Everybody In Unison!!!!........ Me...... And My Sebenza.....

Buzzbait

Buzzbait

Joined
Feb 25, 2001
Messages
6,675
Yep. My first Sebenza arrived today. It's a large Classic 2000. Overall, I'm quite impressed. It's a simple, precision design. The lockup is rock solid and stable. And I've never had a knife before that exhibited absolutely zero blade play. To tell you the truth, I didn't understand how zero, zero actually is, until today. Wow!!!!

The only downside was the sharpness of the edge. The grind lines were great, but it wasn't that scary scalpel sharp that I was expecting. To make matters worse, the grind was a bit less than 20 degrees, but more than 15 degrees. So my SharpMaker was useless. I had to resort to my diamond Lansky for some grinding before I could use the SharpMaker. All is well now though. The Seb is razor sharp. Boy is that BG-42 tough!!!!

So I have a few questions, if you all don’t mind imparting a bit of knowledge. The first question is in regards to the lock. It locks up extra-solid, but is a bit hard to close. It seems like the blade and thick lock bar mash together when the old vault closes, so I really have to press to get it unlocked. Can I assume (no ASS-U-ME comments from the peanut gallery
wink.gif
) that a little wear will smooth this out? This knife is going to be a hard user, so I’m hoping it’ll break in pretty quick.

Second is about smoothness. That’s a giant lock bar pressing against the blade, so I’m sure there’s some serious friction going on there. I guess I just expected the Seb to be a little smoother to open. I took it apart and lubed it, but it’s still pretty stiff. Will this also smooth out over time, as the bushings, blade and handle break in? I’m sure I could flick it open, but it would take a pretty hard flick to get the blade moving.

Boy am I a happy camper. This knife feels almost bullet-proof. And what’s with the blade shape? I have knives with technically larger blades, but this knife feels like I’m handling a broadsword!!! It makes my Military feel like a matzo cracker!!!

Thanks for any wisdom you can impart.
biggrin.gif
 
When you clean and lubricate your Sebenza make sure that you put a little oil or grease on the end of the lock bar, where the contact point is. It won't take much, but it should make a big difference.

Paul
 
Sebenzas shouldn't be flicked. There are plenty of threads on that already. CRK recommends one flick after re-assembling the knife to seat the parts, but I've never found that necessary.

The benz should be very smooth out of the box. Both of mine were. The lock bar pressure must all concentrate on one point when you are opening and closing the knife, that being the tip of the ball (that goes into the ball detent when the knife is fully closed). I've had one of my benz's for a few years now of pretty good use and had it apart a half dozen times. I've never noticed any particular wear from that pressure.

Note that smooth does not mean loose. My benzes do not open as loosly as do a few of my other knives, but it doesn't take a lot of pressure to open them. The lock bar does take more pressure to close (push out of the way) than any of my other similar (i.e., liner locks) knives. That is a good thing. It is one of the reasons the knife is so strong. It isn't that bad. A week, and you'll be so used to it you'll realize how dangerous the easier-to-push locks of other knives really are
smile.gif


 
When I flick my Sebenza open it's only to about halfway open, then I press the lock bar outward and let the blade fall open the rest of the way to click into place. I do the same in reverse: push the lock bar outward to release the blade, holding it far enough out to keep the detent from contact and it will swing smoothly shut -- don't actually swing it all the way back onto your finger!

I think the extra tension on a locked-open Sebenza is the titanium-against-steel friction. Like the man said, this is a good thing, it's extra security holding the blade locked, not a problem to be countered.

------------------
Welcome to planet Earth
 
Thanks for the knowlwdge guys. It sounds like my Seb is just fine. I just wanted to make sure.

As far as the opening goes, I can live with it. As long as the ball detent keeps my knife closed in my pocket, I'm sure I can live with the added pressure it imparts.
wink.gif
I see what you all mean by smooth, but not loose. That makes more and more sense as I think about it. It makes even more sense if I get the advantage up tip-up carry out of the deal. I love how the tail sticks out of my pocket!!!

I'd also like to make a comment on the overall shape of the knife. I really like it. I've held more comfortable handles, but not much. It really fits my admittedly average sized hand. What really impresses me is how the shape of the handle works with the shape of the blade. I can hold this big honking knife, but still do precision cutting work with the tip of the blade. I don't get that same feeling from my Military or Buck 110. They're good for large cuts, but fall short on precision work.

I also dig the little things like the position of the lanyard hole. I have a few large folders that claim to have a lanyard hole. The lanyards looks great on these folders, but get in the way of my grip. The lanyard on the Seb sits just outside my grip, as it should.

The design of the Seb is very well thought out for both comfort and varying types of use. That impresses me. It makes it more of a "long term user" than a "knife of the month". I guess that "long term user" thing is the reason for the price. Out of the 20 or so knives I've purchased this year, I've only gotten the same feeling from a couple of other models.

Thank you everybody, and especially the folks at CR. You put out an outstanding product.

 
Hello,

like a brend new car a new sebenza should run its first 2000 miles before to be as perfect as the legendary sebies around !!!

So take car of it, use it, learn about it, carry it a lot and soon, soon it will be THAT perfect!

cheers,

JM
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top