"p" normally designates "production" i think.
I found this in the "facts"...It would be cool to own a piece of this history. Knowning that Chris ground and machined this one himself is pretty neat!
Sebenzas History!!
We introduced the large Sebenza in 1990. These early Sebenzas were pretty much hand made - in so far as each handle and blade was cut out individually and profiled by hand on the grinder. They were all marked H followed by a serial number.
In mid-1991, we entered the rather scary world of computer controlled machines and bought a CNC machining center. At the time, it was a major step financially and we were not sure whether it would do what we wanted it to do! The rationale behind this was to enable us to produce more knives (and keep the cost reasonable) and to ensure that our tolerances were kept very tight. Machining on the mill ensures that the holes are in exactly the right place, the profile is exactly how we want it.
We reduced the thickness of the titanium for the handle and altered the blade shape slightly. These knives were marked P as in production to distinguish them from H as in handmade. There has been quite a bit of misrepresentation that the P stands for prototype.
The blades were then, and are still today, hand ground, even though the outline (or profile) is machined on the CNC. Two years ago, we progressed to a larger machining center and are constantly reducing our tolerances!
The "H" or "P" is engraved into the titanium handle next to our CR logo.
Anne Reeve, 10/26/98
