It took me roughly 2 years to finally buy and keep one of the worlds most famous folding knife - the
Sebenza. If you ever ask an eternal question What is the best folding knife on practically any knife
related forum, you'll get tons of msgs stating that The Sebenza is the one :) Though there are a lot of folks out
there who dislike Sebenza too. Some have particular reasons, such as handle ergonomics, some have probs with the
maker, some no reasons. Usual stuff. Anyway, a year or so ago I got my first Sebenza. I was debating for some 3 months
whether or not to get it, and finally decided to get a large, plain Sebenza. Ordered one from
Knife Art, one of my favorite places to buy high end knives,
and... I was quite disappointed once I got it. I donno why exactly, the fit and finish were perfect, lockup rock solid,
blade shaving sharp, yet the Large Sebenza wasn't it. I've returned Sebenza within the next 3 days. Didn't even use
it. Probably I was expecting too much from it, I don't know :) Well, I guess Sebenza is hyped in a way. It does
deserve many compliments and part of the hype it gets, but in the end it's just a knife ;) So, sometimes chances are
(as it happened with me) that you're gonna expect something really extraordinary and then when you get the knife that
won't be there. I guess it's not very fair to Sebenza, but things happen.
Since then I haven't really looked at Sebenzas seriously. Until, I got a chance to borrow my friends small classic
Sebenza. I've carried it for a week, was just interested if that would make a difference and it did :) After carrying
it for a week I was totally convinced, I needed one for sure. Next thing I did ordered one from
Dennis Wright. He helped me with earlier a lot, with some
relatively rare CRK blades. Dennis was helpful at this time
too. Few weeks of waiting and I got what I wanted, small, classic (or millennium classic), polished sebenza. To be
precise this isn't mirror polish, CRK refers to it as Bright Satin Finish. I'd prefer the mirror polish,
but CRK doesn't do that. Anyway, this one is just fine.
Overall
- It's hard to say something new about Sebenza. If you need any kind of info, there's plenty of it readily available, on BladeForums where CRK is hosting their own forum. There's Sebenza FAQ on CRK website, unofficial Sebenza FAQ periodically posted on BladeForums, tons of reviews, you name it.Yet I have to say that all you've heard about CRK quality and crafstmanship is true. The quality of Sebenza is superb. Everything in this knife is well thought, and executed close to perfection. Everything is tight and a perfect fit. You may not like Sebenza, or a part of it, but the quality is outstanding.
The very first thing I did after picking up my knife from Dennis and getting home was to disassemble it. Some people complain about problems with disassembling/assembling Sebenza, so obviously I was curious, what was that all about. By the way unlike some manufacturers, CRK doesn't have a problem with their customers willing to disassemble their Sebenzas, rather the opposite. Sebenza comes with the wrench, and there are detailed instructions on the CRK website, how to do that properly. In short, I'd say all those rumors about Sebenza being problematic to take apart and put it back are highly overrated. IMHO it's as simple as it gets with a folding knife. Compared to BM 710 Axis disassembling procedure Sebenza is a toy. For ease of maintenance and cleaning it's very helpful.
The only problem I have now, or I think I have, is the lubricant. Sebenza is not as smooth as my other folders are. To be more exact the action is smooth and even, just takes some extra effort to get it open. I've tried 2 different lubricants so far: Mehaz, which worked very well for all of my folding knives, but for unknown reasons refused to behave for Sebenza, and then Zero Friction, which is a gun oil. That definitely worked better than Mehaz. Go figure. Next thing I have to try is the Fluorinated Grease from CRK themselves. Probably I'll try some other lubricants as well.
Blade
- Classic Sebenza has a clip point, hollow ground blade. This is the original blade geometry for Sebenza. As I understand at some point CRK changed the blade geometry, to what is a standard now, but brought back the original format by customer demand as a Classic. For a smaller knife I'd prefer the Classic style. It is more pointy, and IMHO better suited for fine work. BG-42 stainless steel from Latrobe used in Sebenza, is considered one of the best stainless steels used by knifemakers today. CRK heat treats their knives themselves, and apparently the results are very good, at least that's the word out there. Since I've been using my Sebenza for 2-3 weeks only I can't really say much about its edge holding abilities, but for now it sure looks good. I've mentioned on my other knife pages many times that I sharpen my knives myself. Much more convenient that way :) Sebenza was not an exception as well. Even though it was razor sharp out of the box, it wouldn't shave in the opposite direction, and was tearing the free hanging, thin paper in some places. Either way, factory edge won't last forever and I'd have to do that anyways sooner or later ;) I've measured the angle with Edge-Pro Apex, came out 24 degree, but bear in mind that that's not an exact number, since the blade is hollow ground it had to be tilted. And the tip was sharpened at slightly higher angle. So, what I did is formed a uniform, 24 degree angle, mirror polished V grind edge. By the way BG-42 is rather on the hard side, in terms of sharpening, but that's how you get good edge holding. After polishing the edge, cutting ability improved noticeably. It'd cut through that thin magazine paper cleanly all the way, and had no trouble with shaving the hair in the opposite direction. After a test run, which was cutting ~ 100 inches of miscellaneous cardboard boxes I was unable to notice any edge degradation. Which is a very good result if you ask me.Thumb Stud
- One more source for arguments for a long time. Too many people consider it to be too pointy. Me too :) By the way it also depend son your opening techniques. If you depress the stud from above and the try to open the blade that can be stingy. Instead push it from the side, and you'll find it much better. As U understand those extra grooves on the stud are designed to aid with opening when your thumb is oily or bloody. Ok, that works, the thing definitely is grabbing onto your skin :) Whether you like it or not. Well, since that's what Chris Reeve designed and thinks will work the best for his knives, so be it. I'd prefer a smoother stud, honest ;)Handle
- Made of 6AL4V titanium for the plain model. It's simple and provides positive grip. However the handle is what many folks consider as one of the weakest points of Sebenza. Frankly, I have quite a few folders that have more comfortable and ergonomic handles, but I don't find Sebenza handle to be anything uncomfortable either. Besides there's one more aspect to it. Since the handle geometry is simple and straightforward, it's equally useful in any grip, while some ergonomic handles are very comfortable in standard grip and practically useless in the other.Now that I've been using Sebenza for last several months I could add a few comments regarding its handle. In short it's a lot better that I have ever anticipated. Sebenza has been my EDC during last 3 months. Therefore I've used it sevveral times every day. Obviously I didn't chop or pry open jammed car doors with it, I have other blades for that task. However, in its role of small folder for light cutting, Sebenza performed superbly, and one of the reasons for that - its handle.
Evidently, handle ergonomics depend an many factors and personal tastes and preferences are not the least amongst them. At least to me, Sebenza handle worked very well. Even for prolonged use, when I've cut cardboard for 2.5 hours with it it was just fine. No sore spots on my plms and fingers. Sebenza was felt just right in several different grips. Its shape and thickness somehow were equally comfortable when I was cutting large, thick cardboard boxes and when performing a lot more delicate cutting tasks - removing very thin plastic film from curcuit board and separating jumpers. What else? If you carry your Sebenza in your pocket with some other metallic objects, the handle gets scratched. If you care about that, CRK offers refurbishing.
Lock
- One of the strongest points of Sebenza is its frame lock. Which if I am not mistaken, was invented by Chris Reeve himself. Full name would be - Integral Frame Lock. Frame locks are the strongest on the current market, as usual some disagree :) Advantages would be: Simplicity, there's nothing complicated in that, just a lock bar, no moving and rotating parts, springs etc; Practically impossible to disengage a frame lock accidentally; Tighter grip locks stronger, though if you overdo you may jam it; Sheer strength; As of disadvantages I don't really know any.The only issue with the frame locks is the wear. Since the lock bar rubs against the blade tang which is harder (or at least is supposed ot be) the lock bar wears and eventually the blade will develop wobble, and the lock will probably overengage. Apparently the risk of failure is increased. However CRK addressed this issue by heat treating the lock bar surface contacting the blade tang. As it was explained on CRK Forum on Bladeforumss by heating the lock bar contacting surface, very thin layer of Ti carbides are formed (you can actually see that layer on your lock bar if you check). It's very hard, approx 90HRC. That solves the bar wear problem. At least there are several people using their Sebenzas regularly for several years and there's no such problem for them. As of the ease of use, frame lock is easier to operate then all of the liner locks I've ever had, however less comfortale than the Axis Lock.
S30V steel
- In 2002 CRK announced that they were switching to new steel for Sebenzas. S30V is a stainless version of Crucible's CPM-3V. Theoretically S30V is a better cutlery steel than the BG-42. It offers greater toughness and wear resistance and slightly better corrosion resistance. As Crucible states, S30V was developed with the knife industry in mind. For now (spring 2002) it is a subject of the heated debate on the CRK forum at BladeForums. The short story would be that practically every known knifemaker who worked with S30V agreed that 60-61 Rockwell hardness would be the optimal value for this steel. That is to get the best wear resistance without compromising toughness. However CRK choose to use 57-58 HRC. The explanation from CRK is that this is suffice for most cutting needs, makes sharpening easier and keeps the blade tough enough to withstand some abuse. Since S30V is a better steel, tougher and more wear resistant the end user would have an improved knife.Knife folks(myself included) started asking questions. Obviously, The major concern was the lower HRC. While HRC alone doesn't define knife edge holding ability, it is one of the key factors. Lower HRC means lower wear resistance and lower strength as well. If S30V is slight improvement over BG-42 then it is questionable what will happen to the overall edgeholding ability when the HRC is dropped by 3-4 points, 60-61 with BG-42 and 57-58 with S30V. For experienced knife users the ease of sharpening is not the most important factor anyway. And with 3-4 point lower hardness the advantages of S30V may disappear completely. So, the question being asked is if S30V at 57-58 is an improvement or not? Some explain lower HRC with manufacturing costs, i.e. softer metal is easier to work with, hence production costs are less, and the heat treatment to that HRC value is easier.
I'm not clear at this point what is exactly the case, considering CRK excellent reputation and customer service. CRK stated clearly that their choce of HRC has nothing to do with the ease of grinding and was dictated purely by performance issues. I was very enthusiastic about S30V when it was announced, but once I've heard about 58 HRC I've decided to wait for more results. To be fair those few reports with new S30V blades were positive, though nobody has compared BG-42 Sebenza with S30V directly. One of the major points to me is the fact that if S30V is tougher than BG-42 then even at 61 HRC it would've been tougher and more wear resistant than BG-42 used in Sebenzas until 2002. I myself never had troubles with edge chipping on my small Seb, and haven't heard many complaints regarding chipping Sebenzas in general, therefore personally I, would be fine with S30V hardened at 61 HRC. After all Sebenza is a small pocket knife and has a reputation of an exceptional cutter, thus you don't really chop trees with it.
For the reference, Crucible representative stated that: if you are not sure what jobs you will ask of the knife (cutting, prying, picking, chopping, you get the picture) then we recommend HRC 58+/-. If you are sure you only need edge retention (i.e. you know you will only be slicing or carving) then HRC 60+/- is OK. So we think unless you know you are in the latter category, HRC 58 is the best choice..
Latest update on this topic would be Phil Wilson's article in July 2002 issue of Blade magazine. This thread on the bladeforums provides more details, but the key points would be:
- Edge holding will be proportional to hardness to a large degree;.
- Edge holding on a level with or better than 154CM/ATS-34 or D2 at the same hardness;
- Bending strength and impact toughness that are improvements over ATS-34/154CM and D2, hopefully approaching A2;
For more info you should check out CRK forum at bladeforums, where this discussion is still going on.
- Specifications:
- Model: Millennium Classic Small Sebenza;
- Blade: BG-42 steel, 60-61 HRC;
- Length: 2.875"(73);
- Width: 0.925 (23mm);
- Thickness: .125 (3.2mm)";
- Open: 6.875" (175mm);
- Weight: 3 oz.(85g);
- Handle: 1/8" 6AL4V titanium;
- Lock Mechanism: Frame Lock;
- Warranty: Limited Lifetime;
Last updated - 06/20/08