A quick question (about lockup) from a newbie

ijha

ijha

Joined
Jun 12, 2009
Messages
81
Hi, Everyone.

I currently own two sebenzas. One is 2010 plain sebenza 21 insingo (S30V) that I purchased about an year ago and the other one is 2011 unique graphic sebenza 21 (S35VN) that I purchased two days ago.

While I really like the new one, I noticed that the new one is much harder to unlock (I mean closing) than my old insingo. With my old insingo, you just put little pressure on the lock bar, it closes very easily and very smoothly. However, my new one doesn't close as smoothly as my old one does. Sometimes I have to push the bar very hard to disengage the lockbar and I get uncomfortable with my thumb due to hard openings and closings.

So, I wondered what would cause this closing difference. Then, I noticed that the lockups of the two are a little bit different. My old insigno's lockup is around 60%-70% and the new one's lockup is around 80%-90%.

So, here are my questions.

1. Is it possible that my new one's being hard to close has to do with the lockup?
2. If so, what do I have to do to solve the problem? Do you think I have to send it in?
3. Or maybe it is just one of the characteristics of Sebenza in general? I mean, the lockup can be this hard even though it's new?
4. Do you think this new one needs break-in period? (I doubt this cause my old insingo is virtually new too)

I appreciate your advices.

By the way, here's the picture of my new one.

Best,

2012-06-16152651-1.jpg
 
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That's a great picture of a really great knife!:thumbup: Huge congrats on that bub.

As far as lock up I think 80% to 90% might be to far? I'm not positive, but I am sure more of the experienced members will chime in. I really just wanted to say you've got yourself a beaut! :D

If you want to know about your lock up in a hurry I say go to the source and give CRK a call. They'll let you know what's up :thumbup:
 
RiverRat84 said:
That's a great picture of a really great knife!:thumbup: Huge congrats on that bub.

As far as lock up I think 80% to 90% might be to far? I'm not positive, but I am sure more of the experienced members will chime in. I really just wanted to say you've got yourself a beaut! :D

If you want to know about your lock up in a hurry I say go to the source and give CRK a call. They'll let you know what's up :thumbup:
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot RiverRat.

I'm a good student. I thought that I should take Sebenza 101 lessons from you guys before I call CRK. :)
Best,
 
is the spring harder or does the lock "stick" (and makes a clicky-sticky noise)?
of 2 sebs, one has a harder spring which requires a little more "force" to open and close but none of the 2 has a sticky lock that makes it "hard" to disengage

a reassembly may help or a screw got loose

some graphite (from a pencil) could help, doesn't damage anything but cleans/lubricates the 2 touching parts, helped many many times. I apply some than open close a few times, clean the tang with some tissue, apply some more graphite, clean and reapply, then open close a few times and it should feel better indeed, sometimes dirt-lint-grease may get in the middle and act as glue

3rd possibility is sending in for perfect tuning of the lock

hope it helps
Maxx
 
Mad_Maxx said:
is the spring harder or does the lock "stick" (and makes a clicky-sticky noise)?
of 2 sebs, one has a harder spring which requires a little more "force" to open and close but none of the 2 has a sticky lock that makes it "hard" to disengage

a reassembly may help or a screw got loose

some graphite (from a pencil) could help, doesn't damage anything but cleans/lubricates the 2 touching parts, helped many many times. I apply some than open close a few times, clean the tang with some tissue, apply some more graphite, clean and reapply, then open close a few times and it should feel better indeed, sometimes dirt-lint-grease may get in the middle and act as glue

3rd possibility is sending in for perfect tuning of the lock

hope it helps
Maxx
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot Maxx.
Indeed, my new one is harder to open too and when I open and close, the blade gives me more sticky feel.

I have two quick questions regarding this.
first, do the dirt and stickiness have to do with the 80-90/% lockup?
second, I've never disassembled my sebenza. Is reassembling easy enough for a newbie like me to do? I definitely want to try the cleaning you mentioned. But, I'm afraid that I accidentally do something wrong. Or do you think it's better option to send it in?

Thanks a lot again for the valuable tips.

Best,
 
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Hi

Dis- and reassembling a Seb is really easy. There are numerous clips about it on youtube.

My advice would be to dis- reassemble and see if anything changes.
Make the best pic you can and send it with the description of your problem to CRK. They will help you with what to do.

Best

Peter
 
chili77 said:
Hi

Dis- and reassembling a Seb is really easy. There are numerous clips about it on youtube.

My advice would be to dis- reassemble and see if anything changes.
Make the best pic you can and send it with the description of your problem to CRK. They will help you with what to do.

Best

Peter
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot Peter.
I will disassemble it and clean it. Let's see if it makes a difference.

I am still curious if the stickiness has to do with the 80-90% of lockup. Can anyone enlighten me about this?

Best,
 
ijha said:
Thanks a lot Maxx.
Indeed, my new one is harder to open too and when I open and close, the blade gives me more sticky feel.

I have two quick questions regarding this.
first, do the dirt and stickiness have to do with the 80-90/% lockup?
second, I've never disassembled my sebenza. Is reassembling easy enough for a newbie like me to do? I definitely want to try the cleaning you mentioned. But, I'm afraid that I accidentally do something wrong. Or do you think it's better option to send it in?

Thanks a lot again for the valuable tips.

Best,
Click to expand...

lock % usually is a matter of geometry, a tiny change in angle/thickness results in various decimal % points
so the 80-90% lock shouldn't be a matter of dirt not sorrow for me

cleaning an assembled knife is easy but you must know the tricks
know post its? yes? put one on the cutout between tang and pivot area(where there is the detent, ok?), where the lockface is, open the knife and let the sticky part catch the dirt of the tang (paper goes between the 2 contacting parts) do it on the lockface and tang, reversing the post it or using another one, works well

some tissue in the same cutout area and on the tang helps a bit more, the final step is the graphite, putting it, letting it settle in, cleaning the excess worked many many times on many knives out of the box
after that there's disassembly-cleaning-oiling-assembly or the warranty/spa

if you need more infos or something is hard to understand...just ask!
maxx
 
I have a LG 21 that came with about 80% lockup. I've read that as long as you don't have any blade play you're good. I looked around when I got this Sebenza since it has later lockup than any other one I've had.
In the past a few people posted pics that had similar lockup and after they talked to CRK they found that it was fine.
A good cleaning and lube should help. Good luck. (BTW they're easy to take apart and re-assemble.
Here's a link on how to go about it.
http://www.chrisreeve.com/sebenzaclean.htm
 
Hi, again everyone.

As you guys recommended yesterday, I decided to reassemble my new sebenza last night. I can say it was a quite easy job for a newbie like me to do. And the knife was very clean as it is a brand new. So, I had little to do. I can say that playing around with all those super solid parts was quite fun indeed.
Unfortunately, I can't say the reassembling was able to get rid of my problem. The lockup seems to be 75% after reassembling but I am still experiencing hard closings. At least, I can say that this new one is not as smooth as my old insingo. I don't know how to put it in a word. I feel like I am damaging something while I'm closing the knife.

Here's a quick question that I am very anxious about. While I was cleaning the knife, I noticed that there was a little tiny dent on the surface of the lock bar. You can see the pictures below. I'm wondering if it is a normal dent or not. Do you think this type of dent is common? Or do you think this dent has to do with my problem? I mean, can this type of dent happen on the 3 day-old, brand new knife?
In fact, I was very worried about the lock bar, I sent an email to CRK right away last night. But I thought that it might be useful to listen to your opinions too. When I hear from CRK, I'll also update here.

Any advice is appreciated.
Best,

DSC_0451.jpg


DSC_0453.jpg
 
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That lockbar looks like it's almost checkered. Mine are smooth. That alone could make the lock tough to open
 
I remember mine and some I've seen (in pics here on bf) were smooth, not checkered
the "dent" is not nice to see, actually (but not sure it's a big issue even if I don't like it)

one thing could be, the tang has a bad/steel grind and is making bad contact with the lockbar, I had a small insingo I sent back as it was very lightly sticky and came back perfect but I don't remember any dents
CRK may say to send it in to fix the torched part
Maxx
 
With bare eyes, you won't tell if it is checkered or not. It just looked smooth to me at first. However, with the 60mm zoom lens, it turned out it is checkered.
As Maxx said, I hope CRK reply to me as soon as possible with a definitive answer. Maxx, I think you're probably right. The tang must be the culprit.

Best,
 
as said on my small insingo the tang was steeper and ground rougher, send it it, came with a bit more % (obviously) but stickyness is gone

its ALWAYS a matter of geometry, pure and simple AND anyone can make errors :thumbup:
 
CRK warranty will make it right for you for sure if it's few days old and given the quality pics you can supply. It'll be worth the relatively small outlay in cash to have Chris make it work right.

I sent a 2 day old inlay large 21 in for opening/closing problems not too long ago. The knife was repaired and sent back to me that day after they got it. Works like butter - as they say around here. I'm sure you'll be well cared for. ;)
 
Hi, Everyone. Here's a quick update.
Heather emailed me two days after I sent an email. Very quick response I guess, considering they are very busy and short-handed. The knife should arrive Idaho today. Thank you all for your great feedbacks.
 
ijha said:
Hi, Everyone. Here's a quick update.
Heather emailed me two days after I sent an email. Very quick response I guess, considering they are very busy and short-handed. The knife should arrive Idaho today. Thank you all for your great feedbacks.
Click to expand...

Can't wait to hear what they say, or what the fix is. excellent images of the lock bar face. Almost, looks like some form of peening, to adjust the lock to blade engagement never seen that before, a couple thousandths of and inch goes a long way. Hope you get a perfectly functional Sebenza back, looks fantastic.
 
My new small sebenza has a similar problem. The lock up is at around 85-90%, and the lockbar is slightly sticky. I did a lot of searching and also emailed CRK and it seems like it's "normal". A part of me says with a $425 knife it should be perfect, but it's not something that I can't live with. I'd be interested in hearing how they remedied the problem too.
 
I guess Maxx is quite correct. The lockup % has little to do with the stickiness as my Insingo which is silky smooth has the roughly same percentage of lockup. Heather also told me that the lockup percentage should not be a problem. But based on the pictures above, she recommended me to send the knife in for closer inspection. Though I'm with Maxx's hypothesis, I guess we need to wait for CRK's response. I'll let you know as soon as I hear from them.
 
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