Petition for Large Sebenza "Sprint Runs"

Sigifrith said:
Would there be room at the current facility to add more employees / equipment to get an new model into production? Might be a chance to grow the business.
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I don't know, but it would probably take years and involve hundreds of thousands of dollars, maybe even into seven digits. On top of that, every new steel involves a learning curve, and steels like S90V have a pretty steep learning curve. Obviously Chris and Anne Reeve are the only ones who can really answer that, but if you haven't owned a manufacturing business like CRK or Spyderco it's very easy to underestimate the huge commitment of time and capital, and the slow payback even under best conditions. :(
 
JNewell said:
I don't know, but it would probably take years and involve hundreds of thousands of dollars, maybe even into seven digits. On top of that, every new steel involves a learning curve, and steels like S90V have a pretty steep learning curve. Obviously Chris and Anne Reeve are the only ones who can really answer that, but if you haven't owned a manufacturing business like CRK or Spyderco it's very easy to underestimate the huge commitment of time and capital, and the slow payback even under best conditions. :(
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I hear ya'. I have people come up to me all of the time wanting or suggesting I open a new restaurant in a certain area. They have no idea that it would cost me up to $2 million dollars to open a operation as to what I have now.
 
ISKski said:
How about a different grind (flat or convex) on carbon steel!!! that would be the truth like sojourn!
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There are a few flat ground blades out there that Chris did$ at the end he did not like it and I believe the consistency of the grind was difficult to maintain. He decided to stick with the hollow grind.
 
BBQ BOY said:
I hear ya'. I have people come up to me all of the time wanting or suggesting I open a new restaurant in a certain area. They have no idea that it would cost me up to $2 million dollars to open a operation as to what I have now.
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OK, how about a 2nd shift. Need to hire / train more peeps. CRK owns the building 24 / 7 anyway.
 
Sigifrith said:
OK, how about a 2nd shift. Need to hire / train more peeps. CRK owns the building 24 / 7 anyway.
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I would say that is difficult to do in this area. Qualified people (especially to the caliber that Chris would hire) are not easy to come by. Having seen a great number of people come and go in the CNC/machining trade, I would also comment that training is a crap shoot at best in this area..I think I can count 3 out of a dozen (conservatively) that have worked out..2 have left for "greener" pastures shortly after being trained. Of course, these numbers are my experience in the shops I have worked in the same area, but I do not work for CRK. It has been tempting....SOOO tempting to apply when I see the ads come up though!
 
JNewell said:
I don't know, but it would probably take years and involve hundreds of thousands of dollars, maybe even into seven digits. On top of that, every new steel involves a learning curve, and steels like S90V have a pretty steep learning curve. Obviously Chris and Anne Reeve are the only ones who can really answer that, but if you haven't owned a manufacturing business like CRK or Spyderco it's very easy to underestimate the huge commitment of time and capital, and the slow payback even under best conditions. :(
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I know that the investment capital needed can be huge, but it seems like every other knife company but CRK does it.

I don't know of any other modern knife company that only offers one steel at the time. Matter of fact, Victorinox is the only company I can think of that does it, but that's just their thing.

I don't see how other (even smaller) companies can do it, but CRK can't? It doesn't make sense.
 
The first part of my post refers to expanding the manufacturing capacity, which would require a lot of evaluation, planning, risk/reward evaluation and capital, and would take years to come to any meaningful fruition.

Offering different steels in the existing range is obviously a very different question, and doesn't/shouldn't require huge investments. On the other hand, most of the companies you're thinking of (Spyderco and Kershaw would be great examples) are a lot bigger...and custom makers whose work is more or less one-off can do whatever they want, at least once. It's possible that the very small, semi-production facility that CRK operates is exactly the wrong size to make this work. On the other hand, it's possible that Chris Reeve is slowing life down a little as the years go by and wants to ride off-road, fish and hunt rather than expand the product line. :D Who knows? - I'm sure I don't. ;)

CrimsonTideShooter said:
I know that the investment capital needed can be huge, but it seems like every other knife company but CRK does it.

I don't know of any other modern knife company that only offers one steel at the time. Matter of fact, Victorinox is the only company I can think of that does it, but that's just their thing.

I don't see how other (even smaller) companies can do it, but CRK can't? It doesn't make sense.
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JNewell said:
The first part of my post refers to expanding the manufacturing capacity, which would require a lot of evaluation, planning, risk/reward evaluation and capital.

Offering different steels is obviously a hugely different question, and doesn't/shouldn't require huge investments. On the other hand, most of the companies you're thinking of (Spyderco and Kershaw would be great examples) are a lot bigger. It's possible that the very small, semi-production facility that CRK operates is exactly in the wrong place to make work. On the other hand, it's possible that Chris Reeve is slowing life down a little as the years go by and wants to ride off-road, fish and hunt rather than expand the product line. :D Who knows? - I'm sure I don't. ;)
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I think you hit the nail on the head with your last sentence. The knives are what they are, and I think he's A ok with that. It's not like he's hurting for sales, haha!

The smaller companies I was thinking of were Strider and Hinderer. They do different steels quite frequently, but they are young compared to CRK. I think they may struggle to stay relevant also.

I do wish I could get an S90V Sebenza and Umnum blade, but in the big scheme of things I am quite happy with S35VN.
 
I pretty sure Chris could pick Sal's mind for a few hint's and tips about S90V i hear Spyderco uses that stuff ;) and has it pretty well understood.

Another thought on an option for this, would Chris licence the Sebenza blade design to another maker/company for aftermarket purposes?
 
Markous said:
Another thought on an option for this, would Chris licence the Sebenza blade design to another maker/company for aftermarket purposes?
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There have been a couple of attempts along these lines before with the CRKT Sebenza and the Fantoni Razionale. While not exact copies, I think Reeve was trying to look at options to "mass-produce" the Sebenza blade styling outside of his own shop. One was aborted over quality issues and the other never really got traction in the market. My opinion is that Chris would love to move on and put the Sebenza in the same catagory of his OPR knives, but also recognizes that it's the cornerstone of his business. Dropping it would be financial suicide.

snowreaper1 said:
A Scott Cook Lochsa is probably the closest thing to an S90v Sebenza you'll see.
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I'll let you know in a few months :D
 
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