My PLEA, Petition, Request to CRK

Off the topic, but someone mentioned bushing system getting too expensive ....................so somewhere in the near future NO MORE SEBENZA?
 
gull wing said:
Off the topic, but someone mentioned bushing system getting too expensive ....................so somewhere in the near future NO MORE SEBENZA?
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I haven' followed Chris Reeve knives terribly closely for the last several years, but I believe that the Sebenza 25 does NOT have the pivot bushing.

Grizz
 
gull wing said:
Off the topic, but someone mentioned bushing system getting too expensive ....................so somewhere in the near future NO MORE SEBENZA?
Click to expand...

I certainly hope he doesn't stop producing the 21 any time in the near future, I like the 21 a heck of a lot more than the 25.

As an aside, how can it possibly be getting that much more expensive to make the bushing pivot? Materials prices have risen as has the price of the electricity needed to run the machines, but a small price bump would keep his profit margins the same as they've always been. Plus, AFAIK his sales have been gradually increasing over the years so he should be getting a better deal as far as economy of scale goes.

Perhaps the machines he uses to make the bushings are no longer being manufactured, and thus maintenance costs have risen? Or maybe demand has risen so much that he has to pay the staff operating them overtime to keep up? Anyone have an insight on this?
 
I have no insight on this, but there seems to be no great rush by CRK to offer the 25 in UG, CGG, Wood inlays, Damascus, small size, left-hand, Tanto, Insingo, CF, or mammoth, so I think well have the 21 for a while yet.

I don't really look at the 25 as an upgraded 21. It's a different knife that has a different appeal and feel about it. If the 21 were cut from the CRK roster, even if the 25 had all options, there would still be a 'hole' in the CRK catalogue (as far as I am concerned) for a knife like a 21. I think if nothing else, I hope we might see another version of the 21 come out, with the same blade thickness, and the bushing system, but maybe other refinements or changed.
 
How much more popular do you all think the Umnumzaan would be if it had a traditional Sebenza style pivot?
 
amg137 said:
I certainly hope he doesn't stop producing the 21 any time in the near future, I like the 21 a heck of a lot more than the 25.

As an aside, how can it possibly be getting that much more expensive to make the bushing pivot? Materials prices have risen as has the price of the electricity needed to run the machines, but a small price bump would keep his profit margins the same as they've always been. Plus, AFAIK his sales have been gradually increasing over the years so he should be getting a better deal as far as economy of scale goes.

Perhaps the machines he uses to make the bushings are no longer being manufactured, and thus maintenance costs have risen? Or maybe demand has risen so much that he has to pay the staff operating them overtime to keep up? Anyone have an insight on this?
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I don't really see how the bushing can be getting that much more expensive to produce. With the bushing system, the bushing itself must be produced to extremely tight tolerances as well as the scales, as we all know. With what almost seems like the bushing system being slowly phased out, I hope we aren't seeing a reduction in precision manufacturing at the expense of margins. One only has to look at CRK's competition in the same price range to see that a CRK is a steal compared to others.

As far as the S35VN debate, I believe Chris has made it known it's easier to machine. That's about all you need to know. I also tend to believe that more people that don't know how to sharpen are drawn to super steels, but with the proper equipment, they really don't take that much longer to sharpen. Though it is fun to take a super steel to a really low angle and hack away all day long to find not much reduction in initial sharpness. Also, if he's only gonna HT it to 58 then what difference does it make? If he HT his S35VN to what Hinderer does, you wouldn't see near the complaints nor clamoring for super steels. I haven't used it in Spyderco's knives and don't know what they HT theirs at, but I don't think I've read too many complaints.
 
Yeah you can really thin some of the better steels to be amazing. That's another great reason.

uofaengr said:
I don't really see how the bushing can be getting that much more expensive to produce. With the bushing system, the bushing itself must be produced to extremely tight tolerances as well as the scales, as we all know. With what almost seems like the bushing system being slowly phased out, I hope we aren't seeing a reduction in precision manufacturing at the expense of margins. One only has to look at CRK's competition in the same price range to see that a CRK is a steal compared to others.

As far as the S35VN debate, I believe Chris has made it known it's easier to machine. That's about all you need to know. I also tend to believe that more people that don't know how to sharpen are drawn to super steels, but with the proper equipment, they really don't take that much longer to sharpen. Though it is fun to take a super steel to a really low angle and hack away all day long to find not much reduction in initial sharpness. Also, if he's only gonna HT it to 58 then what difference does it make? If he HT his S35VN to what Hinderer does, you wouldn't see near the complaints nor clamoring for super steels. I haven't used it in Spyderco's knives and don't know what they HT theirs at, but I don't think I've read too many complaints.
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CRK is not know for implementing changes that their customer base would like to see. Just how it is.
 
Your best bet is to get the S35 blade hardened to 60 if you want much better edge retention. I'm one of those guys who uses his Seb daily and was tired of having to sharpen multiple times a week (and sharpening out dents in the blade). Got it hardened, now I just strop on some diamond spray to keep it razor sharp. No chipping issues in almost three years of use and no more inward edge denting. Believe it or not, it's actually easier to sharpen now and get a razor edge. Super steels even harder than 60 aren't hard to sharpen on diamonds at all. I don't get why most say they are much harder. Takes me just a minute or two more.

Given that most of the general knife buying public don't sharpen their own knives, a steel that retains it's edge longer shouldn't be an issue. I'm guessing most would see it as a positive. S35 isn't chippy at 60, it's perfect and a fantastic steel IMO. I'm guessing most that claim it's chippy have never used it at a higher hardness. Get the blade hardened, get the most of the S35 and call it a day.
 
I would like to see a Sebenza with Nitrobe-77, 12C27 (at HRC of 61 with deep freeze and good temper) or 14C28N at HRC of 62....we can all dream cant we?
 
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lokipittman said:
@ TTTis who did you send the blade to for HT?
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Paul Bos Heat Treat.... run by Paul Farner now..... same great work though. Keep in mind with his setup, 60 is as high as he can go with S30/35. In my opinion, that hardness has been perfection.
 
@Straight shooter you can only be stubborn for so long.,, before long their pocket books suffer. The problem is in our modern society there are way too many fan boys to stoke a maketers ego; and that is not a jab directly at CRK. The fact is when I can go to a local gun show and purchase a no name 440C that out performs a world renowned makers super steel due to HT then there is a prob.... The only thing lacking is customer push back. Most people don't want to admit they have an expensive piece that can be out performed by a production piece.
 
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