Sebenza 31 Lock Rock?!

smuiradise said:
I can’t believe anyone is still trying to justify this issue as being ok. Clearly Tim and Co are taking CRK in a new direction. I guess they can do that if they want. But anyone who thinks Chris would’ve accepted this is lying to themselves. Chris built the company and the reputation and put his name on it. It was handed to Tim and obviously he did not inherit Chris’s obsessive attention to detail, tolerances, and perfection, or there wouldn’t be a 65+ page thread about excessive blade play on a knife advertised as bank vault lockup. Disappointing but there’s enough fanboys to continue buying them and defend them so where is CRK’s motivation to improve?
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Do you know Chris, Tim, or Anne on a personal basis? Do you have a working knowledge of the internal planning and decision making that is going on a CRK?
 
NCHunter78 said:
Do you know Chris, Tim, or Anne on a personal basis? Do you have a working knowledge of the internal planning and decision making that is going on a CRK?
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No and I don’t need to to be a consumer of their products or critical of their company.
 
smuiradise said:
No and I don’t need to to be a consumer of their products or critical of their company.
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You can be critical all that you want, that will not be my point. You stated very clearly that "Clearly Tim and Co are taking CRK in a new direction. I guess they can do that if they want. But anyone who thinks Chris would’ve accepted this is lying to themselves. Chris built the company and the reputation and put his name on it. It was handed to Tim..."

I would ask you or others that have made similar statements to consider an alternative scenario where Chris is retired, but is still very active within the ideas, discussions, and thought processes that are going on. People act like Chris retired and moved to Mars and has never been seen again. This is not the case. And for the people that are still actively employed and working on a daily basis, like Tim and Anne and the whole crew, they are earning every dollar they make. You don't have to agree with their decisions and you don't have to buy their product, but there's no need to make wild assumptions or assume things were "handed to" anyone.
 
NCHunter78 said:
You can be critical all that you want, that will not be my point. You stated very clearly that "Clearly Tim and Co are taking CRK in a new direction. I guess they can do that if they want. But anyone who thinks Chris would’ve accepted this is lying to themselves. Chris built the company and the reputation and put his name on it. It was handed to Tim..."

I would ask you or others that have made similar statements to consider an alternative scenario where Chris is retired, but is still very active within the ideas, discussions, and thought processes that are going on. People act like Chris retired and moved to Mars and has never been seen again. This is not the case. And for the people that are still actively employed and working on a daily basis, like Tim and Anne and the whole crew, they are earning every dollar they make. You don't have to agree with their decisions and you don't have to buy their product, but there's no need to make wild assumptions or assume things were "handed to" anyone.
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Good point. Probably not fair on my part. But to see guys on here posting that they sent in a knife where the blade moves off the stop pin and CRK returned it advising it is in spec is very disappointing and also not fair for a $400+ knife. Especially considering I am a fan of CRK. I have owned countless CRK’s and currently have 3 that are all users and I consider perfect and won’t part with. CRK doesn’t owe me anything but if they want to continue to compete for my money they will need a better response than they have offered to date.
 
smuiradise said:
Good point. Probably not fair on my part. But to see guys on here posting that they sent in a knife where the blade moves off the stop pin and CRK returned it advising it is in spec is very disappointing and also not fair for a $400+ knife. Especially considering I am a fan of CRK. I have owned countless CRK’s and currently have 3 that are all users and I consider perfect and won’t part with. CRK doesn’t owe me anything but if they want to continue to compete for my money they will need a better response than they have offered to date.
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:thumbsup: Now I think that is a better argument to make. I think a lot of people, both those that really bothered by this and those that are not as bothered, would be interested learning something more definitive about this.
 
This whole Sebenza ceramic ball thing seems overblown to me. Chris was obviously fine with the ceramic ball since he introduced and used it on Zaans and Inkosis. They did the same to Sebenzas which led to this flex issue. Sure that's on Tim for not testing it throughly with 1st Gen 31s but they have since recut the lockside and fixed it and who knows maybe Chris was involved and thought it was OK to do. I'm pretty sure if CRK was your dad, you'd bring up "Hey dad, we're putting the ceramic ball on Sebenzas soon" at the dinner table. The only problem now is people associate lock rock with all 31s.
 
XL883N said:
This whole Sebenza ceramic ball thing seems overblown to me. Chris was obviously fine with the ceramic ball since he introduced and used it on Zaans and Inkosis. They did the same to Sebenzas which led to this flex issue. Sure that's on Tim for not testing it throughly with 1st Gen 31s but they have since recut the lockside and fixed it. The only problem now is people associate lock rock with all 31s.
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Do you know what testing was done or anything that was involved?
Why is it on Tim? Do you know if he is the "end all, be all" decision maker?
 
NCHunter78 said:
Do you know what testing was done or anything that was involved?
Why is it on Tim? Do you know if he is the "end all, be all" decision maker?
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His Facebook profile shows he works in product development and he's the company founder's son who took over when the old man retired. Who else would it be?
 
XL883N said:
His Facebook profile shows he works in product development and he's the company founder's son who took over when the old man retired. Who else would it be?
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So Tim is the head of CRK now? He calls all the shots? You know this to be fact or just making assumptions based on his lineage?
I don't know these answers but I would be certain to find out before I made the assumptions or took shots at someone on a public forum. But that's just me.
 
XL883N said:
Who's the head of CRK then? You tell me.
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Like I said above, I do not know these answers and since I am not the one making accusations on a public forum, I do not feel the need to look up answers for you. All I am asking you, and/or others to do, is not to assume things.
 
I've wondered for a while now if the ceramic ball position on the lockbar is one of the major factors in the variety of lockups people have been noting. My small Sebenza 31 has had a bit of movement in the blade when pressing on the spine since the day I received it new several months ago. More disappointing than unsatisfactory for me, but nonetheless had me trying to figure out what the issue was.
The ceramic ball seems to have been pretty consistent in its engagement with the blade and hasn't felt like it would let the blade unlock easily by slipping. What looks off (on mine) is that the ball/blade engagement allows pressure on the blade to flex the lockbar in a way that closes the long gap in the scale (blade pushing on the ball a bit to the side instead of straight against the top). If the ball was positioned just a bit more towards the finger cutout I think the pressure would be more inline with the lockbar and greatly reduce the flex. My wonder is, how does the positioning of that ceramic ball on the lockbar on my knife compare with other 31s? I have to imagine the ball position can't vary too wildly considering how close along the edge of the blade the ball rides during opening/closing, but this seems to me the most likely place there could be variance causing the differences in lockup people are experiencing.

Next time I have my knife apart I'm going to make a point to take a picture and measurements of the ceramic ball position. If anyone else would be interested in doing the same we might get some useful comparisons. Or at least some satisfaction for my curiosity. :p
 
I have not read this entire thread but I have read enough to know that I am going to give the 31 a hard pass. I hope everyone who is unhappy with their 31 finds some sort of solution.
 
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Chris Reeve disappeared. Nobody that’s posting on line or talking to the press says where he is or why he disappeared. One thing is sure, the face of CRK is Ann&Tim. Chris is not at shows, involved in product releases or even quoted when his iconic knife was redesign by his kid. Gives one a clear notion that Ann&Tim plus their investors are in charge.
 
brownshoe said:
Chris Reeve disappeared. Nobody that’s posting on line or talking to the press says where he is or why he disappeared. One thing is sure, the face of CRK is Ann&Tim. Chris is not at shows, involved in product releases or even quoted when his iconic knife was redesign by his kid. Gives one a clear notion that Ann&Tim plus their investors are in charge.
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It is called "Retirement"
 
Changing the name of the firm from Chris Reeve Knives to Chris Reeve junior Knives would go a long way to dissolve the cognitive dissonance a lot of us have.
 
I got a Large 31 with micarta inlays for Christmas. It locks up solid as a bank vault. No movement in the blade what so ever. Birthday of the knife is June 25 2020.
I had a large PJ 31 when they were first released that I ended up selling. I don't remember that one having any issues either.
I really like the micarta inlays on the 31. I think they look good and they really fill my hand up nicely when I am using the knife.
 
I have three large 31s and none of them have this issue, including the D-19.

Pretty sure Chris and Anne got a divorce and Anne got the company. I read he was retired but still working with CRK in design and consulting, but I'd also like to know what's really going on over there. The 25 had it's issues, so it's not like Chris being there would have necessarily avoided all of them in the first batch of 31s. As much as I would have liked to have seen a few more tweaks and the clip remain the same, I think CRK nailed it with the 31, regardless of who designed it.
 
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Kalsu said:
I really like the micarta inlays on the 31. I think they look good and they really fill my hand up nicely when I am using the knife.
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Me too. The micarta models look perfect.
I'd love to add a large micarta model to my stable of CRK blades but no way right now. I can't drop that much cash on an item that might not work as advertised and then might not be fixed by their warranty dept. after you pay to send it in. Way too many variables in play to gamble $550 before tax on a blade that the factory might not even stand behind.
All in all, very disappointing service coming from one of my favorite knife companies.
 
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