Picture history of early CRK's

[zackerty]

I see my #11 is playing the game...

Nice collection, Nick!

 

[nickpp]

I see my #11 is playing the game...

Nice collection, Nick!

Good to hear from you! Brilliant. Hope you’re keeping well!
Thank you. All started from that first knife I bought from you
IIRC this was you sales picture

 

[nickpp]

A more recent but still probably 15-20 year old hand ground knife from a Inyoni blank. Approximately a dozen were made by Chris for his motorbike buddies.

 

[nickpp]

Another old knife with a difference.
made as a test piece for a new spec Titanium that was being claimed had a higher hardness. You may be able to see the small square indent from the rockwell tester. Similar mark on many of the early One Piece Knives.
I’d guess this was made around 2010-2012. It's mentioned and pictured in a German magazine dated 2012.

 

[nickpp]

A few pictures of the array of Helix lock folding knives that Chris made.


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Steven65

 

[Durbanite]

Made for my father in the 1980's when Chris lived in Durban, as did my father. The inlays are ivory and the second I'm not sure about. My father swapped some ivory for the knife. That was back in the day when that stuff happened. The steel is 154CM.

CR2 by Jeff G, on Flickr

CR1 by Jeff G, on Flickr

CR3 by Jeff G, on Flickr

CR5 by Jeff G, on Flickr

 

[Steven65]

Made for my father in the 1980's when Chris lived in Durban, as did my father. The inlays are ivory and the second I'm not sure about. My father swapped some ivory for the knife. That was back in the day when that stuff happened. The steel is 154CM.

CR2 by Jeff G, on Flickr

CR1 by Jeff G, on Flickr

CR3 by Jeff G, on Flickr

CR5 by Jeff G, on Flickr

That's a beauty. Your Dad has great taste. It was almost certainly made in Chris's garage at Amsterdam Court on the Berea in Durban. The garage he used can still be seen on Google maps.

The wood looks like Tambooti. Chris used it a lot.

I've never seen a SA custom from that era in 154cm. Did your Dad source it from the US himself? Because of sanctions it was absolutely unobtainable in SA.

Thanks for sharing that one!

 

[Durbanite]

That's a beauty. Your Dad has great taste. It was almost certainly made in Chris's garage at Amsterdam Court on the Berea in Durban. The garage he used can still be seen on Google maps.

The wood looks like Tambooti. Chris used it a lot.

I've never seen a SA custom from that era in 154cm. Did your Dad source it from the US himself? Because of sanctions it was absolutely unobtainable in SA.

Thanks for sharing that one!

Thanks for your comment Steven.

No, Chris would have sourced the steel himself. I remember the piece of ivory that the old man swapped the knife for - it was substantial! I know that he would have given Chris some very specific requests in terms of design. My dad loved the outdoors and the bushveld, and indeed my grandfather used to go to Mala Mala in the 1920's and 30's and hunt - I remember as a child a rather scratchy leopard skin draped on a chair in the house in Umhlanga. Those were the days...

 

[mauiguy]

These pictures are just incredible. They clearly illustrate the talented genius and artistry of Chris Reeve as a knife maker.

 

[nickpp]

Made for my father in the 1980's when Chris lived in Durban, as did my father. The inlays are ivory and the second I'm not sure about. My father swapped some ivory for the knife. That was back in the day when that stuff happened. The steel is 154CM.

CR2 by Jeff G, on Flickr

CR1 by Jeff G, on Flickr

CR3 by Jeff G, on Flickr

CR5 by Jeff G, on Flickr

Thank you so much for posting these pictures of your father’s wonderful old knife. I lovingly refer these old South African knives as the “Golden Oldies” I love it. So cool to see another completely different design.
Do you know the significance of what I believe is H3 above the steel marking?

 

[Steven65]

Thank you so much for posting these pictures of your father’s wonderful old knife. I lovingly refer these old South African knives as the “Golden Oldies” I love it. So cool to see another completely different design.
Do you know the significance of what I believe is H3 above the steel marking?

What is super interesting about this knife is the influence of the great South African knifemaker Piet Grey who really popularised this drop point pattern. Andrew Frankland, another contemporary of Chris's near Durban also made a similar style hunter at this time.

Similar patterns to this are still being made by SA makers.
Sadly Piet Grey, the father of South African custom knife making and the Knife Makers Guild of South Africa passed away recently.

 

[Durbanite]

Thank you so much for posting these pictures of your father’s wonderful old knife. I lovingly refer these old South African knives as the “Golden Oldies” I love it. So cool to see another completely different design.
Do you know the significance of what I believe is H3 above the steel marking?

According to Anne the H is the model type and the 3 is for the third one of its type. It was designed with skinning in mind, hence the very deep finger choil. It hasn't seen any action on that front though!

 

[nickpp]

According to Anne the H is the model type and the 3 is for the third one of its type. It was designed with skinning in mind, hence the very deep finger choil. It hasn't seen any action on that front though!

Thank you for the explanation. So cool!
Message me if your interested in joining a small group of collectors and enthusiast who are into this sort of stuff.

 

[Marno]

View attachment 732931 The third Sebenza Predecessor. Made in 1987. Anne says the finish is original. The thumb stud is very small. there are some marks on the inside where Chris was still prototyping and making changes. Pretty neat.

I have found #6

View attachment 732931 The third Sebenza Predecessor. Made in 1987. Anne says the finish is original. The thumb stud is very small. there are some marks on the inside where Chris was still prototyping and making changes. Pretty neat.