Shirogorov ..Good,Bad & the ugly. Need to know

@JustinFournier So with almost 1,000 posts in the CRK subforum, being a CRK fanboy, and even the CRK logo avatar that I made for a CRK thread which you asked me if I will let you use (and you did), you now hate on CRK???

Quite a change of heart, my friend.

JustinFournier said:
To me, the Sebenza is the simple, physical manifestation of Chris's passion and dedication to innovation, precision and quality. The Sebenza is made to such exacting specifications, manufactured with such excellence that in my mind, I can't imagine the Sebenza as anything less than the tight tolerances and fine attention to detail that I have come to expect. When I get a new one, I find myself pouring over it for a miss step that occurred along the way through various hands and machines, admiring the time it took the craftsman to develop the skill necessary to create the Sebenza. All of this executed in a simple, easy to maintain form that when in my hand, all makes perfect sense.
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The Aflac Duck said:
@JustinFournier So with almost 1,000 posts in the CRK subforum, being a CRK fanboy, and even the CRK logo avatar that I made for a CRK thread which you asked me if I will let you use (and you did), you now hate on CRK???

Quite a change of heart, my friend.
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I don’t hate CRK at all. I still have a couple in the house. A Pre-Idaho Nyala my wife put aside for possible use, which I’ll probably sell admittedly and an old Raindrop Damascus PJ L21. I became frustrated with ongoing quality issues, at one point had 3 with issues I couldn’t accept so went and found a brand that fits my expectations better.

They made their position clear and I respect and accept that.

I also had an issue with a Shiro I bought. I spoke to Shiro about it, had it hand delivered to Sergey at Blade and he returned it to me perfect. That is the service I want, and will pay for.
 
JustinFournier said:
I don’t hate CRK at all. I still have a couple in the house. A Pre-Idaho Nyala my wife put aside for possible use, which I’ll probably sell admittedly and an old Raindrop Damascus PJ L21. I became frustrated with ongoing quality issues, at one point had 3 with issues I couldn’t accept so went and found a brand that fits my expectations better.

They made their position clear and I respect and accept that.

I also had an issue with a Shiro I bought. I spoke to Shiro about it, had it hand delivered to Sergey at Blade and he returned it to me perfect. That is the service I want, and will pay for.
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I had an F3 with a cracked blade. Why would anyone pay $800+ for a Shirogorov when the company has obvious QC issues?

See what I did there?
 
The Aflac Duck said:
I had an F3 with a cracked blade. Why would anyone pay $800+ for a Shirogorov when the company has obvious QC issues?

See what I did there?
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Well, if you had a cracked blade that came out of the shop that way, sent it back and they told you to pound sand yeah I would see the validity of the comparison.

My quality issues were on new knives, delivered fresh from dealers. The issues were all related to poor quality machining, and the factory told me they are good enough and returned them to me.

I’d accept misaligned chamfers on a $20 knife. Not a $420 knife. I’m not gonna play roulette with knives hoping they land without issue and selling at a loss when they do. I’ll just find someone who stands behind their product.
 
JustinFournier said:
Well, if you had a cracked blade that came out of the shop that way, sent it back and they told you to pound sand yeah I would see the validity of the comparison.

My quality issues were on new knives, delivered fresh from dealers. The issues were all related to poor quality machining, and the factory told me they are good enough and returned them to me.

I’d accept misaligned chamfers on a $20 knife. Not a $420 knife. I’m not gonna play roulette with knives hoping they land without issue and selling at a loss when they do. I’ll just find someone who stands behind their product.
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It's understandable that someone may change their view on a product, but going from praising CRK to equating them to Kershaw? That's pretty extreme.

I'm no CRK fanboy, but they make a solid knife for a solid price. I'd take a CRK over a Shiro any day of the week. I guess it comes down to how you use your knives.

Me? I'm a blue collar kinda guy. You may be the type of person who inspects every millimeter of their knife with a microscope. Nothing wrong with that, but if that's what separates CRK from Shirogorov for you, then more power to you!
 
Sebenzas,dogs , screw the shirogorovs,theres more to life than an overpriced knife.And the Demko in my avatar was purchased way under the current value...
 
I bring about a motion that true Shiro fans must also own bears as their house pets. Till then, you're just a wayward wanderer in the world of styling steels!

P.S. real live bears, not teddy bears from Build a Bear or that Vermont Teddy Bear your ex-GF got for Ya on Valentine's day circa 5 years ago!
 
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The Aflac Duck said:
It's understandable that someone may change their view on a product, but going from praising CRK to equating them to Kershaw? That's pretty extreme.

I'm no CRK fanboy, but they make a solid knife for a solid price. I'd take a CRK over a Shiro any day of the week. I guess it comes down to how you use your knives.

Me? I'm a blue collar kinda guy. You may be the type of person who inspects every millimeter of their knife with a microscope. Nothing wrong with that, but if that's what separates CRK from Shirogorov for you, then more power to you!
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No no, you got me wrong. CRK is a solid knife, they are definitely a step above Kershaw, and they cost more. So I was saying, CRK is a step up in quality and price from Kershaw, and Shiro is a step up from CRK.

I did prototyping and type testing at an Engineering firm doing thermal and night vision cameras that cost between $200k-$500k. All day I looked for small errors, and places where improvements could be made. I can't look at something that doesn't meet my expectations and be happy with it. While I don't use a microscope, I can spot a couple thou of an inch out with my eye pretty easy. I realize my expectations are high, and I'm a pain in the ass with my pickiness, so I don't mind when people who provide a good or a service for me, charge me extra to meet my expectations.

When CS @ CRK told me that the blades on a CF scale knife will go off center and there is nothing they can do, or will do about it, I was shocked. I started asking people I knew who had CF CRKs if their blades were centered, and many of them told me, when examining they were not and they never noticed it before. No one seemed too bothered by it either. However, it totally ruins a knife for me. I realize most people don't mind the things that drive me insane.
 
^^^^Blades not centered, drives me up a wall too.

...as does incidental asymmetry.
 
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To me, it is an interesting time for those established makers like Shirogorov, as we are seeing a lot of new custom makers appearing all over the Internet.
I am wondering if they can keep the high price tags, when customers know they can buy a superb full custom knife at $500 or less.
 
This was a good read. I only just found out about Shirogrov shortly before this thread was posted. The price is pretty steep, but seems fair all considered.

I called BS on CRKs for a while and wound up with three I love out of curiosity. Just curious about all this talk of how much better upper end stuff was.

I am now very "curious" about Shirogrov :D
And am saving up to "investigate" further
 
With all the precision,and high tech machinery and tight tolerances going into making these knives,nothing less than a centered blade should be expected.Especially at these prices.An uncentered blade,blade play,and a late lockup to me is unacceptable...
 
JustinFournier said:
No no, you got me wrong. CRK is a solid knife, they are definitely a step above Kershaw, and they cost more. So I was saying, CRK is a step up in quality and price from Kershaw, and Shiro is a step up from CRK.

I did prototyping and type testing at an Engineering firm doing thermal and night vision cameras that cost between $200k-$500k. All day I looked for small errors, and places where improvements could be made. I can't look at something that doesn't meet my expectations and be happy with it. While I don't use a microscope, I can spot a couple thou of an inch out with my eye pretty easy. I realize my expectations are high, and I'm a pain in the ass with my pickiness, so I don't mind when people who provide a good or a service for me, charge me extra to meet my expectations.

When CS @ CRK told me that the blades on a CF scale knife will go off center and there is nothing they can do, or will do about it, I was shocked. I started asking people I knew who had CF CRKs if their blades were centered, and many of them told me, when examining they were not and they never noticed it before. No one seemed too bothered by it either. However, it totally ruins a knife for me. I realize most people don't mind the things that drive me insane.
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I see where you're coming from now. I took your Kershaw/CRK statement the wrong way, and I'm sure other folks did too.

Thanks for clarifying!
 
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