see if it is one of theirs, i am assuming they keep track be serial or something.

mcraft · Dec 12, 2012

dinokay said:
I almost bought that one myself because of the price but got sidetracked with a beautiful slip-joint I just purchased. You basically have a Sebenza that you can either keep as is or re-blast or scotch bright the scales (if you wish) for a very good price.

Or send it to CRK for a Spa treatment, ya? That is assuming I decide I want to restore it, but I already have a couple reg large Ti only Sebbie's, so adding a unique one like this to my collection would be cool by me, as long as it was done right and isn't screwed up.

LethalNjection · Dec 12, 2012

Looking at the pics I would bet the house that was done in Birmingham by a guy named Greg Prim(seen about 40 very similar to this). Not sure if that's the correct way to spell his name or not. Also looks like a chemical burn. I like it tho. Nice one and doesn't look like you payed too much for it

mcraft · Dec 12, 2012

LethalNjection said:
Might not be fake. Theres a guy here in Birmingham that flame and chemically anodizes sebs and other high end knives I had one the I bought at marks outdoors (the only crk dealer in al) at the time I thought it was a factory finish until because it was the first he'd done.. Since theyve got a case full now I asked who was doing them and they told me... I would think this aftermarket customization would hurt the value and possibly void the warranty but was a beautiful knife none the less. It's all according to what you will pay because all it is/was to begin with was a basic seb... I noticed this because I lost mine and my heart started racing because I thought I had found it haha.

There are actually 3 dealers for AL now, but only one in Birmingham. Is this the place you got yours? http://www.marksoutdoors.com/hknive.html

Steel_Addiction · Dec 12, 2012

mcraft said:
Other than the "heat treatment", are you saying that it has been used for other reasons as well? I didn't see any evidence of real use, but then the pictures suck, and I normally look at the clip for wear but obviously with this one it is hard to tell. The thumbstud still looks like it doesn't have blue missing on it though, which I know from my other Sebbies is the first thing to wear, I open one about 20 times and some blue has worn off :/.

I was just saying about the flame job, that qualifies it as used. In no world would that be considered "new" to me.

But like the others have said, you got a good price on a Large Seb, and if you don't like the flame job, you could try blasting it out or scotchbrighting it. Hopefully no damage has been done to the lockbar with such a high heat applied to it, to get that brownish color.

LethalNjection · Dec 12, 2012

I traded a Bradley alias 2 Damascus nib which I got for a steal from them on sale and talked them down on it for about a month haha.. Ended up paying about 350 out the door, sticker was 650$. But it is what it is.. You win some you lose some. I hope it found a good home

probably not though because I've only met about 3 people around here outside that store that even knew what it was...

mcraft · Dec 12, 2012

LethalNjection said:
Looking at the pics I would bet the house that was done in Birmingham by a guy named Greg Prim(seen about 40 very similar to this). Not sure if that's the correct way to spell his name or not. Also looks like a chemical burn. I like it tho. Nice one and doesn't look like you payed too much for it

Thanks!!! I Googled (and am still Googling) for info, and for some reason googling that name leads to a bunch of posts by this fellow. I have no way to send him a message though :/. I will try to contact him somehow before I lay out that many clams. If it IS his and was done with the method I have read about in his posts, IMO I got a steal

. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/member.php/236391-GunSmoke16610

Steel_Addiction said:
Hopefully no damage has been done to the lockbar with such a high heat applied to it, to get that brownish color.

THAT is exactly what I am worried about! But, based on what i have found, it may not be just heat if it is a Greg Prim job, as apparently he uses chemicals and *light* heat vs. pure heat to do the finishes, which would be a different ball game I think.

EDIT: As I do more research, in some cases (although from looking at it I would say not so with this one just from the patterns vs. what anodized finishes look like), there is no heat applied at all vs. electrical current, same as anodizing(it IS anodizing I guess), in which case the structural integrity would be fine, and it would be a great carry because it would not wear nearly as easily! I have also been reading that if someone does it who doesn't know what they are doing, Anne has said that they can screw up the action, irreparably, by causing expansion or contraction of the action. Oh heck, what to do. I have buyer protection, so I suppose I just get it and if it was a crap job, return it.

LethalNjection · Dec 12, 2012

Yes marks outdoors. Talk to randy in knives.. Idk if they keep up with his customs but if they do randy would know

LethalNjection · Dec 12, 2012

Post better pics when you get it. Mine was beautiful and most others I've seen we're very nicely done. And if you're not worried about resale value as I wasn't you'll have a one of a kind user for not so much cash. How I looked at it anyways

XJ-linux · Dec 12, 2012

That's a very interesting Sebbie. It would interesting to see better photos once you receive it. Good score on the price.

mcraft · Dec 12, 2012

LethalNjection said:
Post better pics when you get it. Mine was beautiful and most others I've seen we're very nicely done. And if you're not worried about resale value as I wasn't you'll have a one of a kind user for not so much cash. How I looked at it anyways

I am pretty interested in the resale, not because I would WANT to sell it, but I have some other things going on in my life where I may HAVE to sell it to pay med bills, etc. I am assuming I could get what I paid for out of it though... or a trade that I could in turn sell for what I paid... that would be good enough.

XJ-linux said:
That's a very interesting Sebbie. It would interesting to see better photos once you receive it. Good score on the price.

Thanks, definitely will create a new thread with pics once I get it. Will also post pics of another Sebenza that I am having customized. Blue CF scale like this: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...read!!!-Let-s-see-em!?p=11582131#post11582131, with a black opal inlay in the center like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/7-78CT-100-...=&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 , I am having a custom scale maker make one for me, so excited I cannot see straight, my fav knife, with my fav scale material (CF), with my favorite stone inlayed (looking into a nice black opal is like magic to me

). It won't be a CRK original, but it will have the orig scale and will be one of a kind anyway. I contacted CRK to see if they would do it, and Lisa said no

. She has picked black opal inlays done in the end like all of their other inlays twice for her custom picks, but just the little one at the end, I want a BIG one (the bigger the black opal, the cooler and more magic it has when you look into it).

LethalNjection · Dec 12, 2012

mcraft said:
Thanks!!! I Googled (and am still Googling) for info, and for some reason googling that name leads to a bunch of posts by this fellow. I have no way to send him a message though :/. I will try to contact him somehow before I lay out that many clams. If it IS his and was done with the method I have read about in his posts, IMO I got a steal . http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/member.php/236391-GunSmoke16610

THAT is exactly what I am worried about! But, based on what i have found, it may not be just heat if it is a Greg Prim job, as apparently he uses chemicals and *light* heat vs. pure heat to do the finishes, which would be a different ball game I think.

EDIT: As I do more research, in some cases (although from looking at it I would say not so with this one just from the patterns vs. what anodized finishes look like), there is no heat applied at all vs. electrical current, same as anodizing(it IS anodizing I guess), in which case the structural integrity would be fine, and it would be a great carry because it would not wear nearly as easily! I have also been reading that if someone does it who doesn't know what they are doing, Anne has said that they can screw up the action, irreparably, by causing expansion or contraction of the action. Oh heck, what to do. I have buyer protection, so I suppose I just get it and if it was a crap job, return it.

Mine was spot on and finish did not wear and I put that thing through hell for a year. You probably know more about it than I do by now haha. But I hope I put put in the right direction about finding some answers about it though. Good luck man.

LethalNjection · Dec 13, 2012

mcraft said:
I am pretty interested in the resale, not because I would WANT to sell it, but I have some other things going on in my life where I may HAVE to sell it to pay med bills, etc. I am assuming I could get what I paid for out of it though... or a trade that I could in turn sell for what I paid... that would be good enough.

If its like mine was I'd buy it from you for 320$

.. I wish I could find who has mine I'd buy it back from them for that much in a heartbeat haha

swimmerdude1127 · Dec 13, 2012

Looks real to me, just like everyone else said. I actually don't mind the look of the scales, but would never do that myself.