How long have you carried and used your Seb?

Professor

Professor

Gold Member
Joined
Apr 6, 1999
Messages
3,429
Greetings, fellas!

I'm making the plunge (again), and picking up a small Seb. to (again) take the "Sebenza Challenge," and EDC it for a month. I did this before and ended up selling it due to wacky concerns I had about long-term lock wear. Since then a buddy of mine has carried and used his decorated Seb. for about ten months with no appreciable lock wear whatsoever.

I was wondering; how long have you (fellow forumites) been carrying and using your Seb's, and what noticeable lock wear have you encountered? From what I understand, Seb's have been readily available for around ten years, and I'd like to know who's been toting one EDC since then, and how it's served you.

Thanks in advance for your responses, and please don't get me wrong, I KNOW the quality (fit and finish) of this knife firsthand, and truly feel as though I owe them a second try at EDC.

Professor.
 
Small plain Left Handed Sebenza every day for almost two years; no apparent lock wear.

I like it as much today as the day I bought it.
 
Professor,

Just curious, but why would you be concerned with excessive lock wear?

-Al-
 
I don't know where to begin with your question. Could you be more specific?

In general, when a frame lock or liner lock wear all the way to the right scale, you either send it in for adjustment (for a fee in the Seb.'s case) or live with the blade wobble. I'm just curious to know if adjustment was ever required with the long-term carriers/users.

I intend to live forever, and I like stuff that lasts a long, long, long time :).

Professor.
 
Small, plain regular Sebbie for about 8 months now. Lock up is the same as the day I bought it, and it gets opened several times a day.

Paul
 
I've been carrying and using a Large NICA Tanto Sebenza every day at work for 1 1/2 years. It has seen hard use and has been taken apart for cleaning often. The lockup is the same as day one.

recoil
 
And please keep the comments coming. This is just the feedback an engineering-perfection-freak like me needs to hear.

There's something about Randall and CR fans that intrigues me. It would seem that everyone speaks their mind, and it's a welcomed change of pace for me. Thanks again to all of you!

Professor.
 
In scanning the past messages in the forum, I seem to remember coming across a message from CRK (in answer to a similar inquiry) that said that the lock/blade surfaces get "special treatment". But I don't know what that might mean. Something above and beyond fine polishing maybe?

Ah, here it is: from Anne Reeve, 09-05-2001:

"I wnted to check just what the situation was with this Rex's knife before I posted! Ron is correct in saying that typically it is two similar metals that gall on each other but we find that the titanium of the locking bar has a tendency to gall against the back of the blade. This has to do with the blade being harder than the lock of titanium. We treat the lock in a manner that prevents this galling. When the lock is galling, it becomes hard to move."

Maybe someone could amplify on this?

-- Dwight
 
I think this may be a related question, so here goes -

When I recently disassembled my Sebbie, I saw that the locking bar had a metal plate where the face meets the blade. What is that metal plate made of (metal? :D ), and what purpose does it serve? I'm thinking that it slows the rate of wear, but I'm certainly no expert compared to the rest of you :D

Professor, I think you'll definitely be pleased with the small as an EDC! I wouldn't be surprised if your avatar changes to a Sebbie soon :D

Matthew
 
My EDC for the last 13 months has been a small CGG Line Drive. The first couple of weeks I used the clip. After about a month my G2 sheath arrived, and it's been riding on my right hip ever since.This Sebbie gets used several times per day, and the lock up is the same as the day it arrived from CRK. Hope this helps.
 
I know for a fact it's not a metal plate you're seeing when you look at the contact surface of the locking bar. The bar's end has been heat treated and then polished or finished in some way (to my understanding) which might make it appear as if there's something there.

You guys rock!

Professor.
 
Large on belt since Oct. 1999
And a small in front pocket since Dec. 2000
Great blades
Mike
 
I really need to dig out the box and card, but if memory serves my large Sebenza was made in Jan. 1996. I am a mold maker and I have carried the Seb as my EDC knife to work most of that time. (There was a brief time when I worked at a place where a smaller blade created less of a stir.) The knife has been there and done that. Aside from the usual everyday uses, the Seb has been used to de-burr
plastic, aluminum, and some steel parts. It has been used to dig out screws from wood, and to liberate a roto- tiller from a really big, gnarly, tangled mess of roots and nylon twine. Hey , the knife was even misused by my boss to the extent that he needed stitches. It split his thumb so cleanly that as the blood dribbled out, he just glared and muttered, "Your knife is too sharp." :o But I digress...
Recently I was working on some stalls for ox teams and had to carve these 5/8" thick rubber mats caked with fecal matter, :barf: dirt, sawdust, and whatever reinforcement was in the rubber. Boy, was the blade dull after that 2 day ordeal. (No, it did not cut rubber the whole time.):)
I have refinished it myself once 2 1/2 years ago. I have used the Sharpmaker and the Razor-Edge guide to keep the blade sharp. I haven't done enough to dramatically reprofile the blade shape...yet.
My work experience with 6Al4V titanium is such that I have no concern for lock wear. Titanium absorbs shock well and is abrasion resistant.
Sure things will eventually wear out, I know that I will.:D But my pocketknife blade will be a neat shape too, from all the resharpenings it will have received over the many years of service it has given me.
One of my favorite things about the Sebenza is that I can disassemble it, clean/sterilize it, reassemble it. Even after the infamous roto-tiller and ox stall experiences, crud does not get into the pivot/bearing surfaces, so opening and closing is still smooth. Hmmm, ox poop as lubricant?...Nahhh. :eek: When work gets real gritty from sanding and polishing mold cavities I haven't had abrasives get into the action of the knife and foul anything up.
The only incident I had happen was early on it opened slightly when it was unclipped in my pocket, and the blade needed to have its closed lock detent cleaned out. (It was clogged with some dense waxy funk and lint that prevented the lock spring detent from holding the blade closed.) It has not happened since. (Note, I have had other brands of knives and different lock styles open in my pocket, usually from spring failure or loose action.) The Sebenza was the one most easily and securely remedied.
Well, I've chewed your ear enough, I hope this helps.

P.S. I may be wrong, but I do not believe that the lock face of the titanium has been heat treated in any way. I'm pretty sure that only the steel blade has been heat treated.
 
Hello,

I had one of his original handmades, H10 was the # on it.... It was my EDC for 10 years.. I ordererd it in 1990 and received it in 1991....

and I used it...did not just carry it:) I recently sold it,

but never once did I have to send it in for a repair, and I flicked and clicked it open tens of thousands of times with never a problem...

lock up remained solid, with absoloutley no blade wobble in any direction all those years...I never kept track, but I suppose the lock bar did travel over some from where it originally started.....

only every once in a while, it would get loose, but that is just a simple retighten of the pivot screw...

I have a cable patrol job, so spend a lot of time behind the wheel and I am constantly flipping open my folders...(one at a time):D

So anyway, a Sebenza can take it for the long haul...I would not worry about wearing one out...

and Will, the end of the Titanium lock bar is heat treated..I am pretty sure of that:D

I also took mine apart dozens of times just to clean it up..it is one of the easiest knives of its type to maintain that I have come across
 
I've carried and used my sebenza everyday for 2.5 years. I've opened and closed the knife about 20,000 times. The lockbar itself does not really wear. The first thing that would probably wear out is the ceramic ball bearing. But that too is going to take a long time. I really would not worry about lock wear.
 
Hello,

I bought my little plain Sebenza to Chris at the Paris Knife show in 1999.
This knives has been used a lot and is stay as neat as the first day.

Remember, longevity is one of CRK real goal when they create a tool.

cheers,

JM

PS: Oh yes, I open oysters with it since Christmas 1999 !!!
 
I have carried my small plain for about 2.5 years, wxcept for some wear marks which only enhance the knife. I have never had a problem with the lock, this is the best knife i have had the pleasure of owning, can not tell how much i am looking forward to receiving my Small Woody.
 
I have been carrying my small old-style sebenza daily for almost 3 years. Since I bought it used I am not sure how old it really is. The only times I am not carrying it is when I carry something bigger (my endura, usually) and/or am in a place (e.g. the woods) where I could easily lose it.

The only times I have not carried it daily are when it has been at CRK -- first for engraving and then for a dual thumbstud.
 
Received my small plain today...

I'll drop in from time to time to let you know how I'm liking it. Thanks a bunch for everyone's input. If the caliber of its fans are any indication, I'm gonna like this little knife.

Professor.
 
Kawanin: Not only are you pretty sure, you are correct!
I stand corrected. Thank you.

Zerogee: The particulars to the treatment of the lock bar face can be found here:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=127686

Professor: Have fun with your new knife!


Edit: Sorry, I screwed up the link to the thread. But if you do a search in this forum, titled "Relative hardness of lock bar face"
you will find this quote from Anne at CRK:

It is only the face of the lock that moves in behind the blade that is heat treated, not the whole handle. What happens is that when heat is applied to the lock, an oxide forms on the surface. This is very hard (somewhere up at 90 RC) but it is very thin.
Click to expand...
 
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