Lock Adjustment

Joined
Jun 6, 2001
Messages
132
Looking through older threads I have heard of people having problems closing the Sebenza, as well as opening it in some cases. People have described having to close the actual frame lock with the other hand it was so tight. They described it as having friction between the lock and place on the blade where lock engages. Then I read that you can adjust the lock for easier closing. How would you adjust a lock like that without voiding the warranty? Thanks.
 
Just last night I put a little Teflon-based lubricant between the tang and the lock bar, and it is much easier to operate with one hand. But now the lock engages almost the entire tang, and I'm not sure if this is normal or something I should be worried about (it seems solid enough to me).

--Dan
 
I had taken it apart and now the blade opens slightly slower, and the lock engages the entire tang. I would not think that this is a problem, it is just that mine scrapes a little when i disengage the lock from the tang, and it is pretty tough to move. Anyone else been in this situation?
 
I have found if I put a little tuf-glide on the tang and leave it overnight it will sometimes make the lock easier to disengage.How far did your lock engage before you took the knife apart?
 
Carl are you talking about a Sebenza? I think CRK
states they are looking for about 60% of tang.My sebenza is about 50%.It should not travel across the entire tang.
 
Yes, I am referring to a large Sebenza. Mine is engaging 80-90% of the tang, and at times siezes up so much that i have to really bear down with my other hand in order to disengage the frame lock.
 
Hi Carl, I heard somewhere that the sleeve on the stop pin was designed eccentric to allow for adjustment of the lock-up. I don't know if it was designed that way or not but, it does so on mine.You might want to try rotating it and see what happens. Good luck, Greg
 
Carl; welcome to the forums. Questions about the Sebenza are best asked on the Chris Reeve Knife Forum, which is in makers and manufacturers, simply because Chris or Anne Reeve will often answer them personally, and you thus get a definitive answer.

The question you asked about lock travel is a common one. In fact, there are two threads about it now on the CRK forum.

There is an invaluable resource put together by a Sebenzanista (a fancier of Sebs and Umfaans) named James Segura or stjames. It is an unofficial FAQs, and has references to the official FAQs on the CRK web site. Here is Segura san's FAQs: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=128855

Now to answer your question, from James' extensive and extremely well organized FAQs:

I was wondering if any Sebenzas have been returned for blade play due to wear between the area of the blade tang and the surface of the liner that makes contactn with the blade? If so, would it be possible to purchase a lock side scale from you?

This is not something we have experienced because of "wear" - it can happen for some other reasons - after market modifications or screws not being tight or dirt in the lock or similar things.
We would not send out a lock side scale (or blade or other knife parts!) - we would ask that the knife be returned to us so that we can put right whatever it is that is not correct.(There may well be a charge for the repair, however and we would be in touch with the customer about it.) Part of what you get when you buy a Chris Reeve Knife is "service". It is important to us that the knives work the way they were intended and we will gladly work on any knife that needs it.

- Anne Reeve, 10/09/98

Just to clarify a point here, the pivot pin on the Sebenza is not asymetrical and is also not the part that you are thinking of in terms of rotation! The stop sleeve, against which the blade rests when the knife is open, can be rotated it necessary to get just a tiny bit of take-up.
If you go to our website at www.chrisreeve.com you will see detailed diagrams showing the relationship between the blade and pivot, the stop sleeve and the lock.

Lateral movement in the blade is not acceptable in a Sebenza. If there is play, there is something wrong and the best thing to do would be to send it to us so we can put it right.

- Chris and Anne Reeve, 10/09/98



My problem is that the lock travels and hits the opposing liner when a firm grip is applied. I disassembled it and cleaned it thoroughly but the problem persists.

There is nothing to fix!! The lock will move over toward the back of the front handle slab if you press hard on it. After all, it is a spring that has a natural position and can move further if pushed. The spec position for the lock is to cover 75% of the blade. If it falls naturally further than that, we will adjust it.
A difference between the Sebenza and other liner locks is that you can get in behind the lock of a Sebenza and push it over. With the others, you can only push from the top of the liner which is a less effective movement.

We know that a lot of owners of Sebenzas like to adjust the lock and the pivot etc. but we DO discourage this. When we ship the knives, they work the way they are intended and modifications usually end up with something not working right!

- Anne Reeve, 11/03/98

I hope this helps. Please note that Anne said they have NEVER had a knife returned because of lock/tang wear! As an aside, I think that this interface should be lubricated with PTFE/grease or PTFE/oil, as Ti is naturally galling (sticky).

Walt
 
Hilton Leo just sent me instructions on how to reassemble the knife. The instructions did things a bit different than what i was doing, and the problem appears to be resolved. Thanks.

The difference was in the fact that he said to assemble the titanium slabs and then slide the blade into the gap and tighten down the pivot screw, as opposed to just screwing all three down at once. Don't know how it worked but it did.
 
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