Sebenza Overrated?

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Melvin-Purvis said:
Whycome don't nobodies didnt ansswer my? question...:confused:
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Because it's just adding fuel to the fire?:rolleyes:

Whether it's overrated or not is too vague a question to answer. A lot of people who've bought it seem pleased with it. Those who don't criticize it, though I somehow doubt they would spend that much money even on another knife.

I think it was So-Lo who summed it up best in a YouTube video: It's good, but don't sell off your whole collection for it.
 
jill jackson said:
If you are picky and want a flawless knife, it's very hard to do better than CR's knives. They constantly come out of the box, flawless. That's been my experience with them.

Even other brands, I've bought costing the same price have a little mark in the blade, if you look hard enough. (nothing horrible just you can find a small scratch, or rub here and there, if you look hard in the right light) So, if you are picky it's hard to beat CR's!
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Hmmm... quite a "picky" comment from you.... Tell me, do you use a loupe to find those defects? Or perhaps your eyesight is simply great, right?
 
Folderguy said:
Hmmm... quite a "picky" comment from you.... Tell me, do you use a loupe to find those defects? Or perhaps your eyesight is simply great, right?
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Nothing beats an electron microscope for finding those pesky"flaws". ;)
 
jakeyjake4528 said:
its funny, ive asked you a few times to explain away why both sal and thomas say the price point of a sebenza is right where it should be. sal has even said if he made his knives as CRK makes them, they would cost just the same.

ive asked this without any temper, insults. its simple, show how you know more about knife manufacter then sal and thomas. show how both of them are mistaken when they say the cost of CRK products are RIGHT WHERE THEY SHOULD BE.

i dont really expect an answer from you, because this is one argument that you can not win.

if you do answer, you sure as heck wont answer this question, made very simple, going right along with what youve claimed...

why are sal and thomas mistaken, and why is jiggy right?
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I never said I knew more about knife making then either sal or thomas. That would be a silly thing to claim. However I am saying like I have many times you can get knives with better materials at a better price. Are the parts fitted as tightly? Kershaw says no, spyderco says no and I'm awaiting a response from benchmade. Either way weather .0005, .0006, .0007. I don't think it would matter much because I cannot feel any loose movement in the spyderco, benchmade knives in the price of 1-200. I'm not saying it doesn't cost more to make knives to the .0005 tolerances I'm saying it's not necessary and I would rather spend that extra money on better materials instead of bettering already great tolerances from bm, spyderco.
 
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Noctis3880 said:
"Best" would obviously be fit and finish.

Titanium is nothing new, and there are a few steels that outperform S30V. However, I do find the blade profile to be absolutely perfect for most cutting tasks.

I wonder if customization and the ability to send your knife back in for a spa treatment is also the "best"? I sent in a used Sebenza I bought from someone else to have a Star Sapphire put into the handle along with a reverse silver contrast design. Not to mention bead blasting those scuff marks from the handle and clip(looked like the guy carried it in the same pocket as his keys everyday).

I can't really think of a knife maker that would give the buyer so many options for "blinging" and refurbishing his knife.
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thats a nice story ;) I still wouldn't buy one if it was $100.00.

I think it was So-Lo who summed it up best in a YouTube video: It's good, but don't sell off your whole collection for it.
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so wait its just a knife? wow, I think that right there answers the question.
 
tripletrash said:
thats a nice story ;) I still wouldn't buy one if it was $100.00.



so wait its just a knife? wow, I think that right there answers the question.
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Utter BS right there, because we both know you could easily turn around and sell it for $300 easy;).
 
Folderguy said:
Now that is too much. Ok... so, how close to perfect was it? Less than .001 of an inch off?
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I wasn't insinuating I owned it, it was posted a while back...when everyone was buying the blinged out models with sapphires set in the handles, I still want a custom unique graphic with sapphire. I tend to read the CRK forum a fair bit, eventually I'll buy one when they right knife comes along (do not want a plain sebenza).

I'd carry a custom too, no point safe queening imo.

8fd54b34d20bcbab62982c2d7619bb37.jpg


EDIT: for an overrated knife people sure do want them (see link below) :p

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=771640
 
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Robert.B said:
I wasn't insinuating I owned it, it was posted a while back...when everyone was buying the blinged out models with sapphires set in the handles, I still want a custom unique graphic with sapphire. I tend to read the CRK forum a fair bit, eventually I'll buy one when they right knife comes along (do not want a plain sebenza).

I'd carry a custom too, no point safe queening imo.

8fd54b34d20bcbab62982c2d7619bb37.jpg


EDIT: for an overrated knife people sure do want them (see link below) :p

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=771640
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She's a real beauty right there:thumbup:. Hopefully mine will get back to me in about 2 weeks:D.
 
Thats a nice looker, but why is it that only the custom ones look nice? I hate to see sebenzas for sale that are just plain looking.
 
bhyde said:
Interesting thread, even though I have only skimmed the last few pages. All this talk of accuracy really has me shaking my head.
I have seen that pictures of measurements taken with calipers is conclusive proof that some products are indeed made to .0005 tolerances. Not the case at all..Calipers are not capable of measuring .0005, even though it appears that they do. ±.001 is the very best accuracy they are capable of as stated by the manufacturer (Mitutoyo website as a reference). Measuring the outside diameter for a .236 ±.0005 part, you would need a minimum of a micrometer that is capable of measuring .0001 such as the digimikes that Mitutoyo makes.
This information is to inform only. Both manufacturers probably have the capability to make parts to .0005 tolerances. I suspect most production manufacturers do.
The importance piece of information that people seem to overlook is the cost involved in the manufacturing process. Most of the machines that are capable of making parts to these tolerances in materials such as Ti (think production levels, running day and night) start at $80k and go up from there. This exampe is for a CNC mill only- Probably still need a CNC lathe, grinders etc to make a decent shop. Now think of all the tooling to outfit this machine, the cutters (endmills, carbide and HSS, drills, taps etc) These tools are expensive and they wear out and break at interval. Not to mention problems with the machine itself that require repair..Crashes, wear etc.

When you are talking about tolerances, and holding them..Cost goes up exponentially. Think those Ti slabs are cheap? Try scrapping one because you had to hold .0005 tolerance on a hole and it is at .0006. (guage pins to check this feature- deltronics is the brand name which are spendy too) Because that part is .0001 out of tolerance, how good do you feel about throwing that piece of Ti in the scrap bucket? Think some of those sneak through? Answer..Yes as the operator is human.

So, with this information, imagine yourself as the owner of any production company making these fine knives..Your employees do NOT make McMinimum..you yourself would hope not to make minimum wage and there certainly be returns because, like everything else, you simply cannot please everybody, there will be warranty issues/returns.

How much would you charge for your intellectual property as well as manufacture that knife to .0005 tolerances?

By the way- I have made some of the parts for CRK in the past when some parts were being made outside of CRK..One part in particular has a tolerance of +.0000 -.0002. (Read this plus nothing, minus two-tenths of a thousandths of an inch.) How many of these do you think went into the trash as they take even a different type of measuring system.


Anyway..food for thought.
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Excellent post, thanks for sharing. I gotta say, even if my BM's aren't made to exact 0.0005" tolerances as inferred from reading their site, I still love 'em, and feel they're a much better value for MY dollar compared to a Sebenza, but that's me. I do feel the Sebenza is a fine knife. I just wish CRK would strive to be a little more innovative, and work on more designs. I will say the Umnum and Insingo, as well as the Ti-Lock show he's making at least some effort to move away from a 21 year old design that IMHO has grown a bit stale. No arguing that it's worked for him so far, but I just don't see it carrying his company for another 20 years. If I'm wrong about that, I'll come back and edit this post 20 years from now. ;)
 
Trent Rock said:
The Sebenza is worth more because the DEMAND for a Sebenza is more than a BM
NOT because the materials are better or worse
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That's an interesting statement. For one, the Sebenza is one knife in particular that CRK makes, while BM is an entire company made up of many different models of knives. I can assure you the demand for BM knives as a whole is more than the demand for a Sebenza. BM produces and sells many more knives per year than CRK does. Now, if you wanted to say there is more demand for a Sebenza than say, a BM Rift, or a BM Presidio, you could be right. I don't know if BM sells more of one particular model than CRK sells of the Sebenza. I would venture to say that BM sells more of the Griptillians than CRK sells of the Sebenza, because the Griptillian is priced more for the mainstream.
 
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