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

James Longstreet

James Longstreet

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May 1, 2014
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I have seen a large Regular with "Mayo holes". BG 42 blade steel. What's the story behind it?

A cooperation between Chris and Tom Mayo ....... Where Tom Mayo drilled the holes?

Tom Mayo making apprenticeship at Chris Reeve, learning how to make knives and while being bored, drilling some holes into slabs?

:D:D

Okay. Serious now. What about those Regular Sebenza with holes?
 
You mean like these?

mayo_dave.jpg


Source: http://www.mindspring.com/~dave.heisler/
 
I believe those are done by Mr. Mayo without any association with CRK(pimp work). They were certainly done very well.
If memory serves me well-he went beyond the cosmetic holes, rounded the edges a bit and smoothed the action also.
You used to be able to send your Sebenza to Tom to get the work done. I just missed the closing of the window, when he stopped doing that. He has done a couple more modern CRK's also,that I have seen floating around.
 
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@ bld522

Exactly. Thanks for posting.

@ Peter Hartwig

Thanks for your explanation.

@ all

Just to be clear. I do not want to talk in a disrespectful way of Mr. Mayo, who is a well reputated knife maker. It was just a little joke to open up this thread. Hope nobody gets me wrong.
 
ice_man said:
LW probably meant warranty with CRK...
Click to expand...
I did understand, and to be a little clearer- I think at the time when these were made CRK would most likely have done warranty work on them. I don't know that they have changed their policy any, but they are being slightly stricter on it's use(from my experience). As for Mr. Mayo doing warranty work-not sure. I think he would repair the knife for you, but there could be a charge(that would be up to him). The normal procedure is to send pimped work to the pimper, not the original manufacturer.
On a side note there have been a number of well known knifemakers who have done pimp work on a Sebenza and far more that were Sebenza owners prior to making their own. I have often seen them selling their Sebenza's to buy equipment.
 
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I dunno, no offence to Mayobenza owners, but to me it looks like a guy put his Sebenza in a drill press and went wild. I don't see how this mod work represents something special, noteworthy, or even disireable. What am I missing?
 
Regardless of what knives he makes are worth, what is the worth of this mod? That he did it with his special drill press? I'm still lost on this. I don't see the artistry or craft. Are they signed?
 
Can't answer that. But if they passed through his hands, my guess is that they'd be some of the most expensive and desirable Sebenzas on the planet . . . particularly to Tom Mayo fans of which there are many. Here's one of my gems:

x2w7wi.jpg


Alas, it's only a Buck . . . rare though it may be. But if it were a full custom, you'd be looking at thousands of dollars.
 
Ok, that's fair. I'm not in the Mayo camp, but if these excite the fellas who are that's cool. In my mind the aesthetics of the knives have been degraded, but to each his own. It is interesting to me that drilling those holes could increase the value to, as you say, some of the most expensive Sebenzas on the planet. I'd take a mammoth inlay, Damascus, or nice UG any day over those Mayo's metal-shop offerings.
 
kidcongo said:
I dunno, no offence to Mayobenza owners, but to me it looks like a guy put his Sebenza in a drill press and went wild. I don't see how this mod work represents something special, noteworthy, or even disireable. What am I missing?
Click to expand...
,
1st if you don't love hole patterns, you probably won't like these.
2nd I can't see these holes clear enough to see how Tom did these particular ones, but they are more than just simple drilled on a drill press. He can put a decent amount of work into a hole, as well as pick nice patterns.
3rd like anything else that is hard to find in the knife world, demand builds up. Originally it was not an expensive modification, but now they are hard to come by.
I personally would love to get a large
 
kidcongo said:
Ok, that's fair. I'm not in the Mayo camp, but if these excite the fellas who are that's cool. In my mind the aesthetics of the knives have been degraded, but to each his own. It is interesting to me that drilling those holes could increase the value to, as you say, some of the most expensive Sebenzas on the planet. I'd take a mammoth inlay, Damascus, or nice UG any day over those Mayo's metal-shop offerings.
Click to expand...

Yep. To each his (or her) own . . .
 
Peter Hartwig said:
,
1st if you don't love hole patterns, you probably won't like these.
2nd I can't see these hole clear enough to see how Tom did these particular ones, but they are more than just simple drilled on a drill press. He can put a decent amount of work into a hole, as well as pick nice patterns.
3rd like anything else that is hard to find in the knife world, demand builds up.
I personally would love to get a large
Click to expand...
Get in line! :D
 
Adding to what Peter Hartwig is saying: I could be wrong. But I think this is a good example for things which are becoming more expensive after the person who did the "artwork" has become more famous. The "holes" are kind of a signature of Tom Mayo and his customs have grown in popularity, which increases their prices and I think this kind of reflects back on to these Sebenza. In other words: At the time this customizing was done, most likely not that much value has been added. Today with the increased popularity of Tom Mayo and his stile and in combination with increasing demand for Regular Sebenza this seems to lead to some interest into the Mayo Sebenza.
 
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