break in period for Sebenzas

A

acervirtus

Joined
Aug 12, 2007
Messages
5
Hello all, I've been lurking on these forums for a bit and finally got a large regular Sebenza with double thumblugs from New Graham earlier this week. Its a great knife!

How long of a break in period, if any, do you all have with your Sebbies? I've been opening it regularly for the last couple of days and its still pretty stiff. Thumb pressure only opens it out half way, I have to add a pretty strong wrist flick to have it lock open.
 
They arent designed to be thumb flicked open its more of a smooth push all the way to the full open and locked position...
 
Make sure it's oiled well, and just keep opening and closing it without flicking. It will smooth out considerably in a few days.
 
Make sure you lubricate the ceramic ball in the lock as well as the blade. If not lubricated, it can drag.
 
I put breakfree oil on mine, and it got real smooth to open.
 
Unlike many of you I don't have dozens of Sebenzas, but the very few I do have came out of the box working very well. Maybe I'm lucky.

:)
 
All,

Thank you for your replies. Dave, the search on "flitz" was exactly what I was looking for. I'm glad, and a little bit sad, to see that I'm not alone. I received my order of flourinated grease today, and Ted Voorde's sticky was very helpful for the lube process. My Sebenza is now how I expected it to be out of the box.

As I had said initially, I bought the knife from New Graham Knives and its "born date" July of 2006. Its possible that some of the grease evaporated during the year long storage. There was significant coloring on the titanium from the bronze washers as if it was rubbing against the handle and not the blade. Not sure if this is the way its meant to work.

Maybe I'll change my mind tomorrow morning, but paying $420 for a pocket knife (double thumb lugs), I am surprised that it needed this treatment. CRK should consider adding a syringe of their grease to the box if they want to maintain this level of quality.

Regards and thanks again,
Acer
 
Acer I think you'll be happy once it is straightened out, but it IS disappointing it seems like each new sebenza needs relubed.

I suggest you let CRK know directly about how it was received. It's been brought up before but it seems like nothing has been fixed in their process.
 
My older Sebs (6-8 yrs) came perfect right from the shop. My newer ones from a couple of years back all needed quite a bit of time to break in nice.
 
autosol and militec is the way to go. mine is glassy smooth. the fluorinated grease does gum up a little, but the opening is buttery smooth. depends on whether you prefer buttery or glassy smooth.

note: usuallyl PB washers will be slicker as it wears in. but here's a question...are PB washers already lubricated at the factory / impregnated with oil?
 
Acervirtus has a good idea, include a tube of grease with each knife.

All three of my Sebenzas were smooth as silk upon arrival but my Mnandi was a little stiff until I lubed the ceramic ball on the lock.

As for the significant coloring on the handles from the washers, I think this is common due to the relative softness of the copper washers compared to the titanium handles. Copper is pretty reactive too so it may just be a slight galvanic reaction.
 
Any chance we can add the need to lube newer folders to the FAQ? It will save new buyers from a lot of angst and frustration.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top