Sebenza lock up problem

Anderdale

Anderdale

Gold Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2015
Messages
2,443
Hi guys,

Just so you know I am a rookie to CRK. I own a small but it is a safe queen.

Bought/traded for a large lefty Sebenza on the exchange recently and got it in tonight. There are some serious issues with the lock. Firstly, the lock doesn't hold. It is such early lockup that I can use light pressure to make the lock fail, I have to literally push the lock in to make the blade stay locked (safely).

Also the blade has light side to side play.

One observation I made is there is a ton of grease on the pivot. Not sure if this would have anything to do with the lock though. Besides that I am completely perplexed by what is going on. Is my only option to send it in to CRK? Thanks

If anyone is curious I could send a video with my phone of what is going on. Email your cell number to email] and I'll shoot a text.
 
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Take it apart and reassemble it..Sounds like it was put back together wrong..maybe even a pinched washer.
Can you post some pics of it the way it is?
 
If I open it normal this is what the lock looks like. There is no crk click sound I love to hear on my small. Also when the lock is there, I can not emphasize how little pressure needed to break the lockup.
2u435av.jpg


This is the lock after I manually push the lock. And I worry if I tried to put serious pressure on it, the lock would fail like this as well.
xo2v81.jpg
 
Definitely looks like a pinched washer and incorrect assembly. Also too much lube will cause what I just described. Take it apart, clean it up and reassemble it correctly and you should be good to go. Lockup like this and an uncentered blade or blade play are clear indications that it's assembled incorrectly.
 
Thanks for the info, I will dissemble it tomorrow and see what I've got. May I ask what exactly I should be looking for in a pinched washer? If it is pinched will it need replaced?
 
I wonder if the lock bar has been stretched out, if it doesn't have a good tension it may need bending.
 
I hope your wrong jimbo. I can't imagine how one would bend the bar back.
 
Maybe some dirt between the blade and stop pin? Take it all apart, check everything by eye, make sure the washers are nice and flat by laying them on something very flat like a piece of granite or glass, and look for any little dents in the washers. If there is, yes you will probably need new washers. Make sure everything is clean, then a small amount of grease, not much.
Take your time putting it back together making sure everything sits nice and flush, hopefully this will fix the problems you are having.
When the knife is apart, you may be able to see and make sure that the lock bar is still bending inwards, and it has good tension but don't over push it. You will feel if it still has spring left in it, or post a pic so others can compare it to theirs when it is apart.

Hope this helps. If not, CRK will have you in fine shape, just gotta wait a few weeks turnaround. Very easy and quick fix for them.
Dave
 
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Well, when you take out the pivot screw first, and pull the blade/bushing/washers out, you can tell if you have enough lockbar tension. It should go all the way to the other scale. The only real way that the tension would have changed would be if someone pushed the lockbar out too far, intentionally or not. Either way, don't mess with it. If it is screwed up, send it back.

If you are putting it back together any other way than assembling the handle first, then sliding in the blade/bushing/washers...you are doing it wrong.

If you cannot tighten all the screws of the knife without it effecting the blade action, something is assembled wrong, or something is messed up.

If you assemble it the proper way, it is almost impossible to put it together incorrectly.


Best of luck. Chances are it is just assembled wrong. Hopefully the washers are fine.
 
Thanks everyone. Got called in to work today so I won't be able to look at it until later this evening.

Tripton, when you say send it back do you mean to CRK? Also the lock bar being stretched is definitely possible, but would that cause the side to side blade play?
 
Side-to-side play is caused from the washer-blade-washer not sandwiched properly between the scales.
 
Make sure the pivot bushing and blade stop bushing are not swapped. I've had two used from someone else that were backwards. If I'm not mistaken, the pivot bushing is bigger than the blade stop bushing. This could account for the early lock up and play in the blade.
 
LeftyMatt said:
Thanks everyone. Got called in to work today so I won't be able to look at it until later this evening.

Tripton, when you say send it back do you mean to CRK? Also the lock bar being stretched is definitely possible, but would that cause the side to side blade play?
Click to expand...

That is what I meant, but if you are not happy with it, Bladeforums rules are pretty clear about the deal not being done until both parties are happy.

Lockbar tension would not effect side to side play like that.

It really sounds like someone put it together properly.
 
Took it apart tonight. The washers seemed fine. They laid flat on my table. Everything from what I could tell was assembled correctly. The lock bar bent all the way to the other scale when I removed the blade so I don't think that is the issue.

unfortunately, when I reassembled it, the lock was the same. Looks like the next step is going back to CRK.
 
You might speak with the original owner to see what he/she has to say. They may be able to give you the maintenance history of this knife. In my opinion, they should have disclosed these issues (if, in fact, they didn't). As mentioned earlier, before taking it apart, you should have been able to send it back if dissatisfied with the deal.

I'm sure CRK will be able to take care of these issues for you. Give them a call to set things up. Not to stir things up, but I might, at least let the original owner know what you're dealing with. Maybe they'd help with any costs for the trip to CRK? Good luck with it all. Let us know how it turns out. Mike
 
I spoke with both the guy I traded with and the person he bought it from before. I am still happy with the deal, I am just disappointed I have to wait however many weeks now for CRK to service it. As long as I get it back fixed I'll be happy. The guy I traded with has been very cool and even offered to split cost to send to CRK. He claims to only have flipped it open a few times and he never noticed this issue. So I am not sure what happened but no hard feeling on my end. I just really hope CRK can fix it!
 
Sounds good. Communication is the key. Glad that you and the previous owner are on the same track. A bit of patience may be needed, but I think the CRK will be able make your knife pretty much perfect. Mike
 
Jimbo75 said:
I wonder if the lock bar has been stretched out, if it doesn't have a good tension it may need bending.
Click to expand...

Yup. Unfortunately, provided everything is assembled correctly, my money agrees with this or a previous blade swap.

The good side of the coin is that CRK will make this knife brand new for you again.
 
Sounds suspiciously like a blade swap. I'd bet anything that it did not leave Boise like that.
 
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