can't trust my sebenza anymore

P

pittsteele

Joined
Aug 24, 2001
Messages
1,062
this sucks. this has been my edc for almost a year now. never used it hard at all. the lock failed on me this morning. i was scraping a small channel of ice along my jeep's driver's side window seal so i could roll it dowm. the only other time i had a lock fail was on a kershaw boa during a hurricane and i haven't bought another kershaw since...i have to be able to trust my knives and unfortunately it only takes one bad experience to burn me :mad:

does this look outta spec to anyone? i'd appreciate input.
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envy my medical skills ;) she bled pretty good
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That lock is out of spec. If I remember correctly the knives should lock up from 50% upwards. Close to 60-75% I believe is optimum. There was a thread a while back where someone emailed CRK for their recommended lockup see if I can find it. Wish it was a damn sticky.
 
I don't like on edge type of lockups for this reason. I would rather have a good portion of the lockbar securely engage a good portion of the blade. I have seen some liner locks fail even with that.

If you open and close it a zillion times the lockbar might securely wear in but since CRK has a warranty to cover these things as well a reputation to maintain I would send it back in for expert evaluation and repair rather than find out the hard way if that works.

Liner locks and frame locks can be quite tricky to get right. They require specialized skill and knowledge to correctly make service and adjust.

My Sebenza Classic 21 large engages almost all of my blade about 80 to 85 % (quite a bit more than yours in the picture) The large old original Sebenza I have only engages about 75% percent of the blade.

Keep in mind that some people whine about not having a lockbar that engages only a small portion of the blade because the feel it will last longer due to the extra time it takes to wear in after multiple openings and closings. This school of thought reasons that all lock bars eventually wear all the way to the other side of the handle with use.

While I see the logic behind this reasoning, I don't like lock bars that hang off the edge and a safe secure lock bar that may not maintain zero blade play as long but reasonably long enough and will still be secure even when it does wear to the other side in time, if you use your knife hard and often, or never if you don't, is what I would choose considering the alternative.
 
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Im almost positive that Ive read a couple of places on the CRK forum that

the acceptable lockup is 25-75%.

I wont definately give them a call and send it in.The lockup looks ok from

the pic but if the seb "bit" you once I can understand why you dont trust

it!
 
If it was cold out, materials do shrink in the cold... that might have had something to do with it.
There's also the possibility that the way you held the handle might have pushed the lockbar out of alignment (though generally with framelocks holding the handle reinforces the lock)
Not passing the buck, just don't want you to be burned on the sebbie.

Personally, my lockup is anywhere from 50%-75%.
 
ANY mechanical device..... is destined to fail. Yes even Chris Reeve's knives have to follow those laws. Gun safety courses give that exact definition for a trigger safety. Never assume a safety or a locking device is 100% trustworthy, you will be dissappointed, injured or dead. I still want a Sebenza.
 
How about this?

Was it a cold day?

Does titanium expand/contract at the same rate as S30V/BG42?

It may not.

When you call in ask about that possibility.

The contact with the cold surface could have shrunk the 'tang' just enough to cause a slip, relative to the warmth from your hand.

Perhaps not. Its just a guess.
 
Rick Hinderer makes very, very early locks-up in his knives and this has never occure???? Why now w2ith the Sebenza (it is my holy grail)?? I am very sorry to hear about your injury and there must be a logical explanation to this!!! Chris makes outstanding knifes, we all know!!! Your knife is one in almillion??.................We all hope!!..................
 
I can't imagine how this happened. Exactly how were you using the knife when this happened? Were you scraping with the tip of blade with the back of the blade being pulled toward you?
 
CRK's Sebenza lockup spec is 50%-75%, and the company is very picky on achieving this spec. If the knife is clean, it will stay within this spec for many, many years, due to CRK's process of heat-treating the Sebenza lock bar. My EDC Sebenza has been in service for 14 years now, and it is still in spec. If the mating lockbar surfaces did wear, they wear such that the lockup is INCREASED, not decreased.


The only conditions I have observed that cause the lockup to decrease (and these have been surprisingly many) are the following:
  1. The blade has been swapped. This is a no-no with the CRK folders -- the locks are custom fitted due to the high sensitivity to blade/lockbar dimensions.
  2. Debris (like pocket lint) has built up on the stop pin or the back of the blade, causing incomplete opening.
A very distant 3rd possibility that comes to mind is that the lockbar is fractured, or has been over extended such that the lockbar bias towards closure is reduced. I have never heard of this happening.

If you insure that the knife is clean and it still has the lockup that you show in the picture, I would wonder if the blade has been swapped with another Sebenza. Are you the original owner?
 
marcengels said:
Rick Hinderer makes very, very early locks-up in his knives and this has never occure???? Why now w2ith the Sebenza (it is my holy grail)?? I am very sorry to hear about your injury and there must be a logical explanation to this!!! Chris makes outstanding knifes, we all know!!! Your knife is one in almillion??.................We all hope!!..................
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Actually, ive seen a xm18 posted on these forums fail much like the sebenza. It can happen to any lock.
 
Sometimes when I reassemble my Seb and crank the screws tight, the lock will fail easily. I have no idea why. I play with the screws a bit - I find it helps to loosen and retighten them with the blade open and the lockbar engaged. This appears to work, and bring the blade back to it's proper 50%.

Like I said, I have no idea of what causes it, or of how precisely I'm able to fix it. But I can, and easily. Maybe you have a similar problem, in which case it would be unfair for you to dismiss the knife without at least tinkering a little :p
 
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pittsteele said:
this sucks. ~~~~...i have to be able to trust my knives and unfortunately it only takes one bad experience to burn me :mad:
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pittsteele,

I am sorry this happened to you and hope you heal up quickly..... :thumbup:

From what you have said above, you will never be happy with this knife again..... much less trust it. No matter what.

Tell me if it is a large or small, what kind of shape it is in, and how much you want for it.

I will buy it "as is"..... :thumbup:

Just PM me with the details please.

Regards,
Cp
 
I would pull it apart, clean it, apply a little lube and re assemble. My bet is the it could have had some lint or tiny debris in there.
 
I really enjoy my large Sebenza but have come to respect and treat knives as the somewhat dangerous tools that they are.

I have experienced many cuts over my 30 year collecting history. I have recently started to only buy flippers where the flipper becomes the choil and will not allow the closing of the blade as long as you have a finger in the choil.

I carry my ZT 0200 and XM-18 a lot, especially during hard use times.

We all tend to get caught up mentally in our busy schedules from time to time - so this helps me build in another layer of safety for those times when I am not focusing.

When I use my Sebenza - I try to remind myself that there is no lock stop so I don't overexert the lock and that the blade is painfully sharp and I value my fingers.

I'm real sorry to hear about your incident - and I hope you do not abandon your Sebenza. I end up having a newfound respect for the knives that have bit me over the years.
 
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