CRK Grease: The Final Attempt

[brownshoe]

"It's unfortunate that the written materials that came with the Sebenza do not state how important it is to use grease, as opposed to other forms of lubes. It's strange that the lube I use on virtually ever other knife I own, including other frame locks, does not work on the Sebenza."

You are exactly right. I had the same opinion, and bought the lube with the knife. However, CRK now ships the lube with the knife, so they've fixed the problem.

However, it is not really "strange" that lubes that work on other knives are not for the sebenza. People complain all the time about how "tight" the action is compared to knife X, Y and Z which can be readily flicked open. The pivot/washer system in the sebenza is not used by many others.

 

[kawr]

If you hold your sebenza horizontally and dis-engage the lockbar, does the blade fall by gravity alone?

If it does then I would say it is the detent and/or pressure of the lockbar which 'usually' just needs more break-in time.

If the blade doesn't fall free then I would recommend what someone said earlier, polishing the washers with a VERY fine abrasive on a FLAT surface( I used 3,000 grit in the past with buffing compound). I have found that this really helps and prevents me from sending it back to Idaho. There is also a YouTube video you can reference.

Also, use enough lubricant but not too much. From my experience, high viscosity oils don't last long and grease works well so long as I don't use too much. I use 'Christolube' ,which I have heard is identical to CRK fluorinated grease. I just know it works well for me. I have some I can spare, so please contact me if you would like to try it out before you buy any (it is a bit expensive)

I hope you find a fix for this. What you described is not standard operation for a sebenza IMO. Good luck

I have to completely agree with this. Grittiness in the action seems linked to the detent ball. Make sure you wipe that clean and add some lube on to the area on the blade that the detent travels across. Tightness in action is most likely from too much lube, that's how tight the tolerances are. Washers have nothing to do with smoothness. All my new sebenzas dropped freely when unlocked and were glassy smooth after a proper cleaning and lubed minimally with grease.

 

[frontline29]

If you don't feel comfortable messing with your knife, don't bother doing the following.
Just send your knife in and CRK will get you squared away in a hurry.


Part of how CRK fine tunes the action on the Sebenza is to take a miniscule amount off the pivot bushing.
What I've done is,
If the blade is really tight and doesn't swing somewhat freely with the lock bar disengaged, I'll make one or two light passes over some super fine grit sandpaper with the pivot bushing.
I make sure to go light and Slow. And Always make sure to assemble the knife and check the action after each pass I make on the sand paper.

This is just what's worked for me and I've only had to do this to one Sebenza.

Again,
If your not comfortable, just send it in. CRK has some of the best custormoer service in the business.

 

[dano]

Not sure of the source (BladeHQ vid, the Exquisite Blade DVD, or a post from CRK), but I don't think the Sebenza was designed to have a blade that swings freely when the lock-bar pressure is disengaged.

Polishing washers, shaving pivot bushings or using silly oil that has "nano" diamonds in order to make the knife more smooth, seems to nullify the Sebenza's inherent, precise tolerances that makes the knife's pivot work properly in the first place. Use what's recommended.

 

[Jarodammerman]

Not sure of the source (BladeHQ vid, the Exquisite Blade DVD, or a post from CRK), but I don't think the Sebenza was designed to have a blade that swings freely when the lock-bar pressure is disengaged.

Polishing washers, shaving pivot bushings or using silly oil that has "nano" diamonds in order to make the knife more smooth, seems to nullify the Sebenza's inherent, precise tolerances that makes the knife's pivot work properly in the first place. Use what's recommended.

The washers will essentially 'polish' between the blade and titanium over time, so manually doing so just eliminates the time factor. I don't see why this would nullify the Sebenza's inherent, precise tolerances.

 

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

I've been looking for an alternative to the CRK grease as well. I bought some when I got my sebby, but was shocked at what I had paid 14$ for when I received the little tube. I may go with the finish line stuff next time. You get 4x as much product for the same price, or less if you look hard enough. I will always use grease though, it stays in place.

 

[TTTis]

The washers will essentially 'polish' between the blade and titanium over time, so manually doing so just eliminates the time factor. I don't see why this would nullify the Sebenza's inherent, precise tolerances.

Because many people take too much off. Polishing between parts is not the same as taking a washer to sandpaper or something similar.

 

[HwangJino]

I polished the washers on a 8000 and did only a fewpasses to remove rough spots.

super smooth now.

that tiny bottle of crk grease goes a long way.

did anyone else's bottle come half empty?

 

[MEJ]

I polished the washers on a 8000 and did only a fewpasses to remove rough spots.

super smooth now.

that tiny bottle of crk grease goes a long way.

did anyone else's bottle come half empty?

Mine did... im kinda confused on this point actually. I have had to things of it so far and both were very lacking.

 

[brownshoe]

"I don't think the Sebenza was designed to have a blade that swings freely when the lock-bar pressure is disengaged."

Mine has done this since day one. When it doesn't swing freely, I wash it out with soap and water, dry with towel and blast of air...it swings freely once again.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

"I don't think the Sebenza was designed to have a blade that swings freely when the lock-bar pressure is disengaged."

Mine has done this since day one. When it doesn't swing freely, I wash it out with soap and water, dry with towel and blast of air...it swings freely once again.

You leave it dry?

Never mind, I saw your post above.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Question: Does anyone have a 25 that has a free swinging blade? If so, did you do anything to get it to do so?

 

[Jarodammerman]

Question: Does anyone have a 25 that has a free swinging blade? If so, did you do anything to get it to do so?

My 25 does. It just took a couple months of edc, cleaning, and grease. It's not as smooth like the previous sebenzas but it does fall freely. Of the handful of sebenzas I have had the pleasure of owning, I only needed to buff the washers on one of them to reduce the friction/resistance. The rest were smooth out of the box or after a short period of use.

 

[Krav]

I polished the washers on a 8000 and did only a fewpasses to remove rough spots.

super smooth now.

that tiny bottle of crk grease goes a long way.

did anyone else's bottle come half empty?

Not complaining but mine did too, and when I used, it was clear at first then a white color, I think it separated, no worries awesome knives....

 

[Omega Leather Works]

At least you guys got some. Well, if you're talking about the included grease. The "old" packaging didn't come with lube or loc-tite.

I just checked my 25 and the blade drops (does'nt swing) when held horizontally and no lb pressure. That's very promising because it wouldn't do that at all a week or two ago.

When I polish washers I use my ChromOx strop. I haven't done anything to this knife but I'm considering it. On the other hand it seems to be doing good work on its own.

Honestly, at first, I wasn't sure that I liked this knife enough to keep it. I saw a micarta Insingo on the trade forum the other day. The person wanted to trade for a 25. That knife has been my grail for a while and I couldn't give up my 25... That's very telling to me!

Has anyone done a direct comparison between the Finish Line lube and CRK lube? I think you get a lot more of the former for the same $$.

 

[NM08SRT8]

I've been looking for an alternative to the CRK grease as well. I bought some when I got my sebby, but was shocked at what I had paid 14$ for when I received the little tube. I may go with the finish line stuff next time. You get 4x as much product for the same price, or less if you look hard enough. I will always use grease though, it stays in place.

What's $14 when you just spent $300+ on a knife?

 

[myemptymind]

I find that frog lube works better than that CRK grease.

 

[MRaymond]

Question: Does anyone have a 25 that has a free swinging blade? If so, did you do anything to get it to do so?

My 25 does too. The 25 can be over-tightened to prevent the free swinging blade but I found that a free swinging blade can easily be done with very little pivot adjustment and a drop of loctite. For lubricant, I put CRK grease on the washers (a little goes a long way) and a drop of Nano-Oil on the pivot and blade. Again, a little goes a long way.

 

[donscpoo]

Question: Does anyone have a 25 that has a free swinging blade? If so, did you do anything to get it to do so?

Mine does. It does with either CRK grease or nano oil. I am still trying to find out which one gives better result. I just changed to nano oil but they feel very similar to me. I still can't get the glass feeling which some of us are talking about. I am getting the smooth hydraulic feel all the time. I guess this is related to the tight lock bar pressing against the blade.

 

[dskobli]

Not trying to get blasted here but I just got a small insingo and it is smooth but doesn't fall or swing like my manix 2. I'm sure it isn't broke in and I haven't decided weather I'm gonna make this an edc knife or a safe queen so I have been reluctant to even open/close it. I have some crk grease on order but am temporarily using some white lithium grease made for rc car bearings. It seems about the same as when I got it but it's a 2011 and the grease in it was dry like wax so I think it needed to be changed. It opens smooth but the detent is very strong and hard to break but then it opens ok but u can still hear a rubbing noise if you listen close. Do you guys think it's just the grease?