Cleaning out my sebenza

M

MonkeyWithAGun

Joined
Aug 4, 2015
Messages
97
Hey everyone! So i received my sebenza 21 today and i couldn't be happier!!!

I did get it used off ebay and i dont think its been taken apart since may of this year when it was re-issued a birth certificate.

Anyways, this thing is smooth and now i know what people mean by heavy and smooth! I would like to take this apart and give it a good cleaning. what are the recommended oils for this thing? Ive been googling, and have gotten some old threads and i have read hoppe's 9, original crk grease, break free clp, bio shield t9?

before i begin, can someone just explain to me how these work and the benefits of them for the knife? I dont want spend a couple of months "breaking it in" when i can get the same effects of smoothness with my own cleaning.

Ive also got a great cleaning video by apostle paul and loving his stuff.

do you guys have tips, things to avoid, or anything else that may be of help?

Im going to take this apart so i can better understand how this knife works and start learning how to take it apart and put it back together.
 
Congrats!

you can clean with soapy water, and lube with any fluorinated grease. CRK is the preferred, but many others will do just fine. I'm pretty sure CRK grease is just DuPont krytox. I've also used slip 2000, froglube, and generic white lithium with no problems. With the 2 gun lubes, I notice they are easier to thumb flick, and drop free when unlocking. whatever you use, just don't use too much. Also try to keep the washers on the same side, and facing the same way.
 
The sticky thread here in the CRK forum is a very good resource on how to clean a Sebenza.
 
Some great advice so far. I would use a flourinated grease. Something like Finish Line Extreme Flouro or CRK grease. Just be sure to use sparingly as others have already said.

I am sure that you may know this, but hopefully it will help someone with reassembly:

* assemble the scales first; stop pin & sleeve, back spacer & pin, and the lanyard pin if you want a lanyard.

TIP: I leave the stop pin screw 1/4 turn loose. This will help with getting the blade in later. Be careful not to set the stop pin screw too loose though. When you slide the blade in, the scales need to be tight enough to keep the washers from coming off of the pivot bushing. If a washer comes off of the pivot bushing, damage can occur when you do the final tightening and the knife would need to go back to the mothership for repair.

* put a light amount of grease on the tang and the pivot bushing (this will also hold the washers to the blade for assembly)

* put the pivot bushing and washers into/onto the blade

* slide the blade between the scales and insert pivot pin

* tighten the stop pin first (if you left it a bit loose like it do)

* tighten the pivot pin

* flick the knife open a couple of times to get everything to settle in (this is the only time Mr. Reeve blesses this practice)

* ENJOY!

**NOTE: On the 21, no loctite should be necessary on any of the screws or pins. They should just be tightened until snug.
 
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thank you thank you thank you!!!! i hadnt looked at steps yet.

so far, im learning what to use and what not to use and watching these videos over and over again.
 
MonkeyWithAGun said:
thank you thank you thank you!!!! i hadnt looked at steps yet.

so far, im learning what to use and what not to use and watching these videos over and over again.
Click to expand...

Glad I could help. If you are not sure of some of the steps that I outlined, they will become obvious once you have the knife apart and can see all of the parts and pieces.

I don't know if you got a large or small, but if you don't want a lanyard on the small, you can still leave the pin in as it is stepped and won't fall out. Some don't like this though because it does rattle a bit. The large pin is not stepped and will fall out without a lanyard on it. Some will cut a piece of paracord and burn the ends at the pin so that it won't fall out or rattle. Personally, I am not a lanyard guy and I keep my lanyard pins in the safe with all of my other CRK paraphernalia.
 
i have the large. I just cleaned it out!

So here are a few things I ran into.

First time i re assembled it, I was able to open the blade about 3/4 of the way and then it felt like it would stop/ slow down. So i took it apart and reapplied everything.

Put it back together a second time and now its as smooth as before, but still not like thumb flick smooth. Do you guys have any tips? I applied the crk grease a little less than the apostle paul video shows. I made sure it was not too much, but not too little.

I must say I am happy with it, but i know it can be smoother.

Also, when its in its closed position, the blade feels "magnetic." Its a little hard to push out, but once i do, it glides into position with that bank vault feel.
 
Corskin said:
Some great advice so far. I would use a flourinated grease. Something like Finish Line Extreme Flouro or CRK grease. Just be sure to use sparingly as others have already said.

I am sure that you may know this, but hopefully it will help someone with reassembly:

* assemble the scales first; stop pin & sleeve, back spacer & pin, and the lanyard pin if you want a lanyard.

TIP: I leave the stop pin screw 1/4 turn loose. This will help with getting the blade in later. Be careful not to set the stop pin screw too loose though. When you slide the blade in, the scales need to be tight enough to keep the washers from coming off of the pivot bushing. If a washer comes off of the pivot bushing, damage can occur when you do the final tightening and the knife would need to go back to the mothership for repair.

* put a light amount of grease on the tang and the pivot bushing (this will also hold the washers to the blade for assembly)

* put the pivot bushing and washers into/onto the blade

* slide the blade between the scales and insert pivot pin

* tighten the stop pin first (if you left it a bit loose like it do)

* tighten the pivot pin

* flick the knife open a couple of times to get everything to settle in (this is the only time Mr. Reeve blesses this practice)

* ENJOY!

**NOTE: On the 21, no loctite should be necessary on any of the screws or pins. They should just be tightened until snug.
Click to expand...

This is how I do it. Minus the Flicking of the blade.
 
ok its a little better... I can thumb flick it about 1/4 of the time. I sanded down the washers on scale side using 2000 grit sandpaper. I followed a video that showed how to do it all. Anyways, the washers were already at .40 millimeters so i sanded them down to .39 each. I dont know if i want to sand them down again, but it's still not as "loose" as other people make it seem.

I also used some break free clp as the lubricant, but doesnt seem as smooth as the crk grease... so when i feel like fiddling, i'll take it apart some more and do something later.

well, im gonna keep enjoying it for now.
 
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