Sebenza Cutting

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I just got my first Sebenza, a small regular. Everything is just as I hoped except how it cuts. The quality is good but my $50 BM puts it to shame when it comes to slicing ability. Any suggestions? I touched it up on a sharpmaker but it still isn't where I think it should be. Thanks.
 
Hi topspace,

I had the same experience with my small trapeze seb I recently received. All I did was spend a little more time on the sharpmaker and eventually I obtained a shaving sharp edge.

That being said I have many knives that came with and I can more easily keep a much sharper edge. To name a few: most of my Spydercos, Lone wolf, bark river, Kershaw, Kabar, the list goes on.

I was surprised with such a high quality knife the edge was not hair popping sharp when it arrived new. In spite of this I do love the knife and carry it almost every day since it's arrival a few weeks ago.

Stuart O
 
guys, pelase remember that Sebenza has a convex cutting edge out of the box. It does not feel as sharp as Spyderco's, but the polished convex edge of Sebenza lasts considerably longer when you put the knife in use. And that's why I try to keep the edge of my Sebenza convex and polished, not just sharpened on triangle. However, if you take some time and resharpen the sebenza so the edge geometry is just like spyderco it shaves hair equally well. But again, Sebenza is a knife with edge geometry optimised for long lasting field use, not shaving hair on your arm ;)
 
Thank you Piter for clarifying. What method do you recommend for maintaining the convex edge.

For some strange reason I just can not stop shaving the hair on my arm. I have been known to move down to my leg. My wife thinks I am crazy.


Stuart
 
I think this needs clarification.

CRK says to use the Sharpmaker to maintain the edge. However, when I try to do that, it doesn't work, either from the convex edge, or that the edge angle of the sebenza does not match the sharpmaker.

It doesn't make sens to me to reccomend the sharpmaker, then not have ot work.
 
Some Sebenzas come from the factory with an edge slightly above 20 degrees per side, mine included. It took a while to reprofile it down to 20 degrees, but now I can easily touch it up with the Sharpmaker.
 
I use free hand and Spyderco bench Stones plus leather strop. I used to use sharpmaker and the result was a standard 20deg edge. Good general purpose edge, but not as good for field use as convex IMHO. And both steels (S30V in my classic and BG42 in regular) take and keep good edge. I have no problem at all with use / sharpening my Seb.
 
ON the sharpmaker I use the 30 degree back bevel side first, for about 5 minutes. then the 40 degree side for an additional 5 minutes. My sebenza is soooo sharp it shaves my finger prints off my fingers when I run across the blade!
 
I had the same edge issue on my L regular Sebenza. I spent quite some time on my Sharpmaker reducing the rounded angle using the 15 degrees per side angle, then finished with the 20 degrees/side ange. Now my Sebenza cuts with ease. For me, it took more work on the part of the blade closer to the tip, but finally it's to my satisfaction. Since that time, after good use I've resharpened it at the 20 degree/40 degrees included angle on the Sharpmaker and got it sharp again very easily.

But I won't lie; because I only used a Sharpmaker, it took several sessions of sharpening before I felt satisfied, but I am just picky, too, I guess.;)
Jim
 
kdizzog6 said:
ON the sharpmaker I use the 30 degree back bevel side first, for about 5 minutes. then the 40 degree side for an additional 5 minutes. My sebenza is soooo sharp it shaves my finger prints off my fingers when I run across the blade!
Click to expand...

I do not think the 30 degree bevel contributed to sharpness at all, in order to even touch the edge at 30 degrees you must remove the shoulder at the top of the 40 degree bevel, which would take much, much more than five minutes (S30V or BG-42, neither would be done in as little as five minutes.)

I think the 40 degree sharpening is the only thing that affected the edge, and the super scary sharpness might just be a burr that you didn't remove.
 
My small Sebenza had a reasonably sharp edge on it when new, but the angles of the bevel varied along the edge and the bevels were quite different on each side. This was very disappointing an a new $300 knife!
OTOH I have never had a knife that had a great edge on it from new and ALWAYS expect to have to re-bevel and sharpen to get it my standards.
The Sebenza now has one of the best edges I have ever been able to achieve. It did however take a long time to remove that much S30V, even with diamond hones.
Greg
 
Greg said:
My small Sebenza had a reasonably sharp edge on it when new, but the angles of the bevel varied along the edge and the bevels were quite different on each side. This was very disappointing an a new $300 knife!
OTOH I have never had a knife that had a great edge on it from new and ALWAYS expect to have to re-bevel and sharpen to get it my standards.
The Sebenza now has one of the best edges I have ever been able to achieve. It did however take a long time to remove that much S30V, even with diamond hones.
Greg
Click to expand...


The bevels are very different on each side of my knife as well. I agree, this is extremely disappointing on a $300+ knife, especially from a maker that is touted as making such perfect knives. I like my Sebenza but I doubt I will ever purchase another or recommend one either.
 
My large classic was an axe out of the box - heavy reprofiling was required to turn it into a great cutter.

If your not happy with the way it cuts AND you're not willing to reprofile the blade - I suggest sending it back before it's too late or before you wipe much of it's resale value away by grinding on it.

Cutting hair does not represent a blade's ability to glide through thick material. An axe is always an axe, no matter how high the edge sharpness is.

MAT
 
I got my first one a few months ago and it was and still is nice and sharp i love it
 
The leather strop works well for me. For my large Micarts inlay I reprofiled with the Edge Pro and it did take a lot of work initially but I got an edge on it that works well for me and it is easy to maintain. On my fancy Sebs I just strop on a leather belt laid on a mousepad loaded with Fritz and that seems to work well without changing the convex edge so I guess if I were you I would start there.;)
 
Django606 said:
I do not think the 30 degree bevel contributed to sharpness at all, in order to even touch the edge at 30 degrees you must remove the shoulder at the top of the 40 degree bevel, which would take much, much more than five minutes (S30V or BG-42, neither would be done in as little as five minutes.)

I think the 40 degree sharpening is the only thing that affected the edge, and the super scary sharpness might just be a burr that you didn't remove.
Click to expand...

I don't know. I read this technique in the sharpmaker directions The maker of the sharpener must have some knowledge in the're product. I've done it every other day for a couple minutes. I know that by doing this my sebenza is sharper than any other knife I've ever seen.
THis is a quote from my sharpmaker manual.
BACK BEVEL (30 DEGREE ANGLE) OPTION STEP
Note: This step should only be used after steps #1-4 have failed to produce the desired results.
Then the book went on to explain the same way I did how to sharpen the knife. Maybe not the first time but after repeated sharpenings this is crazy sharp. I didn't just make this up.
 
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