Update: Customized Damascus Sebenza

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Incahiker

Joined
Oct 2, 2009
Messages
727
Well..
I recently received a small sebenza. Fit and finish was fine, but I was actually a little dissapointed in the damascus. Now, let me clearly state that I mean just a little. I have been looking a pictures of the damascus online and noticed all the damascus had a very polished sheen to them. Well as it turned out this was a clear coat that gave it the sheen. The newer sebenzas without the clear coat don't have as much contrast, and I didn't know that they came without clear coat now.

So.... I got some acid, took the blade off and then pushed the thumbstud out (as not to get eaten by the acid.) I re-etched the blade at 5 minute intervals until I got it to my liking. Between each interval I lightly polished the blade (with 2000 grit sandpaper, lightly so as to touch only the elevated part of the damascus) until I finally reached that High contrast. The dark part of the damascus is extremely dark now and the silver bubbles are mirror polished. Now I can see the damascus at what ever angle I hold it at. Before I could only see the damascus if I held it at a particular angle to the light, the rest of the time it just looked dull gray. I also polished all the blue anodization off the parts and made it very sleek. The thumblug pressed back in with no problem. Now for some porn :cool:.

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Yup. Hold in a sec..... in these pics you can't really tell the difference because I took the before pictures at the perfect angle to the light to really capture the damascus so that I could show off my new knife :D, but there is a huge difference in person. Before you could only see the damascus pattern at a particular angle, otherwise it looks grey like the handle. With the bubbles now mirror polished and the dark part even darker, I can see the pattern at what ever angle I lay the knife at. Huge difference.... Also, I went ahead and took the blue anodization off because it already started fading from the thumblug (big silver tip). So while I had the lug off I polished it up. If I was to polish the lug on the knife it would have ruined the damascus around it, and I can't have any of that.

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You Can Definitely See The Difference

You Have Way More Courage Than Me To Try That On Your Own
 
Looks great. I especially like the thumbstud treatment it looks sort of gun metalish instead of just silver, it contrasts very nice with the damascus.
 
Thank's guys... Since I figured I blew so much money on it already I was really eager to get exactly what I wanted. I wasn't impressed when I first took the knife out of the box to find a dullish damascus blade. I mean you could still see the damascus, look at the pic above, but only at a particular angles. I wanted to see it at what ever angle the knife was at. So I did my research and got the acid from radio shack and went to town... lol. When I finally put the knife back together and looked at the finished product, I was amazed at what I was holding in my hand. Devon Thomas does some amazing work with his steel!! And we have to give credit to Mr. Reeve's and his ultra tight tolerances on the knife that makes the sebenza top not!! I also sharpened it up and man, this knife can take a wicked edge.. Reminds me of CPM-154.... edge taking and retention wise..... but about a million times more beautiful :D
 
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I agree -- big difference and improvement. You have more nerve than I have -- I probably wouldn't even try something like that. So kudos and good job, Incahiker!

P.S. You probably don't really need that plain Sebbie anymore, eh? Someone (e.g., me) would probably trade you a small inlaid for it. . . . :D
 
Errrr... that is a small plain. Did you think it was a large? If not then contact me and lets talk :D
 
Pretty sexy!

Now you should send it to me, so it can be the little brother to my large 21 that looks EXACTLY like that!

I must have started a trend....I got mine, and now i've seen 3 or 4 people on the forum get similar setups....plain with damascus!
 
Well... I would have been your equal if someone didn't steal my large plain damascus on new graham knives. I had sold some knives over a week period. I got the funds and the day I went to purchase the knife, they sold it one hour earlies. I even called to find out exactly when it sold in case perhaps there was a mistake in the order.... but no.....:eek:. Luckily I found this one.

Hey, does yours have the gunkote on it? Does it look glossy all over the blade including the dark parts? This is as close as I can get without the clear coat, but it still looks sexy.
 
Bro, I think the regular raindrop damascus is shinier because they are not stainless and CRK puts a coating on it. The newer 21 are stainless so no coating. So if you want a dark and shiny one, you need to get a regular :)
 
oromoto said:
Bro, I think the regular raindrop damascus is shinier because they are not stainless and CRK puts a coating on it. The newer 21 are stainless so no coating. So if you want a dark and shiny one, you need to get a regular :)
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Yup.. you are absolutely right. I have yet to see one for sale though....
 
Yes I'm also a fan of Damascus & plain handles. Had a sm Regular with DT SS Damascus, plain handles, was repl by a sm Sebe 21 DT SS Raindrop. Now with a scale in CFibre by Barry H, what a combo.

Mike B
 
CR used to have the option for "High Contrast" Damascus, which was not stainless. At some point in the last few years they discontinued this option and only offer the stainless variety. You can still get a pretty good contrast with the stainless under the right conditions, but it takes some extra work as the OP has shown. Very nice sebe, btw.
 
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