Should I be concerned with a cabochon inlay on the handle?

Terry M.

Terry M.

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The DT damascas Sebenza I'm looking at for Christmas has a cabochon inlay on the handle and I'm wondering if anyone has one and how it's held up over time? Should I worry about it falling out? I'm certain that CRK would warranty the stone should such a problem occur but I'm still curious from anyone that's owned one for awhile.

Thanks in advance for any help or advice you can offer.
 
I'm guessing that it's not something you need to worry much about.

For one thing, what sort of forces would act on it to make it come out? Not much (in my use).
 
Good question. I have one with a cabochon, but it is the closest thing to a safe queen that I own. I would thnk that they would be as secure as the scales are. I don't think Chris would continue to add them if they were prone to falling out.
 
Yea, I would agree with Unit. You would have to find a situation that would actually knock it out the handle. That is not going to be easy. :)

unit said:
I'm guessing that it's not something you need to worry much about.

For one thing, what sort of forces would act on it to make it come out? Not much (in my use).
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Haze said:
Yea, I would agree with Unit. You would have to find a situation that would actually knock it out the handle. That is not going to be easy. :)
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Are the cabochons pressed into the handle or are they held they with VHB tape like the inlays? Glued? Does anyone have a pic of a cabochon inlay from the back of the scale?
 
I guess I was scared if I dropped it, not so much as to what I was using the knife for.
Thanks for the replies. I assume I'm being paranoid but figured I'd ask here before buying.
 
It depends what the cabochon is, sapphire (I would imagine they would use synthetic sapphire but same difference) for example is the next hardest gemstone to diamond so it is very resilient, others are less so. I wouldn't (and this is just me) for example by a knife with an opal set in it if I intended to carry it. Although the chances of knocking it out of the knife or having it drop out aren't really high, if you ever dropped it the rate of survival is not great.
 
Myself, I'd go for it. If the cabochon actually ever fell out we can reasonably assume CRK would warranty that, and fit a new stone. I think. if you are willing to pay the kind of money a damascus CRK with a cabochon costs, that CRK wants to keep you happy. There are no stories that I have read on this site where they turned anyone away who had something happen to their knife. Also, knowing how these knives are built, it probably mounted with some bulletproof engineering concept, where the handle will break in two before that rock falls out. I had the same reservations before I bought a wood inlayed CRK, but no regrets there.
 
Onyx is chalcedony which is a quartz aggregate. You see it used a lot of signet rings and people wear those for years without issue so it's pretty durable. It can chip but fortunately it isn't a super expensive stone so it can be replaced with out too much trouble or expense. In jewellery they bezel set cabochons (like a thin ring of material around the stone that holds it in place) this is quite secure but they are also using a material that is more suited to this like gold or silver. I am not sure how CRK set's them could be glued they look like they are bezel set but the bezel may not actually hold the stone in place.
 
If you pick it up, please post pics of the cabochon mounting arrangement. There's a lot of unanswered questions here.
 
kidcongo said:
Are the cabochons pressed into the handle or are they held they with VHB tape like the inlays? Glued? Does anyone have a pic of a cabochon inlay from the back of the scale?
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I'm actually not familiar with the stone inlays as I have never owned one, but the gold coin Sebenza I had was press fitted as far I could tell. It was solid and took up the area of the handle that is usually occupied by the machining locator hole that is used for the gem stones as well. If my arms were twisted I would say the gem stones are press fitted also. :)
 
I spoke with Angela last week regarding the process and she explained that mounting the stone was quite an extensive procedure, so extensive that they will not add a stone to a pre-existing knife. The knife must have had the stone inlaid at the time that it was originally made as that is the only way that a knife can possibly have a stone. So I'm guessing it is in there quite tightly. I will post some pics of my blue sapphire on a Large Regular as soon as it gets back from the spa. Hope this helps a little bit. I also spoke with Angela and she told me that CRKs that are obviously Unique Graphics are referred to as "Decorated" on the birthcard if the were in fact born with a stone. I know its more endless CRK info but I thought that it was interesting.
 
Very interesting indeed. I was wondering how they fixate the coin's, as they are even larger.
Haven't found a picture yet. So thank in advance.
red mag
 
Let me just say this. I made my own from a piece of hematite. My process is a pretty low-tech procedure using a dab of epoxy glue from the backside. I used much less than I thought I would need figuring that if it ever fell out I would just replace it by making another one.

This speaks nothing of Chris's process or procedure but I think it does demonstrate a lack of propensity for the stone to fall out. I use and carry this knife extensively and it gets bumped around quite a bit and although I don't make it a habit of dropping the knife, I doubt it would fall out if I were to drop it.

My puppy got a hold of the lanyard the other day and drug the knife out into the kitchen and was thrashing about like puppies normally do and that didn't seem to phaze it (shrug).

The second part of your concern is chipping or cracking and that is entirely dependent on the composition of the stone that you have. Again I would suggest any environment you submitted to that's going to chip the stone is also going to be detrimental to the rest of the knife. As a practice I'd suggest just avoiding those situations altogether:)

 
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Brendtech189 said:
I spoke with Angela last week regarding the process and she explained that mounting the stone was quite an extensive procedure, so extensive that they will not add a stone to a pre-existing knife. The knife must have had the stone inlaid at the time that it was originally made as that is the only way that a knife can possibly have a stone. So I'm guessing it is in there quite tightly. I will post some pics of my blue sapphire on a Large Regular as soon as it gets back from the spa. Hope this helps a little bit. I also spoke with Angela and she told me that CRKs that are obviously Unique Graphics are referred to as "Decorated" on the birthcard if the were in fact born with a stone. I know its more endless CRK info but I thought that it was interesting.
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Excellent info!!! Thank you! Thanks to Unit and all others for relieving my concerns. Oddly enough I was not completely sold on the small 21 damascus with the inlay so I did some looking around last night and found a LARGE 21 damascus (which is really what I wanted all along) with snakewood inlays. I'm all giddy about finding it and since it does have inlays of wood, my questions still stands and you all did a fine job of answering it for me.

When I get the grail I'll be sure and post pictures. Obviously I don't need to tell any of you how addictive CRK's are. It's done went and made me lose all interest in my Benchmades and ZT's. *sigh*
 
I have a hematite also. CRK added it to an existing plain small 21, it was done years ago so the policy must have changed. It has epoxy on the back.
 
My mother of pearl cabochon, from the early "Idaho Made" erra, has a perefectly centered, perfectly round domed clear expoxy on the back side of the scale. The pearl is not flush with the scale. It's only a guess, but I think the expoxy is there to keep the cabochon from getting pushed out from the back, and maybe to keep junk from gathering in the recess. I tried to get a picture, but with poor lighting and only haveing my phone right now, I had no luck. Anyhow, the near perfect shape of the expoxy makes me belive it was put in from the back of the scale after the pearl was fitted. Interesting. Is it possible that the metal cabochons have a different installation method?
 
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