Sebenza 21 bushing problem?

K

Kyle_4

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Mar 21, 2013
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I recently bought a user seb 21 large. It came off centered, but was relatively smooth. Took it apart, cleaned it/lubed it and put it back together. If I tighten the pivot real snug (like it should be) then the blade is perfectly centered but rough to open. If I loosen the pivot just a hair, it is very smooth but a little off center to the presentation side. I have taken it apart several times now so I am sure it is not a pinched washer or put back together improperly.
Is this a problem with the bushing? Anybody have any ideas?

Please don't say send it in, I got it for a good enough price that with international insured shipping each way it is not worth it.
 
If your pivot bushing is loose, the blade will favor the presentation side as the lockbar will push it that way. I sent you a PM
 
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I did not mention in my first post but I have polished the washers. The knife is ridiculous smooth after that (blade drops freely when lock bar is released). It is just when I tighten it up all the way it gets very stiff to open or close. None of my other Sebenza's have done this when you tighten the pivot. I am almost wondering if the bushing has been sanded by one of the previous owners (pure speculation)
 
If it is stiff to open/close but yet free drops I'm out of answers... I guess someone else will chime in, but to me this is somewhat of a mystery.
 
Maybe send it in for a tune up? Sounds as though you have others so that way you won't have to go cold turkey. I know on the couple used models I've purchased, I just plan to send it in so I know I'm starting off factory fresh so to speak.
 
He said that out only drops when the pivot is loose. Imo , more polishing may be in order.
 
Try putting it together wiht almost no grease and see what happens.

Sometimes people pack in too much grease an it makes things way too stiff.
 
I had the exact same experience as the OP, when I took it apart for a second time I found I had somehow introduced the smallest amount of crud between the washer and scale. Once I had scrapped it off the whole knife went back together perfectly and worked exactly as expected but the blade was still slightly off center.
 
I had the EXACT same issue as you do with me small seb 21.

I would tighten it up and the blade would be hard to open. Smooth but hard to open with one hand. Back it off and pivot was to loose.

So I tore it all down again, cleaned everything up real good with windex. Then I took the blade side of the washers (only do the blade side of the washers) to some 3000 grit sand paper. Only for about a minute. Just until they were shining with new looking PB. Then I took them to my Compound Loaded strop.

I use the bark river compound. Green and black.

First I stropped the washers on the black compound side of my leather strop for about a minute, then finished off with the same amount of time on the green compound side.

This process achieved a very high polish without taking too much off of the washers.

Now I can tighten the pivot down all the way and the blade is rock solid and glides open like its on glass!!!!
 
Corskin said:
Interesting. I've not heard that before. If the friction was being caused by the bushing, I can see that working well. However, if loosening the pivot screw allows the blade to fall when released, wouldn't that mean the scales are putting the tension on the blade and not friction from the pivot? By narrowing (polishing) the washers you are in a sense making the opening a bit wider for the blade. We are talking thousands on an inch here, not much.
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I think Matt meant to say the washers and not the bushing.

I had very good results with the washer polish.
 
Yup. I certainly said that wrong. Im tired. Have only slept a few hours since tuesday.
Matt
 
Kyle, I sent you a PM. I can dive you more detail and pics if you want them
 
Update: I very lightly sanded/polished the washers and kept putting the blade back in and tightening pivot to ensure I didn't take too much off. The knife can now be tightened down all the way and is extremely smooth with pivot locked down. The blade falls under its own weight. The knife is still a little off centre to the presentation side but the main thing is it can be tightened down all the way.

Thanks for all the suggestions and if anyone has a last idea to get it centered I'm all ears.
 
Kyle_4 said:
The knife is still a little off centre to the presentation side but the main thing is it can be tightened down all the way.

Thanks for all the suggestions and if anyone has a last idea to get it centered I'm all ears.
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I've not dealt much with Sebenza centering issues. One thought though, if the bushing isn't perfectly flat, it could cause the issue. Maybe flip the bushing over and see if the blade favors the other side, or better yet, centers. You said it was centered before the polishing, so that kind of throws me off. If the blade falls when released, I would definitely NOT try to fix it by polishing any more (one side).

Edit: another thought here... If the scales weren't perfectly aligned, I.e. one farther forward than the other, that might cause centering issues. Hard to imagine that with a Sebenza though. Try loosening everything and re-tighten. Maybe even trade holes with some of the pins. Are all pins inserted in the same side? I have no idea if any of this works or not, just throwing some stuff out there that I might try.

If the bevel on the edge is different on one side than the other, that can make it appear as if it is not centered when it actually is.
 
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Kyle_4 said:
Update: I very lightly sanded/polished the washers and kept putting the blade back in and tightening pivot to ensure I didn't take too much off. The knife can now be tightened down all the way and is extremely smooth with pivot locked down. The blade falls under its own weight. The knife is still a little off centre to the presentation side but the main thing is it can be tightened down all the way.

Thanks for all the suggestions and if anyone has a last idea to get it centered I'm all ears.
Click to expand...

Do you have a pic of the centering?
 
Kyle_4 said:
The knife is still a little off centre to the presentation side....
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So is mine, but when I look between the scales when the knife is closed the blade is pretty much dead center it's just the tip that is slightly of center and this I quess is due to the grinding of the blade tip.

If the same goes for your knife I would not worry.
 
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