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- Jan 12, 2013
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Every so often I look at one of my CRKs and think "just a knife". To justify the expense of these folders, and keep the "love" alive in my pocket knife world, it helps to remind myself about some of the great details in a good old Sebenza 21.
In case you travel that same doubting path once in a while, I figured I'd share some of the details that get me excited. I have posted some of these notes in old threads before, but I wanted to revisit the subject and add some new discoveries. Feel free to add your own observations and thoughts to this thread. As subject matter I used my very cool small Insingo (love this blade), but what I am laying out here applies to all 21s, and some of the details are found in the Umnum and 25 as well. I have kept clear of discussing inlays, graphics, blade shape etc, as these things are largely subjective in their value. What I have put forth here are details that I think make the CRK Sebenza 21 a great and reliable EDC folder.
For starters something obscure. The darn pivot bushing has a chamfer/bevel on it's inner edge. Do you realize how hard it would be to re-assemble this knife without this detail? Trying to jam the sleeve screw through the washer/bushing/blade/slab/lockbar assembly all under tension, while aligning it perfectly with the hole.....no thanks! This little bevel gives you just enough fudge-factor that you don't have to be perfectly-perfectly-perfectly aligned when putting in the bushing sleeve screw. Depending on the method you use to put your 21 back together, this is saving you a tonne of frustration, and probably has saved the odd Sebenza owner from throwing the parts of the knife across the room. Thanks Chris!
Well look at this, even the relatively easy-to-fit back-spacer also has a beveled/chamfered inner hole. You don't see these details when the knife is assembled.
Another obscure inner detail. Did you notice how the detent ball rides on a track that is so very, very close to the edge of the blade stock? Detent ball track contamination is guaranteed to make a knife feel gritty. From what I can observe, I would assume that any fibres, grit, wood fragments, etc would just be pushed off the side of the blade tang as the ball slides past. I think this is an intentional and very smart design detail.
Well, some love it, some hate it, but the thumb-stud is a cool thing. Never catching on your pocket, never coming loose, beautiful, lightweight Ti, press-fit genius! I am a fan of the thumb stud. Also how about that rounded blade spine? An obvious nice feature, but did you ever think about the wear and tear it has saved your index finger when you sit on the couch opening and closing your knife? On the "close" cycle that rounded spine is your fingers friend!
How bout we bevel/chamfer the inner edges of the slabs? Thanks again Chris Reeve! When I am bearing down on this handle, the meat of my palm doesn't find it's way into some nasty cheese-cutter stamped-metal nightmare! This detail must take a lot of extra effort to add. They have to flip the slabs for one when they are CNC-ing them. Most would never notice, but it's all part of what makes the ergos on a 21 so great.
The inner edge of the lockbar gets similar treatment!
The Date Code! I like it. Not really an individual serial number, but how cool is it to have the date of manufacture permanently engraved into the slabs! Not some lazy lazer-mark or acid-etched bogus thing that will rub off!
The man has very little ego. Nowhere on this knife does it say 'Chris Reeve'. Just a very cool logo permanently engraved into the slabs. Most folk who have seen one of my CRKs think the brand of knife is "Idaho Made"
Nice detail to help that knife slide into pocket! Look at those awesome compound curves on the front of the slabs.
My opinion is that the smoothness of a Sebenza has a lot to do with the use of a ceramic detent ball. The ceramic ball glides across the steel without catching or galling after it has worn in it's inital track. It's also very wear resistant and I have not heard of a CRK where the detent ball wore out.
Great fasteners, enough said!
A stop pin sleeve! Specially hardened steel that does not rely on the required metallurgy of the screw (which must be manufactured so it can be threaded) to be the proper heat-treat and hardness for it's duty. By using a stop-pin sleeve, the screw can be a screw, and the stop pin sleeve can be made to do it's particular job, which is to not deform under repeated blows from the knife-flickers of the CRK world.
A permanent engraving of steel type! You never see it, but it is a very cool feature. No acid-etch or lazer mumbo-jumbo, just a very finely engraved letter to indicate forever what the blade was made of.
That little cone in the middle of the back of the thumb-stud is a favourite detail of mine:
Grease grooves in the pivot hole. Chris Reeve must really like a smooth knife as this detail is rarely seen or noticed by anyone. There are four shallow grooves (see 7:00 position in photo) around the circumference of the pivot hole. These grooves hold extra grease, and give space for any contamination that finds it's way into the pivot a place to hang-out until the knife is next cleaned (if that is even ever necessary). You will also find these in the Umnum, Mnandi, and 25.
I have already posted a full-length thread about how much I love the CRK pocket clip so I will avoid that subject. But lets have three-cheers for that milled-out pocket clip pocket. The clip never rotates side-to-side, is held securely in place with one fastener, and the mounting flange ends up flush with the slab. What a nice detail.
And lastly, those perforated washers. Like the pivot-hole grooves, the perforations hold extra lube, give any contamination a place to collect without the knife getting gritty, and reduces the surface area for a easier opening knife. Awesome.
Great design! Just love these knives! Feel free to add to the thread anything that I might have missed.
In case you travel that same doubting path once in a while, I figured I'd share some of the details that get me excited. I have posted some of these notes in old threads before, but I wanted to revisit the subject and add some new discoveries. Feel free to add your own observations and thoughts to this thread. As subject matter I used my very cool small Insingo (love this blade), but what I am laying out here applies to all 21s, and some of the details are found in the Umnum and 25 as well. I have kept clear of discussing inlays, graphics, blade shape etc, as these things are largely subjective in their value. What I have put forth here are details that I think make the CRK Sebenza 21 a great and reliable EDC folder.
For starters something obscure. The darn pivot bushing has a chamfer/bevel on it's inner edge. Do you realize how hard it would be to re-assemble this knife without this detail? Trying to jam the sleeve screw through the washer/bushing/blade/slab/lockbar assembly all under tension, while aligning it perfectly with the hole.....no thanks! This little bevel gives you just enough fudge-factor that you don't have to be perfectly-perfectly-perfectly aligned when putting in the bushing sleeve screw. Depending on the method you use to put your 21 back together, this is saving you a tonne of frustration, and probably has saved the odd Sebenza owner from throwing the parts of the knife across the room. Thanks Chris!
Well look at this, even the relatively easy-to-fit back-spacer also has a beveled/chamfered inner hole. You don't see these details when the knife is assembled.
Another obscure inner detail. Did you notice how the detent ball rides on a track that is so very, very close to the edge of the blade stock? Detent ball track contamination is guaranteed to make a knife feel gritty. From what I can observe, I would assume that any fibres, grit, wood fragments, etc would just be pushed off the side of the blade tang as the ball slides past. I think this is an intentional and very smart design detail.
Well, some love it, some hate it, but the thumb-stud is a cool thing. Never catching on your pocket, never coming loose, beautiful, lightweight Ti, press-fit genius! I am a fan of the thumb stud. Also how about that rounded blade spine? An obvious nice feature, but did you ever think about the wear and tear it has saved your index finger when you sit on the couch opening and closing your knife? On the "close" cycle that rounded spine is your fingers friend!
How bout we bevel/chamfer the inner edges of the slabs? Thanks again Chris Reeve! When I am bearing down on this handle, the meat of my palm doesn't find it's way into some nasty cheese-cutter stamped-metal nightmare! This detail must take a lot of extra effort to add. They have to flip the slabs for one when they are CNC-ing them. Most would never notice, but it's all part of what makes the ergos on a 21 so great.
The inner edge of the lockbar gets similar treatment!
The Date Code! I like it. Not really an individual serial number, but how cool is it to have the date of manufacture permanently engraved into the slabs! Not some lazy lazer-mark or acid-etched bogus thing that will rub off!
The man has very little ego. Nowhere on this knife does it say 'Chris Reeve'. Just a very cool logo permanently engraved into the slabs. Most folk who have seen one of my CRKs think the brand of knife is "Idaho Made"
Nice detail to help that knife slide into pocket! Look at those awesome compound curves on the front of the slabs.
My opinion is that the smoothness of a Sebenza has a lot to do with the use of a ceramic detent ball. The ceramic ball glides across the steel without catching or galling after it has worn in it's inital track. It's also very wear resistant and I have not heard of a CRK where the detent ball wore out.
Great fasteners, enough said!
A stop pin sleeve! Specially hardened steel that does not rely on the required metallurgy of the screw (which must be manufactured so it can be threaded) to be the proper heat-treat and hardness for it's duty. By using a stop-pin sleeve, the screw can be a screw, and the stop pin sleeve can be made to do it's particular job, which is to not deform under repeated blows from the knife-flickers of the CRK world
.
A permanent engraving of steel type! You never see it, but it is a very cool feature. No acid-etch or lazer mumbo-jumbo, just a very finely engraved letter to indicate forever what the blade was made of.
That little cone in the middle of the back of the thumb-stud is a favourite detail of mine:
Grease grooves in the pivot hole. Chris Reeve must really like a smooth knife as this detail is rarely seen or noticed by anyone. There are four shallow grooves (see 7:00 position in photo) around the circumference of the pivot hole. These grooves hold extra grease, and give space for any contamination that finds it's way into the pivot a place to hang-out until the knife is next cleaned (if that is even ever necessary). You will also find these in the Umnum, Mnandi, and 25.
I have already posted a full-length thread about how much I love the CRK pocket clip so I will avoid that subject. But lets have three-cheers for that milled-out pocket clip pocket. The clip never rotates side-to-side, is held securely in place with one fastener, and the mounting flange ends up flush with the slab. What a nice detail.
And lastly, those perforated washers. Like the pivot-hole grooves, the perforations hold extra lube, give any contamination a place to collect without the knife getting gritty, and reduces the surface area for a easier opening knife. Awesome.
Great design! Just love these knives! Feel free to add to the thread anything that I might have missed.
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