Issues I think CRK needs to address

Neil, no offense, but from an outside perspective (since this is a public forum), it seems like you may have over reacted a bit to someone's use of an adjective. I don't believe using the word 'crunchy' to describe the action of a new knife is "absurd, childish, and uncalled for". I actually think it is a pretty good descriptive word for the specific situation, as I've felt the roughness on my own newest Sebs.
Also, I don't know that it makes someone a CRK basher, if they love their products and are just concerned about changes in the product that are very evident to those of us that have enjoyed them for many years. If that makes one a CRK basher, then hell, I am one too.

Perhaps it is just a stressful day or something, getting ready for the knife show and all. Hope the show is a great success, I'll be there to hopefully pick up a new blade or two, should I find one that strikes my fancy!:)
 
People refuse to return the knife to CRK because they have to part with it after they had just acquired it. No one expects CRK to produce perfect knives 100 percent of the time. But we would hope that the number of knives with issues will remain low--as they seem to be increasing in number.

Although you can always return a knife you have an issue with and it will be fixed, what set CRK apart is that you did not have to do this. This is why I will never buy a Strider. Strider will fix your knife if you have an issue with it, but the problem is a lot of the time their knives have issues. With the knives being $400, the customer should not have to ship a knife back due to a quality issue.

CRK is the best at what they do, their standard is so high that there nothing to compare them to short of a few custom knife makers. In comparing their quality today versus how it was a few years ago and I find that it is a little bit lower. I remember a couple of years ago, Chris was asked how his knives were then versus 10 years prior when he was a custom knife maker. He replied that his knives then were 100% better! Are the knives today better than the knives made a couple of years ago?
 
hmmm....wow, seems like there's been a change in QC since I last bought a seb. Mine is, incidentally a bg42 large regular, which was pimped in the aftermarket - it now has thinner edge, v-ground edge at around 35 deg included and glass-beadblasted handles. Ultra smooth, perfect lock-up, scary sharp (due to the more acute edge and thinner edge).

but I remember when I got my sebbie new (now sold off)....it was smooth as silk but yes, I agree the convex polished edge wasn't as good as spyderco's. then I was on a quest for the sharpest NIB folder, and many recommended Microtech and Sebenzas. I bought both...both were a little overstated. The Spydercos were a lot sharper..I mean a lot. I think you'll find that Sebbies are sharp, but they also have a thicker polished edge....one that is not as grabby as Spyderco's. With S30V, I like to push makers to thin out their edges....if the steel is better than ATS34, why are we still sticking to thick bevels for strength when we know intrinsically that S30V is tougher and can take a thinner edge?

anyways, DaveH is right in that you can really smoothen out Sebbies with some disassembly. I disassembled all my Sebbies when I first get them, remove the CRK grease, relube with militec and reassemble. There should be no need to adjust the pivot...the bushing system simply means you tighten until you can do no more, the blade will open/close smoothly and be perfectly centered. If it isn't, that you haven't set the pivot screw in the female pivot holder properly and you are actually messing up with the threads. Disassemble and re-assemble. Use Ted Voordie's post....it helped me the most but now I do it w/o having to think.

I haven't posted in the CRK forums for ages, but that one pimped Sebbie of mine is never leaving my collection.
 
When it comes to knives, I'm just another consumer. Bought my first CRK fixed blade recently & am now contemplating the Sebenza. I used to be the Manufacturing Manager and then the Operations Manager for a manufacturing company. I have a technical background. - - I would caution against making assumptions based on limited personal experience (we only can see a relatively few number of their knives) or comments found online. I would imagine that CRK is very aware of the actual quality levels of their products as evidenced by complaints and returns for particular specific issues. One cannot assume that quality levels are down because of online statements - - this takes no account of the simplest contributing factors including production rates. You can produce more knives, lower the reject rate but still have more returns (with more internet comments) just because you produce more knives. - - - Now if rejection rates were higher, CRK will know it and they will want to remedy the situation more than anyone. Its a hobby for most of us - - their livelihood for them. They know their reputation for excellence is their bread & butter. Fixing returns is expensive, they don't want to have to do it. Return it, get it fixed and you'll get a great knife in return and give the manf. the feedback they need to make any manf. improvements needed. - - There's one other aspect to this - - if there is no actual statistical evidence of higher return rates and lower quality - - but a customer complains - what do you do ? Tell the customer this, argue with him ? No one wins there. You probably ask to get the product back, fix it as quickly as possible, and seek to keep him as a customer and your reputation. - - - Statements like "quality seems to be down" because maybe there is a glitch in your particular knife, - without hard numbers (& only CRK has that) are baseless IMO & experience. Regards, - -
 
I love my Sebbie and it is the best production knife.

But I had this problem with pivot roughness and being dull. (Now it is oiled and sharpened)

What should I do when I receive such a knife. I live in Switzerland. Sending back to CRK is not as cheap as inland shipping. And when the knife enters Switzerland after repair I have to pay import tariff (customs) a second time.

That means 385$ for the Seb, 30$ for shipping, 60$ for customs(import), that makes 475$ for a Seb (without problems).

But when I send it back I have to add 30$ for shipping to CRK, 30$ for shipping again to me and 60$ for customs again. That makes 595$ instead of 475$. This is not a tiny problem for an European, it would add 120$ to the bill.

And I don't want to be called a CRK basher.
 
Pointshoot777,

I tend to agree with you. I was just thinking today that there is not a single knife discussed on bladeforums.com that doesn't take hits from a few participants. The bottom line is that there are no perfect anythings.

That said, we all want our CRKs to be perfect. Mine, luckly, are just perfectly fine.

:)
 
plowboy said:
I was just thinking today that there is not a single knife discussed on bladeforums.com that doesn't take hits from a few participants. The bottom line is that there are no perfect anythings.
:)
Click to expand...

plowboy - well said.

The Zen of Knife Buying:

>What Is . . . Is. What Isn't . . . Isn't.
> If you don't like what Is or Isnt . . . return it & get it fixed.
> If they won't fix it . . . get rid of it and never buy another.
> Its not worth wasting time & energy on what Is or Isn't - - especially if you can't or aren't willing to do anything about it.
> Move on - enjoy your knife. :)
 
Pointshoot777 said:
Statements like "quality seems to be down" because maybe there is a glitch in your particular knife, - without hard numbers (& only CRK has that) are baseless IMO & experience.
Click to expand...

How can saying "quality seems to be down" be baseless if it is based on your own experience and the experience of others on the forum? Of course, you cannot judge the overall quality with perfect certainty (hard numbers), but you can judge the quality with some certainty, albiet small. That certainty can still be wrong which is why the seems in the statement "quality seems to be down" is there. In the end we all hope for the same thing, that the statement is indeed wrong--that CRK's quality has not decreased. The issues as of late may be due to and outside factor such as a dealer modifying the knives or an unusually high percentage of the knives with issues came into the hands of the owners on this forum.

My own experience is that the knives are not as smooth as they used to come and certainly not as sharp, but my sample size is not huge. I own 26 CRKs and most are rather new.
 
I also wanted to say that my intention is not and has never been to "bash" Chris Reeve Knives. Every year when they win the Manufacturer's quality award I scream out in joy for them and give a sigh of relief that some other company did not win. Any harshness in any of my words stem from disappointment rather than anomosity. I also believe this to be true of all the other so-called "bashers" in this thread including DaveH.
 
Well I look at this from my own experience in manufacturing & engineering. - - In this realm, quality is measured and gauged on a statistical basis. A certain protocol must be followed to determine this including how you take samples of that which youre trying to measure. - As I understand it, you made your statement based on your own personal experience - so in that sense your opinion is not baseless. But from an engineering & manufacturing stand point it would be. - - - To me it seems a little silly that some try to 'defend' a product, and others try to 'bash' it - especially when such declarations are based on what might be a very limited amount of data statistically. - - Bottomline for me personally is that if I get a product that has issues, I will return it for repair. That fixes my own knife. - - If there are actually broader quality issues, the best way to remedy them is for everyone to return the product if found wanting. This will provide the necessary feedback & incentive for a manufacturer to correct the problem. Returns & the costs they entail speak louder than any argument. - - Best regards, - -
 
I think the basis of quality assurance should not be based on customers returning substandard or faulty products but an QA mechanism the manufacturer has established with determines the minumum standard a certain percentage of the product must reach before its allowed to leave the factory. Ideally, the customer should not be part of the QA process.

So the quality can be measured both as the standard the product must reach and the percentage of the products made that must reach that standard.

The third variable is how the measurements of both of the above variables are made.

In CRK, its different because every knife has a lot of handwork involved including final sharpening so unlike most manufacturing enviroments where samples are taken because of large volumes, every CRK knife can be tested so difficult to open knives should be detected and remedied.
 
When I heard in the eighties of a miracle survival knife that surpassed all the existing ones I tried to find some information (www was non existent for a lot of uses).It was a certain Chris Reeve from South Africa who made such a difficult construction.Impossible is not in my dictionary so I was able to get one trough an american friend.Wow, that was made for the next centuries.Now I bought a Tanto and I must admit that CNC did mean a fantastic positive evolution of the quality.All my friends bought Sebenzas, I was happy with the Swiss Klötzli and the SA Thorburn but being curious I bought the large Sebenza: first impression very sturdy and easy to use.I think you buy a no nonsens knife, very reliable in a nice package.Everything made by humans is not 100% perfect you have to accept this in advance.A drop of oil , a little polishing wont hurt my feelings and I am proud to have put something of myself in my loyal companion, my knife.
 
Shing - I agree wholeheartedly with your statement. - - I don't know what CRK volume is or their manufacturing set up. (I am going to visit their plant as a customer this year, however - and I look forward to that.) Consumers shouldn't be the entire QA Dept for any manufacturer. - - My point is, that product returns provide the kind of feedback that will inform a company if its internal QA program has to be improved upon. Only those things that they are made aware of, and only the issues that are of enough significance to enough end consumers as to make them take the time & effort to make a return (which costs a company money) - will be addressed. - - Realistically, that's all we can do as consumers. -As a side note, when coming across statements about someone having an issue with their particular knife, the CRK reponses that I have read have been to please return it & they will make it right. They don't try to argue with the person, or make them wrong - - they just fix it. Sounds good to me. - Best regards, -
 
The funny thing about high quality products is that they tend to retain their value year-over-year. Look at the used Rolex or Omega watch market...20 year old watches still fetch a good price. I view CRK knives the same way.

A small classic Sebenza has been my edc for about a year now. It's cut lots of stuff, got some scars (character marks) from use and it continues to grow on me. Everytime I go to use it, I think "wow, this is a great knife". And, if I ever want to sell it, I can get almost what it sold new for...about $300.

CRK makes great stuff that keeps it's value and they stand behind their products 100%...use the knife.
 
In an earlier post I stated I had sent my small classic Sbenza In to CRK to thin the blade as I thought It was a little thick. I ups the knife 2nd day air to CRK. They Emailed me when they received it and said they would try to get It back to me on the same day by 2nd day air at their expense. I mean they corrected the problem and sent It back on the same day. This is the best serviced I have every got. Thanks Heather. By the way it does cut much better.

RKH
 
I have two CRKs, a Mnandi and a small classic Sebenza. Both were smooth opening knives right out of the box but I did notice one little quirk with my Mnandi and have hopefully avoided the same issue with the Sebenza.

You can have the blade bushing and the thrust washers very well lubricated and still encounter a bit of roughness when the knife first opens. In the case of my Mnandi, this "roughness" was the detent bump on the frame lock rubbing against a dry part of the blade.

I put the tiniest drop of oil on the detent bump and the problem was immediately resolved. I guess titanium against blade steel requires a bit of lubrication.
 
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