- Joined
- Jan 8, 2001
- Messages
- 1,242
Reading a few threads about the smoothness of the action, I thought I'd post up something I just did to my large 21. It hasn't been used a lot, and was still a bit stiff. I've had seven sebenzas and am intimately familiar with the feel, opening method, etc.
I didn't want to sand/polish the washers, as I've had bad experiences with that--it made the knife much smoother, but also introduced some play, and that was just with some light polishing with mother's mag.
I had read something some time ago (not about CRK knives) that suggested to really break the knife in, remove the lube, tighten the action, and use it for a month. Afterwards, the knife would be butter smooth. I figured the same would work with a sebenza...after all, cranking down on the pivot does bind up the action a bit, so it'd be worth a shot. I didn't see how it would do any harm to the knife, as all its really doing is polishing the mating surfaces against each other.
Anyways, I opened the large 21 up, cleaned out the lube, and reassembled it, tightening the screws each a little more than I normally would (none of my sebenzas can have the screws tightened 100% without binding, the screws just need to be snugged up). I then worked the knife for one day, opening and closing it (not using my thumb mostly). I'm not sure how many times...maybe a couple hundred? Anyways, when I was tired of doing this, I took the knife back apart, cleaned everything well, then reassembled normally with lube and appropriate torque.
Huge difference! The knife was much, much smoother. Still that more hydraulic feel that Sebbies have, but the blade will almost, but not quite, free fall. I'm sure it will continue to break in over time, but this made the action much, much improved. I thought I'd share it here with you all. Anyone ever done the same?
I didn't want to sand/polish the washers, as I've had bad experiences with that--it made the knife much smoother, but also introduced some play, and that was just with some light polishing with mother's mag.
I had read something some time ago (not about CRK knives) that suggested to really break the knife in, remove the lube, tighten the action, and use it for a month. Afterwards, the knife would be butter smooth. I figured the same would work with a sebenza...after all, cranking down on the pivot does bind up the action a bit, so it'd be worth a shot. I didn't see how it would do any harm to the knife, as all its really doing is polishing the mating surfaces against each other.
Anyways, I opened the large 21 up, cleaned out the lube, and reassembled it, tightening the screws each a little more than I normally would (none of my sebenzas can have the screws tightened 100% without binding, the screws just need to be snugged up). I then worked the knife for one day, opening and closing it (not using my thumb mostly). I'm not sure how many times...maybe a couple hundred? Anyways, when I was tired of doing this, I took the knife back apart, cleaned everything well, then reassembled normally with lube and appropriate torque.
Huge difference! The knife was much, much smoother. Still that more hydraulic feel that Sebbies have, but the blade will almost, but not quite, free fall. I'm sure it will continue to break in over time, but this made the action much, much improved. I thought I'd share it here with you all. Anyone ever done the same?
