What's the story behind Regular Sebenza w. "Mayo holes" ??

Hey Bld522, I'm not trying to be confrontational. We are all here because we love knives. But in your words the Mayobenza is the 'most expensive and desireable CRKs on the planet'. That statement kinda blows my mind. I guess I have no idea what would motivate someone to pay more for these than Damascus UG regular, but that's amazing if it's true. I certainly do not desire one myself.
 
Kidcongo
I think many can agree with you on the pricing. While I would love to own a Mayonized Sebenza or Mayo TNT, the pricing on both has always exceeded that desire.
 
kidcongo said:
Hey Bld522, I'm not trying to be confrontational. We are all here because we love knives. But in your words the Mayobenza is the 'most expensive and desireable CRKs on the planet'. That statement kinda blows my mind. I guess I have no idea what would motivate someone to pay more for these than Damascus UG regular, but that's amazing if it's true. I certainly do not desire one myself.
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No worries. The good news is that all this talk about Mayos got me to pull out my Buck Mayo TNT. I haven't carried it for awhile and it's really a great folder. So back in my pocket it goes. :)
 
Don't care what a Mayo sells for, I wouldn't want one of his Sebenza mods.
I don't care for holes in my slabs, and if I did I wouldn't care who put them there as long as they knew what they were doing. I wouldn't need a maker this famous to do it.
If I had it done it would be because I liked the holes, and not because I think it would be worth more as a collection piece.
 
Uh... i have seen the mayobenzas in person, and it almost looked factory but the holes just did not appeal to me personally. As for value, its only worth what someone is willing to pay for it like many things. I have seen a cgg .50 call or riddled i believe it was which is a cgg made by CRK with the holes actually looking like bullets ripped through the scales, to me it looks better than just the drilled holes in random patterns. But like i said, like any mod its only worth what someone thinks its worth. Any mod voids the factory warranty which means you cant ever replace the blade or washers or do a spa or nothing. Your on your own forever for have one with drilled holes. As for value going up, i would place my bet with a damascus ug regular or any regular even a plain one for that matter, like kidcongo said. Just my .02
 
If Bob loveless would of polished a set of washers on a sebenza, put his mark of a nude lady on the blade and certified it with a document you basically have the same thing. (i don't know just wanted to respond, and picture his trademark in my mind)
 
Tom did more than just drilling holes in the scales. He also added dual thumbstuds, would make the action smoother, added a slight relief to the lockbar, and would sharpen the blade. Not sure he did the above on every knife, I believe he did whatever was asked of him. As a Mayo fan I would love to own one of the Mayonized Sebs.

Edit: He would also reprofile blades and polish the flats. I've never handled one but they are supposedly the smoothest opening Sebs around.
 
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sk8n said:
Tom did more than just drilling holes in the scales. He also added dual thumbstuds, would make the action smoother, added a slight relief to the lockbar, and would sharpen the blade. Not sure he did the above on every knife, I believe he did whatever was asked of him. As a Mayo fan I would love to own one of the Mayonized Sebs.

Edit: He would also reprofile blades and polish the flats. I've never handled one but they are supposedly the smoothest opening Sebs around.
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Thank you, you beat me to this. Finally someone said it. It's not just the holes...kidcongo, you've made your point, you don't know Mayo or his work, and don't like the holes, that's fine. But even a small amount of research would show you why these are so coveted...the fact that a custom maker on Tom's level went over the knife and tuned it. As mentioned, he would tweak/tune/improve handle edges, blade edge, thumb studs, action, etc. Nothing wrong with a standard Sebbie, but these are generally considered to be a step above in terms of action, lock up, and value/worth.

If you don't get it, you don't get it.
 
There was a large collection of mayo sebenzas come up not that long ago and they did not fetch the huge amounts that are mentioned here.
 
It was on here. The gentleman had passed and his widow was selling his collection off. A search should find it. They were on ebay also as I know she was told they may fetch more $$. But to the best of my knowledge they did not got $K's.
 
Yeah i saw an ebay listing a while back showing a mayonized sebenza 21, with random weird pattern of holes, and the person listing said her husband always referred to it as "the ugly duckling", and it was selling for $300-$350 or so i think it was. I guess yeah that was part of it
 
@ James: I doubt that this particular knife was modded by Tom.
The description says "Mayo holes". There are other modders out there, even in Germany.
I'd ask the seller to make sure.
hope this helps

IIRC Chris asked Tom to stop modding and he complyed. I'm not sure if there is an "official date" or year.

As for the value: I can only wonder members here are discussing that.
I mean in the mind of most people outside the forums "we are a bunch of lunatics" for paying that amount for knives.
No offense!

red mag
 
red mag said:
@ James: I doubt that this particular knife was modded by Tom.
The description says "Mayo holes". There are other modders out there, even in Germany.
I'd ask the seller to make sure.
hope this helps

...............

red mag
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Definitely. I am not interested in buying this knife. I just stumbled over it, which originated my question for this thread. I am just curious about the story "behind the holes". It is interesting to follow how this thread developed into a discussion about "are the holes worth the money?" ;) As some said before. Value is a personal definition when it comes to collectibles and sometimes it is defined by criterias like "who made it?" and "how many of them are in the market?" instead of "is it beautifull?"

My advise for myself has always been this one: Buying something just because it is rare and not because I like/enjoy it, is acting like a dealer, looking for profit maximization. This is fine for dealers. For me as a Chris Reeve collector and enthusiastic I buy knives which appeal to me ...... and if they are, by coincidence, increasing their market value by becoming rare, that is an appreciated side effect.

In this case I am with Cody. Holes remain holes. Whether drilled by Mayo, Hinderer, Begg or Loveless. The idea of using them as a design element is neither new nor unique and as pimped by somebody else than Chris, they are to me not really part of the Sebenza history. But I fully respect if someone buys them as a side subject of his/her Sebenza collection and is enjoying them. Fine with me.
 
I believe it was around 2004, give or take a year, that Tom stopped offering his services to mod Sebs. He may still do the occasional one for a close friend though.
I've seen a few that he put a hand-rubbed finish on the blades. I would love one of these versions.
 
Trident777 said:
Yeah i saw an ebay listing a while back showing a mayonized sebenza 21, with random weird pattern of holes, and the person listing said her husband always referred to it as "the ugly duckling", and it was selling for $300-$350 or so i think it was. I guess yeah that was part of it
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Sounds like Tom's MOA (Minute of Angle) pattern that is representative of a grouping of bullet holes.
The Persian in the foreground of this photo is an example of MOA.

[URL=http://s54.photobucket.com/user/sunstar_2006/media/Mayo/0c62006e614e7de5697b90690490545f.jpg.html][/URL]
 
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I've seen a couple Umnumzaan's he did come up for sale over the years. They don't seem to be nearly as popular as the Sebenza's. A lot of the Sebenza's were regulars, so that alone has added to market value.
 
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Tom is a big fan of Chris Reeve. I actually saw him come into the CRK booth at Blade and personally get giddy checking out (at the time) the new Insingo blade. He was looking it over, opening the knife, and talking to Mr Chris like he was just another geeked out CRK fan.

Ive had a half dozen or so Mayos and his precision is unmatched. I have never owned one of the pimped out Sebbies he has done, but fans of his knives are really the ONLY ones who can appreciate the work ,connection AND respect he has for Mr Reeve. This is what makes these pimped knives so sought after...."its a Mayo thing, you wouldnt understand ", comes to mind lol!
 
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