At a tipping point....

[Cheesehead_Slasher]

I tried my first Sebenza and am to the point of annoyance with the washers, greasing, and assembly. I understand the importance of maintenance but it is becoming too much. I avoid using the knife because I do not want to get water or food in the grease because it would then have to be disassembled, cleaned, regressed, etc. This constant battle between using the knife and not using the knife to avoid "maintenance" has forced me to consider selling it. When I take the knife apart and put it back together I am always very careful and have never pinched a washer. (Knock on wood.) However, constantly stressing over pinching a washer takes the fun out of it. Especially since it cost $$$ to replace the washers.

The method of reassembling I use is to insert pivot screw housing, grease area, insert pivot bushing, place small washer, install blade and move to open position to lock in place, insert large washer and apply grease, grease remains scale, place scale into position and screw together. I constantly ensure the pivot screw housing is tight and the pivot bushing doesn't move. I never had success insetting the blade while the knife is assembled.

Am I the only now who feels this way? I am interested to hear back from you on this. I understand these knives are built to use but my intuition leads me to believe they NEED to be greased and maintained. I am not sure if I want to keep doing this over the life of the knife.

I appreciate your input / feedback.

 

[Mick_1KRR]

I have never, not once, ever felt this way. The Sebenza 21 is hands down the easiest, most well designed knife in the maintenance department, period. The 1 tool philosophy for complete break down to re-assemble, it's really perfection. Just use the hell out of it, i actually enjoy taking my 21 down and cleaning it, even when it doesn't need it...

Plus honestly, you're overthinking it, if you don't get water or food dripping into your pivot you don't need to break the knife down often at all. Some people do it once a year. Learn how to do the insertion of the blade/washers back into the handle while the scales are in once piece, it will make it a walk in the park. Cheers.

PS. If you hate the greasing part that much, you can honestly just leave it dry, it will still work just fine. Or just put the tiniest drop of good oil in there.

 

[Swiss_Army_Man]

Unless you're cutting mud I don't see a reason to take it apart and clean every time you use it. What exactly are you cutting? Also maybe consider looking into a G&G Hawk Mudd. It's also sound like you're making the re-assembly much harder than it needs to be. The method in the stickied threads at the top of the forum works 99.9% of the time for me and I haven't pinched a washer yet...

 

[Ajack60]

Naw, you're being too anal about taking it down and doing maintenance on it. I've got some that I use that are a year old and I've never taken them down yet.
The only time I feel the need to re grease one is if it feels gritty or is becoming stiff to open. The holes in the washers are designed to hold grease in and keep foreign materials out. I've washed mine off, use them in muddy water, kitchen duty and when I have taken one down, there hasn't been any issues.

 

[Emre]

Just because you can take it apart to clean it after every use, that doesn't mean you should. There's really no need to get crazy with it.

For day-to-day use, you can just rinse it under the tap. That will take care of pocket lint and dust. If it's greasy or really dirty, just wash it in the sink with dishsoap and dry it out. Maybe add a drop of lube if it feels a little sticky. You don't need to break the thing down every minute.

 

[Peter Hartwig]

You do not need to be breaking down the knife anywhere near as often as you are doing. The Sebenza is the only knife I bother to do this to at all(do to the ease of both break down and assembly) and I only break them down occasionally. I hear of many that only break them down every year or so. There was someone on here recently that never had-13 years or something. Others run them dry. Mellow Man.

 

[Lapedog]

Honestly I find the Chris Reeve flourinated grease to not be the best lubrication option.

Get yourself some Benchmade Blu Lube and Benchmade Blu Lube cleaner. Next time you disassemble your sebbie clean it out with the cleaner and put a little Blu Lube on it. Next time your knife needs some lube just drip a few drops down the knife pivot wothout disassembling it. You will be taking your 21 apart way less.

 

[Cheesehead_Slasher]

Wow, I appreciate the prompt feedback. I am cutting things such as apples, chicken, etc. I try to keep it clean and wipe it off rather then rise so I don't mess with the grease. I will give it some time and use the knife a bit and not worry about the grease and see how it goes.

I don't know about you folks but I stubble to reassemble just the blade, bushing, and washers into the already assembled scales. Every time i have tried at lease one of the washers gets dislodged and I have to redo the entire process. Super frustrating.

 

[Emre]

If you're cutting things like chicken and worry about bacteria, just rinse the pivot under the faucet, put a blob of Dawn dish soap in the pivot area, then work it back and forth into a lather. Keep working it back and forth under running hot water to wash all the detergent out. After drying it as best you can, put a drop of your favorite lube (I still prefer Tuf-Glide or Break-Free CLP) on each side of the pivot and work it back and forth to distribute it evenly.

 

[Swiss_Army_Man]

I don't know about you folks but I stubble to reassemble just the blade, bushing, and washers into the already assembled scales. Every time i have tried at lease one of the washers gets dislodged and I have to redo the entire process. Super frustrating.

As far as reassembly goes, try loosening the stop pin screws and the backspacer screws a bit just to give the blade, washers, and bushing a little more room to get back inside the handle, and then tighten them back up once you have your female end of the pivot in to hold the blade steady.

 

[socom1970]

Maintenance (disassembly, cleaning, relube with CRK grease, reassembly) of my CRK's is largely unnecessary, depending on the frequency or type of use, ranging from 3+ months ( when I feel like doing it or can't remember the last time I did it) to never, other than when I first got the knife. I always do this when I first get the CRK just so I know it's good to go. You can leave them alone, use them, wash them without disassembly, dry them out, repeat. No worries. Chris designed them to be low-maintenance, high-use tools.

Also, CRK's site has how-to videos on maintenance of their knives. I follow them and have had excellent results. No problems ever for me.

 

[Cheesehead_Slasher]

Thanks for all of the feedback! I will continue to use it and not stress over the grease/maintenance. It is back in my pocket

 

[Iron City]

That was quick, you posted on 3/31 that you just purchased your first Sebenza and it was arriving around 4/4. Sounds like you work in a very rough environment if you are needing to clean your rig multiple times in roughly two weeks time. You may want to consider the simplicity of a fixed blade.

 

[Peter Hartwig]

When cutting raw chicken or fish I do prefer to use a fixed blade for ease of cleaning. I have loads of kitchen knives, and feel they are the right tool for the job. Of course if the kitchen knives were not available, I would use what was. It just seems like more work than it's worth to me to get folders clean after such use(and I try to be as lazy as life allows)

 

[Officer's Match]

If you are set on the method of re-assembly you described, you need an Inkosi.

 

[Wrobelan]

That was quick, you posted on 3/31 that you just purchased your first Sebenza and it was arriving around 4/4. Sounds like you work in a very rough environment if you are needing to clean your rig multiple times in roughly two weeks time. You may want to consider the simplicity of a fixed blade.

I definitely agree with this and recommend a nice honesuki for butchering chicken.

 

[makak]

Just keep it reasonably clean and you'll be OK. If you cut apples, lemons etc. rinse it thoroughly because it's sticky and corrosive and you don't want that in your pivot, you won't mess anything. I disassemble mine maybe once in 6 months and never had any issues.

 

[Lone_Wolfe]

I just disassembled my EDC after about a year of use, and it was bone dry. No ill effects from that at all. I can't count the number of times I dipped it in water or stuck it under a faucet to get it clean.