Sebenza Lock up?

Bob45 said:
You will know you have a problem if you start to get blade play, especially up and down. Until then dont worry about it, it may never happen. I had one that did, and as Mr Reeve said, they will take care of it
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I did, too, but it took 15 years to get there, and then CRK fixed it up pronto. :thumbup:
 
i agree tanks to crk for doing that and how many manufactures do u know that personally answer back and it should be a sticky
 
My '97 lg Seb is at about 75%, and is bank-vault solid. Still cuts like a mother-in-law's tongue, too.
 
CRK spec. on a sebenza is in the 50-75% range, so while this is closer to the 75% range, its still within spec. according to Chris. As for the Umnumzan, spec starts in the 75% range as its a different style of lockup.
 
More than 75% on my small sebenza after it was refurbished, and no play. I was told it should provide at least ten years of service until another spa treatment was necessary. It doesn't bother me.
 
Chris Reeve said:
It does not matter how much our lock comes across as long as there is no up and down blade play.Our locks do not wear, unless abused,our knives are fitted properly and do not need to wear in as some others need to.And if there is a problem we look after our customers if you do not get satisfaction from my staff you can talk to me.On a small slip angle like we use it only takes about 0.0005" to go 50% to 90%.
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Priceless........this does nothing .....(dramatic pause)................but solidify that there is a reason CRK is what all others are judged by! The owner personally replies to you and assures that HE, if not his staff will take care of any (unlikely) problem. If only the rest of the world operated by their standards.....
 
Chris Reeve said:
It does not matter how much our lock comes across as long as there is no up and down blade play.Our locks do not wear, unless abused,our knives are fitted properly and do not need to wear in as some others need to.And if there is a problem we look after our customers if you do not get satisfaction from my staff you can talk to me.On a small slip angle like we use it only takes about 0.0005" to go 50% to 90%.
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That's cool, that is what one should expect from a manufacturer. Knowing that also adds to the pride in owning one (or two, three, four...) of their knives. Thank you so much, Mr. Reeve.
 
Tarponfly49 said:
Priceless........this does nothing .....(dramatic pause)................but solidify that there is a reason CRK is what all others are judged by! The owner personally replies to you and assures that HE, if not his staff will take care of any (unlikely) problem. If only the rest of the world operated by their standards.....
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Very Well Said. I spoke to Mr. Reeve about an issue I had with a knife some time ago. He very thoroughly explained the cause, what he did to fix it, and thoroughly explained the design and why he designed it the way he did........ It's something I will never forget and only solidified what I already knew...... That CRK is Truely A Cut Above ALL Others. Thank You Mr. Reeve.
 
So I've been reading A LOT of old threads about Sebenza lockup. Not to beat a dead horse, but please allow me to ask an honest question: Has anyone really opened their Sebenza a few Thousand times and can say that that last 25% of unused blade tang is still there? I have seen many users saying they have "many Sebenzas" that have not changed in lockup % after a few years. If one has many Sebenzas, they probably a collector, and my theory is that they may not open their Sebenzas thousands of times. I recently obtained my first of these beautiful knives (barely used and with 75% lockup), and for me this is another step on my search for an excellent knife that will last a REALLY LONG TIME and function well that whole time. I am not comforted by the hundreds of posts saying "if you ever have a problem CRK will take care of you." That is very nice but I would rather have a knife that is very unlikely to ever need to go to the shop. So, again, any readers who started with 75%, have opened the knife thousands of times, and still not seeing travel of the lock across the tang? If you use a knife just a couple times per day it will not take long to reach Thousands of openings and closings.
 
I had one that I carried everyday and used hard for years. I never flicked it, but I admit I would open and close it over and over while watching TV and driving. Eventually it developed up and down blade play, but this was after more than 10 years. The blade play was slight, and wouldn't have concerned most people. I sent it back and they replaced the lock side scale. That being said. I'd use it without worrying about it, unless it develops blade play, which it may never do. People get too hung up on blade lock up %. All frame locks wear, Sebenzas out last most, and have the best warranty.
 
utahsam said:
So I've been reading A LOT of old threads about Sebenza lockup. Not to beat a dead horse, but please allow me to ask an honest question: Has anyone really opened their Sebenza a few Thousand times and can say that that last 25% of unused blade tang is still there? I have seen many users saying they have "many Sebenzas" that have not changed in lockup % after a few years. If one has many Sebenzas, they probably a collector, and my theory is that they may not open their Sebenzas thousands of times. I recently obtained my first of these beautiful knives (barely used and with 75% lockup), and for me this is another step on my search for an excellent knife that will last a REALLY LONG TIME and function well that whole time. I am not comforted by the hundreds of posts saying "if you ever have a problem CRK will take care of you." That is very nice but I would rather have a knife that is very unlikely to ever need to go to the shop. So, again, any readers who started with 75%, have opened the knife thousands of times, and still not seeing travel of the lock across the tang? If you use a knife just a couple times per day it will not take long to reach Thousands of openings and closings.
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I have one Sebenza since 2010. Dropped it 3 meters once onto bricks by accident. Had some lock stick, opened it, cleaned it, put it back together and lockup was fine again with no stick. Still has the same lockup and Chris saw it in South Africa last year and said everything still looks good and within spec.
 
vwb563 said:
Try loosening the blade stop pin and rotating it 180 degrees or so. The blade stop pin is the pin closest to the pivot pin. Sometimes this changes a Sebenzas lockup quite a bit.
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I can attest to this. Did it to a 2001 large regular that locked up around 75%, which is fine in my opinion, but now it locks up at 50%. My guess is the stop pin had developed a slight flat spot where the blade makes contact so rolling the stop pin puts the blade on virgin territory.
 
A sebenza is ok if it has a lockup between 50 and 75%. That is factory Q&A specification. They even have a little tool to check min/max.


x1 on hearing that the stop pin isn't perfectly round (lobed) for the purpose of adjusting lockup. Don't hold me to it though. The flat spot theory makes sense too.
 
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Shadow449 said:
My guess is the stop pin had developed a slight flat spot where the blade makes contact so rolling the stop pin puts the blade on virgin territory.
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ev13wt said:
x1 on hearing that the stop pin isn't perfectly round (lobed) for the purpose of adjusting lockup. Don't hold me to it though. The flat spot theory makes sense too.
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I can confirm this; the stop pin sleeve does get a bit flat where the tang hits it. I had a flat spot in mine, turned it 90 degrees and sure enough, a month later there is another flat spot in the sleeve. I do not however consider this a flaw, simply wearing in, i believe the sleeve will hold up quite nice. And if you feel lockup is getting to late for your fashion, just turn it a bit once more!
 
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The sleeves will wear in. Its along term thing until it has an affect on the knife.
And the sleeves should be perfectly round. I have a spare I just measured and it is damn perfect.
 
In speaking to the "flat spot" theory, i would venture a guess that this is one reason Chris Reeve insists that his knives not be flicked open. I suppose that flicking a knife open and the repeated impact on the stop pin could exacerbate the issue. I believe i remember reading a message from Chris stating that it really does not take much variation in stop pin diameter to bring lock up from 50% to 90%. Not sure if i'm right but it sounds reasonable.
But the bottom line is, if there's no blade play there's no worries. When and if blade play develops, send it in and CRK will take care of it.
 
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I carried a large regular for around 5 years. I carried it every day and played with it a lot. It started at about 25% lockup (it locked up earlier than any of the other CRK's I've had) and after about a year it settled in to about 35% and didn't budge at all in the years I carried it. I stupidly sold it a few years ago. Was the best knife I've ever owned. I'm carrying a 25, a old pivot umnum tanto and a Hinderer XM 3.5" now. Neither Reeve CRK lockup has changed at all and the Hinderer wore pretty quickly from 10% to 35% before settling in like my LG regular did.

Any knife I buy from CRK has my full confidence. I've owned/own a lot of knives and the only other knife I think is built to last like the Sebenza are the Hinderer knives.


The only knife I've ever owned that had significant and progressive lock wear is an old emerson I have that's made it from about 10% to 80%. I don't think they heat treat the lockbar like CRK and Hinderer do.
 
Good to know. Where did you get the spare sleeve?

BellaBlades said:
The sleeves will wear in. Its along term thing until it has an affect on the knife.
And the sleeves should be perfectly round. I have a spare I just measured and it is damn perfect.
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