New Sebenza, pathetically dull!

I always thought a Chris Reeve knife cost what it did because they were examples of perfection. Perfect fit and finish, which includes a shaving sharp edge. If I want a knife that usually comes sharp, I'll spend far less. Like I said, I thought buying a CRK meant you will get a knife with a sharp edge, centered blade, perfect whatever. In other words, "stuff happens" isn't an acceptable excuse for me here, if I am going to pay $400 for a knife, I'm paying it because my knife is going to be perfect. Still seriously considering picking up my first CRK in the very near future, but this was off putting.
 
peanuts said:
In other words, "stuff happens" isn't an acceptable excuse for me here, if I am going to pay $400 for a knife, I'm paying it because my knife is going to be perfect. Still seriously considering picking up my first CRK in the very near future, but this was off putting.
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You are getting a knife made and inspected by humans not by divine beings. Expecting "Perfection" is always going to be a letdown. There is no perfect. There is only most nearly perfect. If one (or even a few dozen) customer's have had problems with their CRKs, so what? CRK makes thousands of knives a year, and for the "silent majority" they arrive w/out problems.

The $400 you pay for CRK is not just for the knife. It is for the service. If you have problems with the knife just contact CRK. I have talked to them several times. Every time I have contacted them, the employees of CRK have been nothing but professional.

If some people's experience is "putting you off" from buying a fantastic knife, then I feel sorry for you. I would have never owned a Spyderco, Benchmade, Buck, Kershaw, R.A.T., CRK, Strider, or <Knife-maker-you-want-to-name-here> if I was that picky.
 
I've also experienced this "dullness". First on my now sold small Sebbie, now on my new Mnandi. I wouldn't even reflect about this if the edge was ground at less than 20 degrees, then I could just give it five minutes on the Sharpmaker and it would be splitting hairs, but like DaveH said, the angle seems much greater than that, which bugs me a bit.

I will most likely send it to Krein for a simple regrind of the edge down to 15 degrees or so. Too bad, since CRK is so close to perfect in every other way.
 
I have had variable out-of-box sharpness results with almost every knife brand I have purchased. Some are sharp, some are not. Sebenzas are no different. Anyhow, sharpening a new knife is a great way to get acquainted with how it handles.
 
sticf said:
You are getting a knife made and inspected by humans not by divine beings. Expecting "Perfection" is always going to be a letdown. There is no perfect. There is only most nearly perfect.

I would have never owned a Spyderco, Benchmade, Buck, Kershaw, R.A.T., CRK, Strider, or <Knife-maker-you-want-to-name-here> if I was that picky.
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Ok, nearly perfect, but you get what I mean. Insanely good. For instance, the extremely close to perfect tolerances needed to make the whole pivot bushing thing work properly.

As for being this picky, well maybe it's just me, but If I am going to pay this much, no matter how great the service is, I am still going to be pretty picky. My point was that since every other aspect of a CRK is consistently nearly perfect, I would have thought that the edges they are shipped with would have been consistently excellent too. However, it seems they are about level with most other manufacturers when it comes to this. As for only a few dozen slipping through with less-than-nearly-perfect edges, it sounds like a few people here have repeatedly recieved CRK's with this flaw.

Don't get me wrong, I am still going to get a sebenza...or two....maybe an umnum aswell... then again, I could always use an mnandi....anyway, I am not bashing them or their knives, I was just saying I thought they would perform slightly better in the consistently near perfect field. Maybe my expectations were unrealistic, sorry if my first post didn't give that impression.:)
 
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your expectations are not unrealistic. every single spyderco I have ever bought has been shaving sharp out of the box, benchmade too.
 
My Sebenzas (and other CRKs) have been always VERY sharp out of the box. Chris puts a slightly convex edge on Sebenza - that way it stays sharper for longer time. Just my exprience with CRK.
 
My Umnumzaan was not as sharp as I like.
It did kind of bother me, having to sharpen a $400 knife first thing out of the box.
It WOULD cut stuff, but not like most of my Spyderco's(my Superhawk was annoyingly dull out of the box).
I don't think expecting your knife to be shipped sharp is unreasonable, even if it costs $50.
 
All my future CRK's are definitely going straight to Tom Krein. The man charges $5(!) plus return shipping, for giving the knife a perfect edge at whatever angle you might like. Quite amazing.
 
Wow, thats too bad. Sorry to hear that. Mine was razor sharp out fo the box. I would send it back and let them sharpen it.
 
Thalestin said:
Sharpening is one of those things. Just a personal opinion of course. But I always get annoyed when people buy stuff out of their league. This includes bikes, cars, cameras etc. ...
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I agree that one should be able to sharpen one's knives. I believe they should come sharp from the maker or factory, though. To use your analogy, my new BMW should not come to me in need of a tune-up or even in need of air in the tires. I expect it to be ready to perform.

I have three CRKs. One was used, so I can't say if it was sharp out of the box. The two new ones were very sharp.

I bought a new Bradley Alias that was butter knife dull and Kershaw Vapor that was dull, too, but sharpened easily. Mostly my knives have come sharp and it makes me happy when they come very sharp, as have my one Emerson, pretty much any Spydie, my Buck 110s, and most Kershaws.

Edit: I forgot that I sent the used CRK in to have the blade refinished (and sharpened) for a fee. The refinishing was perfect and the customer service was friendly. The knife came back not quite shaving sharp, which was a disappointment.
 
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lava_lamp said:
I agree that one should be able to sharpen one's knives. I believe they should come sharp from the maker or factory, though. To use your analogy, my new BMW should not come to me in need of a tune-up or even in need of air in the tires. I expect it to be ready to perform.
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But if it needed air in the tires or a bit of oil would you bring it back and tell them to do it? I would just do it myself. I just don't see sharpening as a big deal. Its annoying but whatever. I think this is where CR can improve but it aint close to a deal breaker for me.
 

The OP was confused about the things he had read about Sebenza’s on this forum, and what he got in reality.

He has a right to question the claims.

The honest Sebenza, and CRK, owners admit that they sometimes get knives that aren’t as well finished as they should be for that price. Good for them. Good for us. We can make an informed decision. Several of these owners piped in and gave accounts of similar dull-blade problems. Thanks to them for their honesty. Most Sebenza /CRK owners are very, very happy with their knives, and they let readers know about their loyalty to the brand. They are not blindly loyal though.

Vary few people on BF claim that their favorite knife brand, Stryder, Spyderco, Benchmade, Emerson, etc. etc., is ‘perfection’. They may love their brand and think it’s better than so-and-so’s, but rarely do they claim no contest.
They realize that there can be flaws in the brand lineup from time to time.
They may be very brand loyal, but they don’t insist upon telling everyone, especially newbie’s about the absolute flawless construction and design of their favorite knife.


Enter some other Sebenza owners. Let’s call them the deniers.

They are blindly loyal. They deny the fact that a dull blade on a $400 knife is a problem. They tout their toys as the grail of folding knives. Claims of perfection and complete satisfaction run rampant in their threads. “I’ll never buy another knife” they claim.

They try to convince, (and sometimes do), the readers that Sebenza’s are so good as to be from another dimension. They diss Umnumzaans because, god forbid, Chris should ever decide that he can improve some aspects of the Sebs 22 year old design. These are Sebenza’s fer cry’in out loud! Nothing is better!

The uninformed reads these threads and believes the hype. Sometimes they buy one and love it. Sometimes they buy one and are unimpressed. Sometimes they buy a Seb and wonder why in the heck they paid $400 for a knife with a dull blade. They question the claims of Sebenza owners who have written so many praises about the knife to the point of dishonest hype..

The honest ones tell it like it is. They usually weren’t the ones who over-hyped the knife to begin with.

The deniers make excuses.

Denying the truth doesn’t make it go away.

Does CRK make excellent knives? Absolutely

Does one slip through the cracks occasionally? Yes.

Are Sebenza’s “the best knife in the whole wide world’?

Ask the OP.
 
I would send it back first to see if they would make good. I bought a new Seb and it did not come dull it was sharp.

My take on this is if I pay top price for a brand new knife like this MAKING SURE IT IS SHARP OUT THE BOX IS NOT MY DAMN PROBLEM if you want top dollar you better give me top quality merchandise and I will maintain it when it is time to maintain it NOT ANY SOONER.

I have learned from the posts I have read so far that this (dull knives) seems to be becoming more of a habit than the exception with CRK hopefully this is just an impression and not a fact.

Like I said in the beginning I think it should have been sent back first to see if they made it right.

I have to say both of my Sebs are no nonsense fine pieces of work that are made right and better than any framelock or liner that I have seen or own.
 
You know what I don't carry my seb either thats right I just collect also I like sharp edges just because I want a sharp edge on it no other reason although I do cut things with it sometimes and a nice sharp edge makes that a pleasing experience.

When I buy a top dollar top quality knife thats exactly what I should get regardless of my sharpening skills or what I want to use it for. Anything less dare I say triggers my rippoff detectors and causes me to wonder what is the problem.
 
Sebenzas are famous for their fit & finish, right? That's why people pay almost $400 for them, right?

It looks like they have mastered the "fit" part but are being negligent on the "finish"...
 
austinguy23

This is one thread that state this problem. It does happen. Even a Hinderer, Spyderco, Benchmade, Strider all are known to have a few slip by. One of your threads you state you have not held a sebenza yet you are already giving comment in negative manner and bumping a thread that has been laid to rest. Please try and get hold of CRK and decide for yourself if it is forth $400 or not.
 
It's always interesting to see the low post counts come out of the woodwork whenever something negative is mentioned about a CRK product. I've been nothing but impressed with the F&F of my sebenzas and mnandis.

Most knives, not just CRK, don't come as sharp as I like my knives to be. Simple solution, and it doesn't involve posting a new thread.
 
marthinus said:
austinguy23

This is one thread that state this problem. It does happen. Even a Hinderer, Spyderco, Benchmade, Strider all are known to have a few slip by. One of your threads you state you have not held a sebenza yet you are already giving comment in negative manner and bumping a thread that has been laid to rest. Please try and get hold of CRK and decide for yourself if it is forth $400 or not.
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I need to hold a Sebenza to know whether it should be sharp given that it is a knife whose sole purpose is to cut, it costs nearly $400, and the company prides itself at having unmatched fit-and-finish? That's some interesting logic you have there.
 
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