Opening a 21 Sebenza (Small)

[gull wing]

I have an older (s30v) 21 Insingo inlaid.
I laid it down for a number years now, and am having difficulty opening it.
I know my hands are older now, but have no trouble opening my Inkosi.
What can I do to overcome the detent ball?

 

[Wandering_About]

I'd recommend first taking it apart for cleaning and put a little CRK grease back on the washers if you like. If you don't feel up to doing that yourself, send it to the mothership for a spa treatment. That might be worth it anyway.

 

[shinyedges]

Are you applying pressure to the lockbar unknowingly?

 

[Peter Hartwig]

I'll start with the easiest
Make sure you are not pressing down on the lockbar
Clean and lube

 

[pvicenzi]

If it has not been used for awhile, it may have some gunk in it, and the grease is probably dry.

 

[ricklikesknives]

"MASTER THE MOTION​

Think of using a backward "C" motion using the fatty part of your thumb placed underneath the thumb lug near the handle. Our knives are designed to have more of a sliding or pushing motion, rather than a flipping or flicking motion."

^ This snippet was taken directly from the "help" section on CRK's website, so clearly you're not alone in having difficulty! When opening a Sebenza, I find it helpful to direct pressure outward from the handle (vs upward) to start and then continue my opening arc as indicated above. I also find it easier to open when I make a concerted effort to place my thumb on the blade just ahead of the stud vs directly over the stud at it's peak.

As others have mentioned, some fresh grease and minding your finger placement on the lockbar is also good advice.

 

[BTTLBRN]

I'll start with the easiest
Make sure you are not pressing down on the lockbar
Clean and lube

^ This! ^

 

[badmatt]

have you tried flicking it?

Break it down clean it and go from there.

 

[Kettleman]

My thumb is still torn up from a cut / stitches so the thumb roll is our friend!

 

[pholder]

My thumb is still torn up from a cut / stitches so the thumb roll is our friend!

Terrible when you cut yourself, it always catches on something, or forever bumped. Last week I was trimming my bougainvillea with my Endela/Cruwear. Came around to swipe the stems and got the index finger at the knuckle, not bad enough for stitches but pretty good. I don’t think I have bumped a finger so much in my life. Speedy recovery to you my friend

 

[Kettleman]

Terrible when you cut yourself, it always catches on something, or forever bumped. Last week I was trimming my bougainvillea with my Endela/Cruwear. Came around to swipe the stems and got the index finger at the knuckle, not bad enough for stitches but pretty good. I don’t think I have bumped a finger so much in my life. Speedy recovery to you my friend

Thank you. Stitches are out and it’s healed nicely but still damn sore. I lost a good portion of the tip callous used to open thumbstuds…

 

[celticrogues]

How smooth and easy is it to open if you do it with two hands as opposed to one?

If its still stiff with two hands, sounds like it needs a clean and lube.

If its smooth with two hands then it sounds like you just need to (re)-master the Sebenza opening motion as in post #6 above.

-Mike

 

[gull wing]

The detent is stiff when opening with two hands......DETENT!
I think I may be pressuring the lock lug.
Yes, I'm sure I need to re-master the technique, but will my hands hold up.
Thank you all.

 

[shinyedges]

I figured most likely culprit is pressure on the lockbar

 

[gull wing]

I've done it!
Yes, it was the pressure on the lock lug when opening.
So I removed the pressure from the lock lug. Works great, easily done.
I heated and bent the clip to rest on the frame not on the lock lug. Similar to the Inkosi, but the clip is bent of course.

 

[Hackenslash]

The flipper tab definitely needs “light switch“ action.

As others have said, the pivot might be gunked up with old grease.

Edit: Oops, just noticed your success in the post above. Congrats, the small Sebenza is my favorite overall knife.