Want a Sebenza with a Centered Blade

[MassMatt]

Relax, yourself.

And from a different angle, what sort of expertise in setting up a display of Sebbies should be required? Given they are among the most expensive (and yes highly regarded) production folders in the industry, just what sort of "reassembly" and so on should knives from the factory require? And what of these skills might a woman not be capable of?

The OP's story of a store with multiple off-center Sebenzas (and actually, any store with that kind of stock of such an expensive blade) may or may not be bull, but your comment certainly was.

 

[NDJeep]

Relax, yourself.

And from a different angle, what sort of expertise in setting up a display of Sebbies should be required? Given they are among the most expensive (and yes highly regarded) production folders in the industry, just what sort of "reassembly" and so on should knives from the factory require? And what of these skills might a woman not be capable of?

The OP's story of a store with multiple off-center Sebenzas (and actually, any store with that kind of stock of such an expensive blade) may or may not be bull, but your comment certainly was.

Are you as dense as you are argumentative?

I was responding to the quote from a poster about why the dealer didnt either fix the centering or send them back to CRK for fixing. I then implied that maybe because the dealer was a woman it MAY be that she isn't into the technical side of knives...only selling.

Because I personally don't know any woman who knows the first thing about knives let alone the complexities of a Sebenzas reassembly doesnt mean you have to grab this as your "fight of the night" to impress. No one cares. I in no way meant that a woman CANT be proficient with all things knives.

BTW, have you ever tore down and put back a Sebenza...they can be tricky. I think not...because in all your 300 posts there's not ONE from the CRK sub-forum. Any Sebbie owner would've visited. Clearly a poseur, who followed this thread when it was moved yesterday from General Discussion.

But you know that....you're just posting as usual. Off point condescension mixed with loquaciousness to mask a clear lack of friendly discussion ability.

Anyway...I'm done with this. The CRK forum deserves more respectful discussion.

 

[JNewell]

I have never seen one that was off center unless it had been disassembled after leaving CRK and had been reassembled incorrectly. I wonder if the dealer has been taking them apart and doesn't know how to reassemble a Sebenza? It's quite easy to do it right, but not that hard to do it wrong. I'd find another dealer.

I have been trying to purhcase a plain Sebenza 21 with a centered blade for a couple of months now with no luck. Sebenza's seem to be in short supply, and the few I have found had off center blades. For example, this morning I examined eight Sebenza's in a dealer's case. Only the fancy models had centered blades. A few weeks ago, I returned a large plain 21 with an off center blade that I purchased from an internet dealer. It was certainly functional, but I won't buy a knife with an off center blade

Does anyone know where I can find a good one? Does CRK reserve the best for inlays and graphics?

 

[Roefisher]

In the past few years I have had a lot of CRK folders. At one time, I had twenty six in my possession before I traded them on when I moved home and had other things to sort out. In total I would guess that I have handled around fifty folders from CRK.

Right now I have ten and an eleventh in the post.

I have seen one off-centre knife in real life - a large Sebenza. And this is a fun story...

It's the 2001 Maple Burl LE I got a while back and it was second-hand. As the seller wanted to deal within the States only, I had a kind friend purchase it for me and ship it on to Ireland. When it arrived with her, she was talking about it and happened to mention that the blade was rubbing one of the scales. Well, I said not to worry and if it was broken or just a poor knife that I would have a look-see and maybe send it back in sometime later for a repair. When it arrived, the blade was indeed rubbing the rear scale. But it was layered in black grease and the screws weren't tightened down fully. I disassembled and rebuilt it using the proper fluorinated grease. It's dead-centre.

So, no. As God in heaven be my judge and may I drop dead, with that one exception of user error, I have never had an off-centre blade. I appreciate that I may have been lucky as some people have indeed had knives with a slightly off blade but if it does happen, but it is exceptionally rare and it can be corrected

Mark

 

[Roefisher]

So, no. As God in heaven be my judge and may I drop dead, with that one exception of user error, I have never had an off-centre blade.

Mark

Just a quick post to prove I'm still alive. With the way this forum is going recently, I wouldn't want one of the doubters to think I was struck dead by God and all your Sebbies are going to be off centre

And here is a picture of that Maple Sebenza I was telling you about,

Skol!

Mark

 

[rickCPD]

I have 2 Sebenza's that are dead on centered.

I haven't heard of many Sebenza's being off centered.

Are you sure that what you're looking at is not a centered blade? It can be tricky some times.....

 

[zyhano]

It also depends on with what level of detail you look at it. On the micron scale, every blade is off center. I think some of my sebenzas are probably off centre too, but this is hardly noticeable and only when I zoom in on it big time.
I guess it can be helped by reassembling them, if not, it's an error on CRK's QC part

 

[sticf]

For example, this morning I examined eight Sebenza's in a dealer's case. Only the fancy models had centered blades.

Any way to get some pics of these knives? Even a set of cell phone pics might shed some light on the reason these blades are not centered.

 

[T.K.C.]

I find what the OP is saying hard to believe.

 

[JTR357]

I find what the OP is saying hard to believe.

Me too.I'm not flat out calling him/her a liar,but EIGHT off centered Sebenzas?!?!really?!?
They sound like counterfeits to me at the least.

I have one Sebenza & one Umnumzaan.Both are dead centered.I've handled at least a half dozen & never seen one off-centered.

 

[KeithAM]

The one Sebenza I had with an off-center blade was the result of the non-lock side ti slab being bent. CRK replaced the slab to fix it. If any one doubts this email me and I'll forward you the email from CRK explaining it.

But a show case with several like that at a dealer is simply unbelievable, unless they had all been run over by a bulldozer. Another explanation is that the OP and the dealer had never seen a Seb with a centered blade because they'd never seen a Seb.

 

[Fooj]

This may be a question of tolerance -- while many of us might be satisfied with the blade centered at, say, +/- 0.5mm, perhaps the OP has a keener eye (or a micrometer ), and prefers tighter tolerances. As for me, I've seen literally thousands of new/clean CRK folders, and of them have never run across a blade that's not met my criteria for "centered".

BTW, for me, if I can't detect "off-centeredness" with a naked eye 30cm or so away from the knife, I call the blade centered. Beyond that, it's just simply not an important factor for me compared to other knife cosmetic qualities. YMMV.

 

[DaveH]

As long as the blade doesn't actually rub the scale, I have a hard time believing it matters.

What pray tell, does it harm? Some image of perfectness in your mind?

 

[flipe8]

I'm also somewhat doubtful of eight off-centered blades in one store, BUT, I've owned at least two that came to me with off-centered blades. One was from the secondary market and while it was sold to me as "new, unused", I don't know if the seller ever took it apart. The second, however, did come from a very-highly respected dealer and he actually told me on the phone before returning it for an exchange to not take it apart, as he was certain CRK would want to see it. That knife's blade actually rubbed on the non-lock side and the lock-bar also engaged all the way over just short of making contact with the non-lock side. Lemons are rare, but they exist, just like in any product.

Perhaps I should've kept it and taken it on tour, charging hefty admissions to view it.

 

[bigmark408]

My seb count is around 60 and i have had no issues with off center blades and my collection consists of about 98% large ATS34, BG42, S30V.

 

[gwlee]

Me too.I'm not flat out calling him/her a liar,but EIGHT off centered Sebenzas?!?!really?!?
They sound like counterfeits to me at the least.

I have one Sebenza & one Umnumzaan.Both are dead centered.I've handled at least a half dozen & never seen one off-cenetered.

Hmmm... you might want to read my post again, carefully, I did not say that I found eight off-centered Sebenzas blades.

So far, I believe four posters to this thread have reported encountering an off-centered Sebenza blade, so while it might be rare, it seems that it does happen from time to time.

It does not strike me as odd that the best examples of an expensive knife would sell before the worst examples, leaving the worst examples in a dealer's display case. Given the current shortage of plain Sebenza's (Heather said expect 4-8 weeks), these will probably sell too, eventually, but not to me.

 

[swe]

Interesting. I have had two large plain Regular Sebenza, two large annual, one small and one large classic, one Mnandi, one Insingo and one Umnumzaan (proto). The Insingo, the Umnumzan and one of the regular (sold) are pretty much off center - the other are perfect!

I love when my knives are perfect, but off centered blades sometimes are not a deal breaker for me (not too much of course). I have knives from a lot of very respected custom makers with the blades off center.

 

[bigmark408]

I have been trying to purhcase a plain Sebenza 21 with a centered blade for a couple of months now with no luck. Sebenza's seem to be in short supply, and the few I have found had off center blades. For example, this morning I examined eight Sebenza's in a dealer's case. Only the fancy models had centered blades. A few weeks ago, I returned a large plain 21 with an off center blade that I purchased from an internet dealer. It was certainly functional, but I won't buy a knife with an off center blade

Does anyone know where I can find a good one? Does CRK reserve the best for inlays and graphics?

Classic seb blade is about .120 ... handle spacer measures about .157 that leaves .0185 on each side of the blade.... a standard envolope measures .012

If a seb blade is not scraping the Ti handles, one has to be pritty anal to call it off center.

And thats the fact jack.

 

[mrpinkbullets]

Are you as dense as you are argumentative?

I was responding to the quote from a poster about why the dealer didnt either fix the centering or send them back to CRK for fixing. I then implied that maybe because the dealer was a woman it MAY be that she isn't into the technical side of knives...only selling.

Because I personally don't know any woman who knows the first thing about knives let alone the complexities of a Sebenzas reassembly doesnt mean you have to grab this as your "fight of the night" to impress. No one cares. I in no way meant that a woman CANT be proficient with all things knives.

BTW, have you ever tore down and put back a Sebenza...they can be tricky. I think not...because in all your 300 posts there's not ONE from the CRK sub-forum. Any Sebbie owner would've visited. Clearly a poseur, who followed this thread when it was moved yesterday from General Discussion.

But you know that....you're just posting as usual. Off point condescension mixed with loquaciousness to mask a clear lack of friendly discussion ability.

Anyway...I'm done with this. The CRK forum deserves more respectful discussion.

Actually, taking down and reassembling a Sebenza is very simple- much simpler than even the famously easy Emersons. The Seb has fewer parts and simpler construction than most knives, and it is in fact incredibly easy to maintain. If you think that it's "tricky" or complex, then I might accept that you had no intention to insult anyone with your apparently sexist comment. But given that maintaining my Seb really is simpler than maintaining any other knife I own, I do not feel very comfortable with your comment about women lacking the knowledge to do it. Surely you had no ill intent, and you merely assumed that- as is true in many cases- a woman selling a traditionally masculine product had more knowledge of sales than the product in question. Nonetheless, I don't think there was any reason for you to imply that a woman would be less knowledgeable than a man about the Sebenza. Whether it is or is not the case, it's not your place to make that assumption.

 

[Thalestin]

My first seb was off centered slightly. I sent it in to get fixed, and it was replaced with a brand new one. So, yes they do exist. I had a long talk with Chris about it and he explained that it happens, as many different things can cause it.