Scotch-Brite??

Redwood25

Redwood25

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Sorry to sound ignorant, but sometimes ya don't know until ya ask, right?

What is "Scotch-Brite" as it relates o CRK knives (or any knife for that matter)?

I occasionally see a knife for sale listed as a "scotch-brite" Sebenza (or whatever).

Explain, please.....
 
Scotch-brite is an aggressive plastic scrubbing pad with a steel wool kind of feel.

It's commonly used on Ti to give it a clean working finish. No rough and tumble like it came out of the mill and not high polish so it shows every fingerprint and scuff.

It gives you that classic grey that screams Ti.
 
Just listed in the CRK for sale section is a plane jane 21 Insingo that has the "scotch bright" finish. That may help you understand what it looks like and what it means. Kinda shiny and worn in looking.
 
The pad removes (or mostly)the CRK bead blast finish, which tends to show marks easily. I find the end result finish to be a little slippery, and would rather have a marked up bead blast finish(But that is a IMO). I have had mixed results sending knives back to CRK to have them re-finished some they have done others have been return in the same condition.
 
Just to add, think of it as sorta a plastic steel wool. It is mostly used as a cleaning pad. For like pots and pans and such.
 
Don't do it unless u want a slippery handle. I sold mine the week I did an oxi clean hand rub method. Looked amazing but super smooth.



 
Some scotch-brite pads are Aluminum Oxide...they will abrade very quickly and round over edges.

In my opinion, while it looks good to do it lightly, it can also remove the crispness of the machined edges. Some people like it..I am not one of them and I suspect I am not alone on this.
The secondary market price could suffer from it should you decide to sell later...

While you can reblast, the rounded over edges will never be brought back to new condition. They will still be rounded over.
 
bhyde said:
Some scotch-brite pads are Aluminum Oxide...they will abrade very quickly and round over edges.

In my opinion, while it looks good to do it lightly, it can also remove the crispness of the machined edges. Some people like it..I am not one of them and I suspect I am not alone on this.
The secondary market price could suffer from it should you decide to sell later...

While you can reblast, the rounded over edges will never be brought back to new condition. They will still be rounded over.
Click to expand...

Yes yes. And if done without reasonable care, you could even round off the edges on the lockbar, which is not a good thing and could lead CRK to void the warranty.
 
JNewell said:
Yes yes. And if done without reasonable care, you could even round off the edges on the lockbar, which is not a good thing and could lead CRK to void the warranty.
Click to expand...

Yes, I agree with you, and bhyde also. I've read post on here before(one by CRK I believe) that stated they couldn't re-blast a handle if to much was taken away from the use of a scotch-bright.

I wouldn't do it myself, and if I bought one with it I wouldn't pay nearly as much as one without having it done. You may be getting a knife that can't be blasted again, or even worse, one that had the lockbar edges rounded of a bit.
 
Here is a reply from CRK regarding my request to get a spa done on a scotchbrite finished Umnumzaan, thought people contemplating a purchase or doing it to their knives would like to know where they stand with CRK,

"....We would be happy to provide the spa treatment for your knife. We may be unable to provide the sandblasting, as the knife has been modified. Once we are able to see the knife in person, we will be able to determine if we are able to do so. If we can sandblast the handles, it will be $30.00. We will still clean, tune, and sharpen the knife at no charge to you...."
 
Just my opinion but I would never buy a Sebenza that had been scotch-brited. Why make the knife more slippery and chance voiding your warranty in one fell swoop?

Friends don't let friends scotch-brite their Sebenzas.
 
My first Chris Reeve product was a used Insigno that the previous owner had done the scotch bright thing done to it. I used the knife for about 6 months then decided to send it in to get it all reworked and a new finish put on it. I got it back with new washers and a note saying they would not refinish the handles due to it being out of spec from the scotch bright. I was pretty disappointed. I really don't understand why they can't refinish a knife that had that done to it, but I'm not a knife maker so maybe its just to hard for them to do.

If I had known the scotch bright would have voided some service, I would not have bought the knife.
 
I suspect the reason why they will not refinish the handles is because all the rounded over edges from the scotch brite.
If they cannot make the knife look new without extraordinary measure, then it's simply not going to get blasted. Not sure if it makes sense to anyone else, but the original edges have been altered so they are not as "crisp" as they used to be after they were originally machined. Regular usage should not alter the chamfers and transitions much, if any. Scotch brite does.
 
You could sand them like CRK does on the inlay models and preserve the chamfers if you want a satin finish. In the shop videos you see them sanding with 600grit on a hard surface.

I expect they would still not cover it in warranty
 
If you scotchbright the knife you obviously don't care that it doesn't look stock. So why they won't just blast it to the best of their ability if that's what you want is bizarre. Who cares if the edges are slightly rounded, maybe you just want the grip back.
 
If you don't care that it doesn't look stock, why do you want it reblasted to look stock?
 
I am pretty sure they told me it was the rounding of the edges that was the determining factor. I am not sure if they just don't like it, it effects something holding or spraying the scale or what. They did do one for me with completely rounded edges (melt), but that could have been a custom job, since the old finish was destroyed by the heat treat work they did.
 
I'm trying to picture how anyone could Scotchbrite the lockbar's crucial contact area without taking the knife down and doing it deliberately? The leading <inner> edge and face of the lockbar is where contact is made on a RIL that's not played out to begin with....

And how would Scotchbriting an Umnumzaan's or 25's lockbar affect anything other than looks? It interfaces with the ceramic ball fer Pete's sake....
 
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