Sebenza 25 construction flaw? (Nope, not a flaw, read inside)

UrFrndlyNebrhoodS said:
Will the "Idaho Made" Stamp ever be done away with or moved to the blade.......probably not,
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Dude.... please don't give them any ideas. I love the CRK sterile blade with absolutely nothing on it. I can deal with the stamp on my scales lol. Especially since the starbenza stamp is so much smaller.



I believe the fix in this situation was to loctite down the screws. At least according to the video comments of the guy who had the same problem with his.
 
This is making me nervous about buying a 25... It seems like there are far more manufacture flaws with the 25 than any other CRKs. Is it because of the rising cost that CRK had to cut a little bit of corners? Doing a little bit of digging around youtube, there just seem to be little flaws here and there. Is QC slipping?
 
Just buy one and judge for yourself. If you don't like it, you can easily trade it for a 21 or sell it. They're in demand right now.
It's a new design it'll need a year or two to get really dialed in. And anyone who spends that much money on a knife will be overly picky about every tiny detail. I know I am.
The mail man should be knocking on my door anytime now. I can't wait to get mine!
 
I'm sitting here playing with mine!

Sebenza 25 that is.
I really like it, strong detent, solid lock up, I'm still breaking it in, it's getting smoother.
Yeh you'll have to try one yourself, I'm not worried about locktiting the pivot, I backed the pivot screw back a little,
And there is absolutely no blade play, or lock rock at all, still tight. It is really growing on me.
 
Moxy said:
Just buy one and judge for yourself. If you don't like it, you can easily trade it for a 21 or sell it. They're in demand right now.
It's a new design it'll need a year or two to get really dialed in. And anyone who spends that much money on a knife will be overly picky about every tiny detail. I know I am.
The mail man should be knocking on my door anytime now. I can't wait to get mine!
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Moxy, I'm particularly interested in your thoughts on the knife. Please keep us (me) informed. :)
 
Will do! This will be my first large CRK. I only own two small Sebenzas currently.
 
There are way more people that love the 25. I love the knife. It's a great knife! If you don't like larger folders than it's probably not for you. Otherwise give it a shot f you're interested. And I'm sure you'll probably love it too! Even the people that have sent it back for warranty or whatever are still happy with them!! Says a lot about a knife. I think everyone is being a little too critical... They're not huge changes or issues they are all subtle or very minor. Find out for yourself and enjoy. Or find a shop or someone you know with one and fondle :)
 
vininull said:
Of course you won't critique the knife without knowing what is going on inside! You can talk business only when it gets down to work, use, sharpening etc. When it happens (real use) you'll need to take it apart pretty soon, that's why Chris puts 3(!) wrenches with a knife.
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This make no sense. You haven't described what type of "real use" other than curiosity that led you to take yours down. Don't assume that just because ppl don't take theirs apart as soon as they open the box that they don't "really use them" I have a zaan that I carry on duty every day, it hasn't been taken down ever. Hasn't needed it in the 3 months I've had it and trust me it gets "real use". Just because they can be disassembled doesn't mean they should be every 10 min just to see what's going on. If your that OCD get a fixed blade
 
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Yikes, gettin a little hot in here. Hopefully my (combined) comments haven't painted the knife in a poor light.

I'm not the op and he, justifiably, has a right to his concerns and opinions to be sure, but as far as I'm concerned, in my very limited experience, the 25 is a fine knife and a fine design. I'm not sure if problems are being over-exaggerated, or if there really are issues that will continue to surface, I just wanted to make it clear that I love my 25. Would I prefer things be a little more like they were? Yeah, but that doesn't detract from the knife at all.

I always try to give an unbiased opinion when talking about knives. I agree that there appear to be many many satisfied customers, and the last thing that I want to do is take from the excitement of other new, or soon to be new, owners. :)
 
Hells yeah!!! Me likey!

I've only owned it for 15 minutes now, but man this knife is killer! The knife is new but I traded for it with another member here, and he apparently got it on the forums as well, so I assume I'm the 3rd owner. Birthday is June 6th 2013. Still the knife is mint. First impression was "man this thing is a TANK". Yet it actually doesn't feel overbuilt, it's still pretty thin and sleek. Mine has zero blade play. I'm sure if I really tried hard to muscle any play out of it I'd find some, there is always a threshold with a folding knife IMO. But it certainly is one of the most solid lockups I've ever felt or owned. My lockup is late. Maybe 75-80% which really doesn't concern me since it has the ceramic interface, and should it ever wear too far CRK will have that covered. I live in the US so it's no biggy sending it in. However, I understand it's a headache for my foreign friends here. The grind looks flat to me, it's hard to notice that it is in fact slightly hollow. Detent is perfect, not too stiff or too loose. Jumping is more aggressive, I like that. Lock is a tiny bit sticky, which does irk me a bit. But it's a tiny amount and it's at least consistent. If the lock stick comes and goes or gets worse or better, in my mind that means the lock-bar is moving around and the fit of the mechanism is succumbing to loose tolerances. Not good. This lockup is consistent, so far, and isn't a sharp stick, but rather a bit of resistance. Feels like you're just overcoming the friction of the lock. So in the end I don't mind it too much. Action is very smooth. Very hydraulic. I have a theory that the "hydraulic" feel occurs when the coefficient of static friction equals the coefficient of kinetic friction of the movement of the blade, and has a smooth resistance throughout. Not to many knives achieve that, and this one is close which is remarkable since it's so new. It has that nice "ting" when the blade closes too.

Initial impressions are VERY positive. 10/10
Highly recommended!
 
That was quick! :)

I don't want to go ot anymore than I already have in the op's thread. I'll just say that I'm happy that you like it, and I agree about the sound when it closes. Such a small detail, yet important!

Back on topic, is yours a press fit stop Moxy, or does it accept the tool on both sides?
 
Before commenting on the topic of this thread, I would like to reiterate a few points. We have asked many times over that when a customer has an issue with a knife, they contact us first. There is a big difference between a real problem and a perceived one; there is a big difference between giving knowledgeable commentary and inflammatory opinion made on supposition.

When Chris designs a product, extensive experience lies behind the design and there is specific intent behind every feature. Although he has been very open in the past, and willing to explain every nuance, this has come back to bite him many times by copies, counterfeits and misrepresentations of what he has said. He is less willing now and will not describe every thought process and detail that has gone into the design of the Sebenza 25.

The issue raised by Vininull is not a construction problem or a design problem. It is a twofold issue – partly an error on our part but also a lack of thought on his part as to how or why the part could move. A call to CRK could have resolved this issue very quickly and a 50+ post thread would not have ensued. Our error is in the assembly process where a drop of Loctite was omitted from the back screw that holds the stop pin in its correct position.

Vininull - returning the knife to us is advised, and we will gladly effect the necessary work. If this is not feasible, please contact us at crkinfo@chrisreeve.com and we will discuss how this situation can be resolved.

Anne
 
So I was looking at my knife and I realized that I didn't understand the op's initial complaint.

This is the inside of mine. Sorry the quality is crappy, bad light because the baby was sleeping.

IMAG1439_zps6f03d771.jpg


I thought the notch was for the tang to settle against when open. When I looked at my pin the notch didn't seem to line up with the open tang so I had to look at the initial post again. Why is the notch there? As explained it sounds like it's a clearance notch? That makes more sense in my mind for why it's there to begin with, but I guess it doesn't change the fact that it spinning causes an issue.

The pin looks like this on one side of my knife.

IMAG1440_zps11630ae4.jpg
 
I am not an engineer, nor do I have even an iota of Mr. Reeves "knife knowledge". It is entirely possible that the aforementioned is why I fail to see a beneficial reason behind this "design feature". AGAIN, I CAN BE AND VERY LIKELY COULD BE WRONG.
 
Officer's Match said:
I am not an engineer, nor do I have even an iota of Mr. Reeves "knife knowledge". It is entirely possible that the aforementioned is why I fail to see a beneficial reason behind this "design feature". AGAIN, I CAN BE AND VERY LIKELY COULD BE WRONG.
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My guess is that it is much less a design feature, and much more a packaging solution. If you take a lot of knives apart over the years, you start to notice things like this. Believe me, there are some truly complex and unnecessary design elements in knives. I'm thinking specifically of assisted openers before Mr. Onion showed everyone how it's done. But that's not the point.

Honestly, I'd be very surprised if they included this just for fun, or to impress anyone. The only thing that gets me is why they stopped press fitting the part. My guess would be that they either found an issue with press fitting them that we do not see, or decided it was easier/less expensive to use screws.
 
I love my Classic and my Zaan and I have no doubt that Mr. Reeves puts a ton of experience, thought, design, and engineering into his knives and I'm sure there was a reason for that stop pin design. However, there's always room for improvement even from the best engineers and designers and their products, and many small issues are impossible to QC until a lot of product is in the hands of consumers. If they were all perfect we'd never see any design evolution. Others may feel differently but to me any $450 knife that relies on loctite to ensure an asymmetrical stop pin does not rotate and disable the knife has a weakness, issue, design problem, etc. call it what you want, but it's not a positive feature for me as an end user.

Thankfully as is the standard, we can count on CRK to go the extra mile in customer service to fix the issue for the OP. I also have to say I don't agree with the idea that users shouldn't post their thoughts/concerns/issues before or after they contact the company as long as it's done without ranting and raving or bashing the company for the sake of bashing them, but I can understand why companies prefer they don't. What I do hope and expect to see is that the OP posts back down the road that the knife is fixed and working great and is a happy CRK customer.
 
As CRK stated a drop of loc-tite on the back screw upon re-assembly will keep the stop pin in place and worry free. I can attest to this, have been using the 25 daily for ~2 months and no worries.

No I'm not crazy about some of the changes to the new generation of Sebenza. But this knife cuts and cuts well. Like all previous versions, this Sebenza is a prime example of expert knife crafting.
 
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