Polished Blades..

sailfish said:
Remember the good old days when there was no price difference between stonewashed and polished?
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That must have been a long time ago. I bought a small regular with a polished blade in 2006, and there was a small up charge for the polished blade then. I think it was something like $15.

BluegrassBrian said:
I kinda agree. Granted, I haven't seen one in person but..
Comparing to the rest of the knife world, the CRK polished blade seems to be most brands "satin" finish.
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It is definitely better than a satin finish. More polished than that, though not a mirror polish. I like it quite a bit.
 
Don M said:
That must have been a long time ago. I bought a small regular with a polished blade in 2006, and there was a small up charge for the polished blade then. I think it was something like $15.



It is definitely better than a satin finish. More polished than that, though not a mirror polish. I like it quite a bit.
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I remember as recent as 2018 there was no difference. Polished slabs were the same as blasted too.
 
I my opinion, owning both in the same L21 drop point format, polished blades look more like a “hand-made knife”, and stone washed blades like more like a production knife, and I suppose that is true, in that the polished blades are polished by hand, and the stone wash is applied by a machine.

There is ever so slight a minute difference in cutting performance. Certain materials drag on the polished blade and don’t on the stonewash, like cheese. I had to test this dozens of time to prove it to myself. However, this extremely slight deficiency in cutting is made up for by the fact the polished blades feel totally sexy under your fingers, while the stone-washed blades feel like any other knife on the market.

If I had to have just one Sebenza, that was going to be my only knife forever, I’d actually choose a polished blade, as it’s rarer, and represents more knife-making achievement than a generic stone-wash.

I notice no real difference in how scratches show. They both show/hide scratches just the same.
 
I like polished sometimes, but won't "pay extra" for one unless I like the rest of the knife - there are so many cosmetic variations of the basic Sebenza now that it looks great, or "blingly" to me depending on how it all goes together. None of my users are polished, though based on some up-thread comments, it sounds like they may be a bit more resistant to scratching, which sounds nice.
 
I got bit by the polished blade bug recently.

I bought a large sebenza PJ with a polished blade a few weeks ago and loved it so much I ended up buying the same configuration in a small sebenza. They’re sandblasted PJs with double gold lug and gold hardware. Super clean looking with the polished blade.

I also sent one of my older PJ sebenza 31s in to get a polished magnacut blade fitted.
 
I actually set out and intended to buy a ploshed blade Seb after this thread, but just couldn't do it and grabbed a "plain" bladed Seb instead. In the end, a new Seb was had, so win-win if you ask me.
 
I prefer the polished blades, especially on a graphic model. I carry and use this one pretty much everyday and have used it regularly for the last decade or so. Before that I couldn't bring myself to carry it (2009 birthday). As you can see, it's held up nicely, a few scratches and some wear, but I get to enjoy it every time I take out.

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Since it's one of the first 21s it has some of the best features of the previous Classic series. No "Idaho Made," solid washers, single sided Allen screws. The silver lug on the polished blade looks very elegant.
 
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