Carbon Fiber Seb Owners.... Please Chime In

[TTTis]

Picked up a CF small lefty the other day. Definitely the smoothest seb out of the box I've encountered. Could be the satin blade vs stonewashed? Weight is also awesome.

Anyways...

Took the knife apart like I always do and cleaned, lubed and put back together. Tightened down the pivot screw and noticed it was much more difficult to open than from factory. If I loosen the pivot screw about a 3/4 turn it does seem to smooth it out again.... basically factory.

One of the things I love about all the Sebs I've owned is that I can tighten down the pivot all the way and it still opens smooth. This is the first one I've encountered that I can't actually do that. Probably broken down/reassembled different sebs 50+ times and never had an issue. I know there isn't a pinched washer or anything like that. Lockup is still at 50%, no play, etc when tightened all the way. Just real hard to open, no grinding or anything odd. Could the tolerances be too tight on this one?

My question(s) to all you CF owners out there...

Have you encountered this problem upon reassembly? Can you crank yours down all the way and still have it open up smooth?

Just looking for some feedback, I appreciate any comments.

 

[Haze]

The whole point of the bushing system is to be able to seat the pieces together when the pivot is tightened rather than having to find a sweet spot, so no it should not be happening on your knife even if it's a CF Sebenza.

 

[Striderco]

Have both a small and a large CF Sebbie! No problems at all! Smooth as butter!

 

[Cypress Creek Knives]

I have a small cf and I have noticed that the knife seems tight when I tighten down the screw all the way. I just tighten the screw until it is snug and will not come loose.

 

[Biginboca]

I have a large CF and it's the same as all the other sebbies I have owned. I crank down the pivot and the blade is super smooth, like riding on glass. That's the whole point of the bushing system.


You probably already know this, but maybe it's worth posting anyway. If I were you I would take it apart and lightly polish the bronze washers. Put some flitz or whatever on a paper towel, lay it on a flat surface, and lay the washer flat in the polish. Then rub the washer in small circles around in the polish until its nice and shiny. This kind of simulates/speeds up the break in and might help a bit. Don't ever polish or mess with the bushing, btw. That has a critical tolerance that you don't want to take a chance with.

 

[TTTis]

Thank you all for the responses.

I have a small cf and I have noticed that the knife seems tight when I tighten down the screw all the way. I just tighten the screw until it is snug and will not come loose.

I'm thinking from the factory they didn't have the screw cranked all the way (on mine). Probably why it seems different to me now. Has yours broken in a bit and gotten easier with the screw tightened down? Or do you just get it snug and never crank it? One other random question. After you do tighten them up all the way, does it make that snap sound when you back it off? That was one other thing I noticed on this cf one. All my other sebs always have that snap when you loosen the screw after having them cranked. Not a big deal just curious.

I have a large CF and it's the same as all the other sebbies I have owned. I crank down the pivot and the blade is super smooth, like riding on glass. That's the whole point of the bushing system.


You probably already know this, but maybe it's worth posting anyway. If I were you I would take it apart and lightly polish the bronze washers. Put some flitz or whatever on a paper towel, lay it on a flat surface, and lay the washer flat in the polish. Then rub the washer in small circles around in the polish until its nice and shiny. This kind of simulates/speeds up the break in and might help a bit. Don't ever polish or mess with the bushing, btw. That has a critical tolerance that you don't want to take a chance with.

Was yours a bit tighter when you first received it? Tighter than most other ones you own? Or just about the same? I'm thinking this one might just have to break in.

I was half thinking about polishing the washers, but I think I'm just going to give it time. It is smooth, just pretty tight. I don't remember another new seb that I've owned being this tight. However it snaps open with authority at 50%, no play and the blade is centered. I'm thinking it is in spec, no problems there.

 

[Biginboca]

Mine was tighter when I first got it but I could still flick it open with no wrist action, thumbstud only. Now its broken in to be very smooth. It's at the point now where if I hold the knife horizontally and release the lock the blade will drop and point straight down, so pretty much free swing with the lock bar released from the tang. It's about 2 months old and carried everyday, opened at least a few thousand times by now... Yes, I play with it, lol!

 

[TTTis]

Mine was tighter when I first got it but I could still flick it open with no wrist action, thumbstud only. Now its broken in to be very smooth. It's at the point now where if I hold the knife horizontally and release the lock the blade will drop and point straight down, so pretty much free swing with the lock bar released from the tang. It's about 2 months old and carried everyday, opened at least a few thousand times by now... Yes, I play with it, lol!

Alright cool, thanks again for the feedback. I think I will just tighten down the pivot and work it in, see what happens. I assume it will just break in like my others, just a little thrown about how tight it was compared to my others.