Sebenza reassembly problem

maximus otter

maximus otter

Joined
Jul 20, 2002
Messages
4,187
From the Man Quiz:

Aliens land beside you and give you a small, intricate gadget which - when the button is pressed - will end all wars, cure every disease and bring an eternity of peace and prosperity to the planet. Do you,

a) Hand it to the leader of your country,
b) Give it to the assembled wisdom of the United Nations, or,
c) Take it apart.

I have just received, stripped and reassembled my first Sebenza, a large, regular, right-handed BG42.

Everyhing appears to have gone fine, no parts left over, no threads stripped. However: the blade now rubs against the (non-lock) side of the frame when closed.

The big washer is on the non-lock side, the small washer on the lock side. Lockup seems solid. All screws are tight but not excessively tight.

What have I done wrong? Help!

maximus otter
 
You may have pinched a washer. I did this the first time I reassembled my small Seb. I seemed stiffer to open and close after I reassembled it. Do a search on this forum for: pinched washer sebenza
 
take it apart and put it back together again. 9 times out of 10, you didn't get it all lined up quite right. no big deal, you'll get the hang of it.

-e-
 
Speaking of assembly problems, it takes me forever to get the lock to engage where I want it to engage. Sometimes it goes too far over, sometimes it barely engages. Is there an easy way to remedy that so I need to do it so many times? Changing the tension of the screws seems to have an effect on how far the lock goes over, too. Anybody else notice that?
 
SarcoBlaster-
The spacer where your the tang of your blades stops is "oblong"(called obtuse I believe), and determines where the lockbar will hit on the tang of the blade. If it does not cover 1/3-1/2 of the tang of the blade, disassemble it, and turn the spacer just a little(cm or 2)then tighten down the screws, and open, and close it to see if the locker bar stops in the right area, and if not loosen the screws, and keep doing the above til it does.
I tried to put this in layman terms, and hope this helps.
This spacer is made this way on purpose to be able to adjust for wear.

Larry
 
Larry,
Thanks for the info. I didn't know that the stop sleeve was oblong; it looked perfectly round to me. I got it to engage about 50%, so I guess I'll just leave it alone.
 
Glad I could help, and if it gets less or you feel unsafe with it that way then send it into CR customer service, and they will repair/replace what is needed. Their customer service one of the best bar none!!:) I know I have a small Sebenza that had the same problem, and when I felt unsafe with it I sent it in, and they replaced the spacer with a new one, and when I got it back it was perfect. They even replaced the bronze washers free of charge as they felt it had too much side-to-side play.

Larry
 
You are thinking of the Spyderco Military design.

The Sebenza stop sleeve and pin are not eccentric,,,,,they are round.


The "rotate to new position" is for the purpose of,,, in the long distance future,,,, if the stop sleeve wears a flat into the surface, it can be rotated.


Regards,
FK
 
Originally posted by SarcoBlaster
Changing the tension of the screws seems to have an effect on how far the lock goes over, too. Anybody else notice that?
Click to expand...

Just so you know, the screws are supposed to be tightened all the way down. Don't adjust their tension to adjust blade position. Sebbies aren't like other knives.

Mike
 
Originally posted by Medic1210
Just so you know, the screws are supposed to be tightened all the way down. Don't adjust their tension to adjust blade position. Sebbies aren't like other knives.

Mike
Click to expand...
If I make the screws pretty tight, the blade is stiff as heck to open (not rough, but stiff). Right now, the screws are snug to almost tight and everything's cool. I find that if I tighten the handle screws too much, the opening action gets stiff when I tighten the pivot screw. It's hard to find that balance of not too tight, but not too loose.
 
Sarco, the only thing I can suggest it that it isn't put together right, and you have a washer crooked or pinched ever so slightly. The pivot screw on the Sebenza is a Chicago screw, and has no bearing on blade tension. The only thing that will cause blade tension is a pinched washer, and the natural stiffness of the lock bar and the pressure it puts on the blade tang with the ball detent. You can call CRK, and I'm sure they will tell you the exact same thing. The screws are supposed to be tightened all the way down. Try disassembling/reassembling again to see if that helps.

Mike
 
When you reassemble it, what position should the blade be in? I follow the FAQ and put the handle together first, and then I slide in the blade and washers in the "open" position while holding the lock aside so that it doesn't contact the tang. Should I be putting the blade in differently?
 
I'm glad I didn't read the FAQ before disassembling and reassembling the passaround Sebbie and the Small Classic loaner I had, because that method seems very difficult to keep the washers lined up with the hole. The way I do most of my knives is I put the washer over the hole on one handle, lay the blade over that washer, then slide the screw through the hole to hold the blade in place (in the open position). Then I lay the other washer over the hole in the blade, and put the other handle on, and insert the rest of the screws. Did it several times with the Sebbies, mostly just for S&G, and never had one problem.

Mike
 
Thanks to one and all for taking the time and trouble to reply. I have now stripped and reassembled my Sebbie again and it seems to be fine.

I think the problem was that I had over-tightened the screws. Although it's counter-intuitive, it appears that doing this actually causes the knife to be looser. With the screws tightened down to a firm but not "torque wrench" grip, the blade rubbed against the non-lock side of the frame and even wobbled when folded into the frame. Now it lies centrally and locks up tight.

Without wishing to offend CRK or CR himself, wouldn't it be a good idea to include an exploded diagram and some hints & tips on breakdown and reassembly? Especially as the appropriate Allen wrench is included and the instructions give the owner the option of tinkering.

What a terrific piece of kit this knife is! A superior cuting tool, a Fisher-price Activity Centre for big boys and a conversation piece all in one.

maximus otter
 
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