Why I didn't, but now have a Sebenza – Scale hole!

Adamar said:
I do not mind the hole in the Sebenza. What really annoys me is the notch on top of the Inkosi. To me, the hole just seems part of the design while the notch looks like a mistake.
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What???? The notch is a thing of beauty. It reveals the exquisitely rounded spine of the blade. The Inkosi blade spine is art in motion. The notch transitions the flat blade swage to the rounded spine, i.e. it serves a functional purpose.

 
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It let's you know from a distance that it's not an Inkosi or 25. Wouldn't want to accidentally get turned on only to be grossed out when you get a better look.

I doubt it's still integral to the manufacturing process.
 
I would agree the machining hole in the 21 is likely unnecessary in 2018 to simply make a high tolerance knife. Lots of other makers achieve high tolerance with no hole, including CRK with the rest of their line.

However, I am guessing they still use the same style jigs when making 21s as they did before, but with modern machines. Since the hole is there, and handy, it would make sense to still locate with it.

On the subject of why they keep it, the Sebenza is iconic. What makes a product iconic is not always clear, so “tradition” becomes important. Maybe the hole helped cement the Sebenza as iconic in people’s minds?. Like.....the hole is the first thing a newb notices about the slab, which leads to a conversation about machining tolerances....which, in turn, furthers the concept of the knife being special in the persons mind etc....

Removing the hole might actually start people questioning the tolerances!

Anyways.......I look at the hole the same way as I look at the totally stupid magnifying dome they glue onto the face of a nice Rolex watch so you can see the date window better. We all know it looks really dumb, and ruins the sleek lines of the nice watch crystal, and isn’t needed at all because we can all read the damn date just fine.......but if it isn’t there people start to question “is that a real Rolex?”.

Long live the hole!!
 
The hole, the notch, the clip, the "Idaho Made" , the lanyard. Now if they would just do away with the blade,I'd love one....
 
Think most of us have irritations in life that don’t concern others. The human condition. I’m not at all bothered by the ‘benza scale hole, and actually like the blade spine notch. A nice caressing area when knife fondling. And sure others like rubbing their thumbs over this notch while knife is open. But don’t tell anyone that. Have a nice week y’all.
 
It has personally never really bothered me - I actually quite like it aesthetically - but I wasn't aware that it was a necessity (or at least used to be) for their way of machining.

Would anyone care to elaborate on why the hole is/was necessary to attain these tight tolerances?

I'd like to understand that.
 
Curse you all! Despite having my Inkosi and Umnumzaan you have convinced me I cannot be a proper CRK owner without 1 Sebenza. Order placed this evening. I’ll tell myself the front hole was to create weight balance with the back scale, so designed with the user in mind, yeah that’s the ticket.
 
So... you all talked me into a front hole'd knife. I have to admit, it is a beautiful knife in person. I know this thing has to break in more, but coming off a Umnumzaan and Small Inkosi I'm surprised how clunky the action feels. When opening there are now 2 clicks at the end and when closing that lockbar clearly feels like metal slab on metal slab as it slides open to unlock vs. tiny ceramic ball sliding off metal of the Inkosi. I hope that feel improves at it feels like teeth grinding together. It is like opening and closing a door on a 1960's muscle car vs. the Inkosi/Umnumzaan feeling like smooth, tight and quite door action on a modern day sports car. Maybe the Damascus doesn't help (even though ground smooth on the tang)? Nonetheless, seeing the Damascus through the front-hole is pretty cool and then when opened, seeing the same hole through both front and back scales looks pretty balanced as well. I think I'll keep it for now.

 
The repeated references above to the “front hole”.... OMG... How very distastefully “gender”-focused...
 
Tseg said:
So... you all talked me into a front hole'd knife. I have to admit, it is a beautiful knife in person. I know this thing has to break in more, but coming off a Umnumzaan and Small Inkosi I'm surprised how clunky the action feels. When opening there are now 2 clicks at the end and when closing that lockbar clearly feels like metal slab on metal slab as it slides open to unlock vs. tiny ceramic ball sliding off metal of the Inkosi. I hope that feel improves at it feels like teeth grinding together. It is like opening and closing a door on a 1960's muscle car vs. the Inkosi/Umnumzaan feeling like smooth, tight and quite door action on a modern day sports car. Maybe the Damascus doesn't help (even though ground smooth on the tang)? Nonetheless, seeing the Damascus through the front-hole is pretty cool and then when opened, seeing the same hole through both front and back scales looks pretty balanced as well. I think I'll keep it for now.

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Congrats on your new acquisition! You went with a beautiful model which I'm sure you'll enjoy for a very long time.

Regarding the action; if you bought it brand new then I'm sure it'll loosen up a bit, but are you also sure that both the blade tang and lock face are completely free of any dirt and/or grease/lubricant?

The only real downside that I could mention of my Sebenzas is that I quite regularly have to remove some pocket dirt from the blade tang or lock face because that can produce some slight stick (which is only really noticeable when very gently pushing the lock bar and is gone after cleaning).
 
Rhah said:
Congrats on your new acquisition! You went with a beautiful model which I'm sure you'll enjoy for a very long time.

Regarding the action; if you bought it brand new then I'm sure it'll loosen up a bit, but are you also sure that both the blade tang and lock face are completely free of any dirt and/or grease/lubricant?

The only real downside that I could mention of my Sebenzas is that I quite regularly have to remove some pocket dirt from the blade tang or lock face because that can produce some slight stick (which is only really noticeable when very gently pushing the lock bar and is gone after cleaning).
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Thanks for the kind words. I have now cleaned/regreased my new Sebenza. The action is just slightly better. When opening, there definitely are 2 separate clicks at the very end vs. the newer designs where it just locks in place in a single quick, smooth seamless click... the result is at full speed there are 2 separate pitched "clank-click" clicks vs. a single solid click into place. When unlocking an Inkosi/Umnumzaan, the lock bar effortlessly slides off the tang, the only resistance being the bent lock bar itself with no feeling of rubbing against anything. With the Sebenza I clearly feels the rub of the lock bar sliding against the tang... I probably would not even characterize it as slight stick rather a distinct sensation that is just absent from the newer designs. This does not mean its bad or flawed, at this point I'm thinking it is what it is. It is just a less refined design than the newer models. It still remains a beautiful knife and I'm glad I got one, but I'm really glad I have the Inkosi and Umnumzaan.
 
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