Small Sebenza....Huh?

A

acastell

Joined
May 19, 2004
Messages
107
Well, I finally took the plunge (actually my wife did)...I now own the fabled Sebbie!

I have a number of Willian Henrys and customs so I have a good idea of good quality knives...I must say, the knife is indeen built like a tank.

A few concerns. Thumb stud is sharp, the action is stiff and the lock is very hard to push to close the knife.

Now, these are not grips, simply my immediate thoughts as I handled the knife. Has anyone noticed these things and are there remedies?

By the way, I would buy the knife again in spite of these small details as I do think the knife will serve me well as an EDC!
AC
 
Yes I have experienced all those things. The knives come tight and will smooth out with use. Also you will experience a learning curve associated with learning to open such a fine knife. The difficulty in closing (releasing the lock) ios the titanium galling to the tang of the blade. This also will get better. Once you get the hang of it you will be able to open and close that knife with no problem. Merry Christmas! :D
 
acastell, you've got a great knife there! There are a couple of improvements you can make quickly and easily.

First take a pencil and scribble lightly on the face of the lock bar and tang where they meet. This will lubricate the area, and reduce the galling Scott Dog mentioned.

Next take a ceramic sharpener, like a Spyderco rod or a Gatco Tri-Seps or other dogbone sharpener. Now buff the thumbstud. This won't wear it down significantly, but it will take the rough edge off.

Also, when you push on the thumbstud, don't push out away from the handle, push forward, toward where the blade will be once it's open.
 
Congrats on picking up a fine knife. All of your concerns will be rectified by the time you open and close it about a hundred and fifty times(probably in the first hour you own it). ;) :)
 
The Sebenza takes a little getting used to. You'll be a pro in no time. ;)

Paul
 
Is it me , or is there an echo in here, here, here......?????
Yep, it's me echoing all the above comments. Been there and survived handily....Congratulations!:cool:


Larry S.
 
Well, like all of you said, it is getting better. The knife is much smoother and the lock, with the pencil treatment, works better. I will say that the thumb stud is still sharp a heck. But, with smoother glide on the blade, the pressure requred to open the knife is 'reduced'.

BUT, it is NOWHERE close to being as smooth as my WH T12. I thought that my T12 may be better as this was my EDC for the past year. But, I just took on of my BNIB T12's out and sure enough, it was tons smooter than the Sebbie.

I then took out my 5 day old Benchmade 705 and the difference is again staggering.

My intention here is not to conduct a rant rather get some feedback to determnine if my knife is defective.

So, here is a test that I think can determine this over the internet. I AM NOT A KNIFE flipper, but in the interest of comparing...can anyone flip out their sm sebenza from a closed postion. I can try and try as hard as I can and the blade will move 1 out of 10 times.

Another question, is the first 1/8 inch of travel more difficult?

I am convinced that my knife does not have the same glide as the rest as my thumb is so chaffed that I have to use my thumb nail now to open the knife due to the thumb stud.

Thanks for the replies...I want to EDC this knife as it is a piece of work! But, with these hang ups, I am not sure I can justify the knife.

AC
 
i have a couple edc sebenzas that i have flipped once or twice ;)
but i don't think CRK encourages flipping with their knives,it's like slamming the door shut on a porsche :eek:
 
The first part of the blade travel is more difficult because there is a detent that holds the blade closed. I can't flick open any of my frame locks from the closed position without using the thumbstud.

The blade will open smoother, and should flick open easily by pushing the thumbstud from behind with the tip of your thumb. Pushing in on the thumbstud with the pad of your thumb (which is probably why it seems sharp) while pushing forward does not make for as smooth an opening.
In a normal grip, with the knife parallel to the floor, pull the lockbar with your index finger. The blade should drop perpendicular to the handle, with the edge hitting your fingernail. If it doesn't do this, lube the pivot. Opening and closing will be very smooth once the knife has broken in, or been lubed.
 
Agreed about flipping, I do not intend to flip. CRK does not recommed this as well.

I am trying to get a sense of the glide friction on other Sebenzas. There are no retailers in that I know of in the Bay Area.

Does anyone know if loosening the screw would help? Are these screws lock-tighted from the factory and am I starting problems by loosening?

If this persists, then I am afraid that I will have to return/sell the knife....

AC

AC
 
No problem.
btw, the pivot uses a bushing so tightening and loosening the pivot screw should not affect opening smoothness.
 
Owen, now that is a great response!

I tried your second test and indeed the blade closed and hit my nail, as you described. So, I guess that the glide friction is within range.

So, I now have to work on opening the knife. This is a bit embarrassing, afterall, I have tons of knifes and have never found my thubm too tender for kniferbating.

I will see how the next few days go and see if the action loosens.


AC
 
Loosening the screw won't hurt it. It's made to be taken apart. I have a small as well, and it currently has a homemade plastic washer on one side (got it in a trade, didn't know about that till it arrived) and it's not as hard to open as yours. Mine isn't nearly that bad as what you describe.

I plan on buying a large soon. Am I understanding this right, that I shouldn't expect a $350 CRK to open as smoothly as a $50 benchmade? Why is that?
 
I just got a brand new Large Classic Sebenza yesterday.
It works very well, and very smooth.
I tried the blade drop test, and my blade stayed right out there, never dropped, yet I operate the knife without a problem.
Maybe your blade is hanging up, and the lube job just masked a problem.
Also with the longer blade on mine, maybe a leverage thing.The extra weight helps.
 
Sometimes, if the bronze washers are reassembled improperly, the blade will seem stiff. Tightning the screws will not have the effect you are seeking. The Sebbie screws are designed to be tightened fully with no effect on the blade.
My knife was also rather stiff. I just dissambled and cleaned off the grease and relubed.
 
welcome to the sebbie club,,,ive had mine for over a year and love it. I hope you took note of the fit and finish; and how perfect it is... :)
 
If the action seems much smoother, and has less resistance once the lockbar is held away from it, thereby removing the pressure of the bar against the blade, then obviously what you have here is the spring tension of the lockbar, and/or friction from the ball detent riding against the side of the blade, causing the stiff action, if this is the case, you can disassemble the knife and carefully, bend the lockbar slightly back to the left, actually, just occurred to me that you can do it without even disassembling the knife, just removing the clip, be careful to bend it only slighty farther than the frame then see how the action is, repeat this procedure, in small increments until the lockbar's pressure against the blade has been reduced. just don't reduce it too much or the bar won't make good contact with the blade, this should also make it easier to unlock as well. I almost always tweak the lock pressure on all of my framelocks, wither they be TnTs, Sebenzas or Striders, sometimes, I like a very strong bend, sometimes, depends on the knife, I like it smoother, what you should also try is putting a small dab of synthetic grease right on the tip of the ball detent, a stiff or otherwise unsatisfactory action is almost always the result of the friction and pressure of the ball arcing over the side of the blade, and generally has nothing to do with the pivot, or its tightness. And, as I said, there are 2 ways to address this, reduce the pressure of the lockbar and grease the tip of the ball. If these tips don't help, send it to CRK and it will come back to you in perfect condition, frankly, this is one of the first complaints I have ever heard from a new Sebenza owner and I am surprised.
 
A couple of observations:

If it's new, the factory lube usually seems a little stiff. A take apart and cleaning and lube will often help.

Many people think knives should fly open like balisongs, sebbies are smooth, but the tolerances combined with the lube means they usually need to be opened by following through with the thumb all the way.

The pocket clip is sometimes quite tight and put additional pressure on the lock bar. Take the pocket clip off and observe the action. If it's better, bend the pocket clip a little to take the pressure off.

I would avoid bending the lock bar, if you still don't like it at that point, send it back.
 
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