Just got a small regular sebenza... question

H

hugh_jorgan

Joined
Feb 8, 2009
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132
Hey guys, I just purchased a used small regular sebenza. It is in great condition. The handles have the obvious wear and tear that you would expect from being carried everyday, but other than the scrapes and scratches they are in great shape. The same holds true for the blade. It has a few marks but nothing major, and it was shipped to me razor sharp. No complaints.

The only thing that I find strange is how extremely tight the lockup is. I mean I feel very safe using it which is important, but it is so tight that it actually hurts my fingers to try and close the knife. My thumb is getting a blister from opening and closing it a bunch of times since I got it yesterday. I have handled a small 21 sebenza before, and the lockup was good but it didn't actually hurt my thumb when I would close it. This is my first time seeing a regular sebenza in person, so my question is this: Is this common among regular sebenzas? I do plan on contacting CRK to have it sent in to get the handles and possibly the blade refurbished, and some double thumb lugs installed. Would it help to bring this up when I send them the email? I am fairly new to knives so I am not even sure that there is anything that can be done.

Again this isn't a huge deal to me, but I just thought that I would ask about it while also celebrating my new sebenza purchase! Thanks for any help! I will try to get some pictures up in the next couple of days for the heck of it, and also after I get it back from it's visit to CRK. Thanks again everyone.
 
I think every used Sebenza I have ever bought has been very tight.

1) Always take a used Sebenza apart, wipe all the gunk off the washers and blade and lube it up well.

2) It will work itself back to normal in very short time of use.

3) If you still have problems after a couple weeks of use, let us know.

-Ron
 
Ron, thanks a lot for the advice. I've taken it apart and cleaned it and lubed it very well. I'll be carrying it with me daily and try to use it as much as possible to see what happens. I will definitely be updating. Thanks again!
 
try pencil lead on the back of the blade where it meets the lock. should ease the lockup.
 
I had a very similar problem on my small vines sebenza when I got it used. It would get real tight, then ease up and get lose it seemed, and get tight again. When I took it apart to clean and lube it, I found that the person that took it apart before did not assemble it properly and the large bronze washer was not centered around the blade bushing, but riding on the blade bushing itself. This was causing it to bind. I cleaned it up and lubed it the best I could, but seen there was uneven wear marks on the bushing, so when I sent my large sebenza in for the NCIS engraving, I sent it in as well. CRK fixed it and cleaned it up, replaced the bushing, reheated the lock free of charge. My issue was not with the knife as it was the fault of the previous owner not putting it together correctly. Its as good as new now thanks to Chris Reeve.
 
I just recently purchased a small Sebenza and had similar questions about the tightness. I did take mine apart and put it back together and that helped quite a bit with the overall smoothness.

But what made it really get smooth was pushing the lockbar the opposite of its normal direction. This relieved some of the spring that caused the lockbar to press against the blade when opening and it also made the bar easier to manipulate when closing the knife. Now my knife feels very smooth and hydraulic when opening and closing.

You can send your knife back to the shop for a free sharpening, cleaning and tuning. If you want, they can also refurbish the blade and scales for a charge.
 
Sounds like you have a sticky lockbar. I had the same issue with my new small sbenza. There was an issue with the face of the lockbar not being heat treated correctly. I sent it in and they took care of it.

When you take your knife apart, do you see deep scratches on the face of the lockbar? This is how mine looked.

crop2.jpg
 
First. If this is your first seb. Congratulations!!!! First try to clean and lube it. Then bend the frame the opposite direction. DO NOT OVER BEND! Take it slow. Little by little. If you are not yet satisfied mention it to Chris when you send it in.
 
thanks to everyone who has replied to my post. krazichinaman, to answer your question no i don't have markings that look like that on the face of the lockbar. actually it looks pretty clean, but for some reason the lockbar is extremely sticky/hard to close to the point where it really hurts my thumb. i am actually starting to get a blister.

i have taken it apart and cleaned it a few times already. it opens very smoothly. i haven't tried to flick it open because i don't really like opening my knives that way, but i don't think that it is smooth enough to be able to flick open. but still it opens very comfortably. it closes smoothly as well, its just trying to unlock the blade that is the hard part.

i've also tried the pencil lead on the back of the blade and that didn't seem to help any yet. i will continue to try working with it, and bending the lockbar back ever so slightly, but i am definitely going to have it sent in, in a few weeks. i'll have the blade sharpened and the handles refurbished, and even some double thumb lugs installed. but i am going to make note about the sticky lockbar and see if there isn't anything that can be done about it. who knows, maybe it's just the way the knife is. i can live with it, but if something can be done i would love that. thanks again to everyone who has helped. i will keep this updated it anything changes.
 
You absolutely do NOT have to live with a sticky lockbar!

marthinus said:
First. If this is your first seb. Congratulations!!!! First try to clean and lube it. Then bend the frame the opposite direction. DO NOT OVER BEND! Take it slow. Little by little. If you are not yet satisfied mention it to Chris when you send it in.
Click to expand...

This is very good advice. I've done this on a couple used Sebs.
They came out perfect and I didn't have to send them in to CRK.

Pull the lockbar outward about 1/8 inch, maybe 5 times. Then check the action.
Repeat process as needed until you have it where you like it. You won't hurt it.

It's not the end of the world if you "over-bend" it!
Just take it apart and bend it inward and repeat the process.

I say again you won't hurt it.

(I actually "over-bent" one outward years ago, the thing was flopping around
like a wet noodle. I pushed it inward and started over. To this day it
is perfect, maybe 75% lockbar lockup open just eyeballing it).

Nyfemaker brought up a good point on the washers. Make sure they
are seated propery on the bushing or it will bind. I bought a user that
had a washer that looked like it went through a kitchen garbage disposal unit.
I'm guessing the previous owner carried it a long time with a unseated
washer. This one I actually had to sand the washer's rough spots off.
Came out great, but I still laugh every time I break it down for cleaning.
(Always place the "smoothest" side of the washer against the blade). ;)

These Sebs are so elegant in their simplicity it is ridiculous.
I have never had to send one in but it is nice to know CRK
has excellent customer service if needed.

-Ron
 
Mine does the same thing and I know it's the lockbar heat-treatment, as I can see where it's come off a bit. If I lived in the States, it would have been already sent back. But, I don't really feel like being without it for a month or so at this point, so I live with it.
Seems like it's fairly common to the point where I wonder if CRK should look at improving the issue.

Having a company fixing issues is great, but not having the issues in the firstplace would be even better.
 
update: It looks like I will be purchasing a small classic Sebenza, which is what I have wanting all along. The regular was nice, took it out on a few wooded adventures and it performed beautifully, but the classic model is what I have been aiming for all along. The regular model started to loosen up a little bit, but not as much as I would prefer. I'll be selling the regular and will attempt to break in the new classic as it is almost NIB and not even broken in. It will be nice to break in a sebenza and make it my own, from scratches to scuffs and everything in between. I'll be posting pictures in the next few days of the regular sebenza that I'll be selling, and also the new classic sebenza that I'm purchasing. Thanks for all the help guys.
 
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