Sticky Lockbar Help

rangerover_95

rangerover_95

Joined
Jul 23, 2008
Messages
1,047
Hello everyone.

Just picked up a large Regular Seb for Christmas and I am having problems with the lock bar. Within the last couple of days it has decided to try and test my patience. The lock bar seems to stick to the tang of the blade for no apparent reason whenever I open the knife.

The engagement of the lock is normal from what I understand (%40 of the tang), but when I try to release the lockbar it seems to require a lot of force and almost makes a squeaking noise.

I have tried everything I could think of, repeatedly disassembling and reassembling the knife, lubing any and every possible surface, and I dont want to have to do any sanding ( I REALLY DONT) for the fit to be good.

Has anyone else had this problem, or is it already time to send the Seb to Chris?
 
As a matter of fact I have a post in another forum for the same problem. My small would squeak now and again and STICK while trying to close. I don't want too seem redundent on what you have allready posted, but after I took it apart and oiled it it is fine. By the way my knife is a small reg, that I also got for Christmas. I hope everything works out for you. Happy New Year, Jake.
 
Use a pencil and scribble some lead on the blade where it hits, it will keep you going until it breaks in
 
If the above does not help, send it in. I had one with a sticky lock that the shop fixed.
 
I would also recommend the pencil trick :thumbup:

Just scribble on the tang with the pencil and open and close the knife as many times as you can and then repeat the process. It will help break it in.

I had this problem when I had an Emerson CQC-12, STR suggested hyper-extending the lock just a little bit to soften up the tension. Now, keep in mind that it was with a different knife, but it still had a Ti framelock.

Try the pencil trick a few times over before even thinking about the hyper-extension, better yet, forget that part all together. If the pencil doesn't work, send it in.
 
Well I would love to say that the pencil trick worked, permanently, but it seemed to only work for a few openings at a time......:grumpy:

So how long is the average turnaround for a knife sent in for service?

What does it usually end up running price wise?

And a big THANKS to all who have helped! You guys have been very friendly here!
 
DaveH said:
If the above does not help, send it in. I had one with a sticky lock that the shop fixed.
Click to expand...

Dave's advice is best (IMO)...lock mating surfaces are tricky...pencil lead , sharpie marker, graphite are all temporary fixes.

IMO..bad lock is a bad lock...let the shop fix it. :)
 
I would Greatly Advise Against Hyper-Extending the lock on your Sebenza. Especially on a knife costing nearly $400. That act may Void the warrenty. Chris Reeve Knives have the Best warrenty in the business. Let them take care of it for you. They should gladly fix it for free. My Large Regular sticks a little but Only after opening and closing it several consecutive times. Mostly because my thumb gets sore. I dont think the regular has as much room as the classic style to push the lockbar back into the closing position. I do not have a sebenza yet that has the newer handle design, so I can not confirm that. After just trying it now several times, I really think it just takes practice opening and closing it.
 
Just shipped it off to the factory today, and the lady I spoke with, Carmen I believe, was extremely nice and very helpful.

Thanks for all your help guys, just got my first Seb and all you guys make me feel like Ive been here for years.
 
That's what you get with CRK :thumbup:

You get an excellent knife, good customer service, and an instant pass to the "club" :D
 
Now that comes with an executive washroom that we dont have to share with the rest of the forum, right? And access to the squash courts as well?
 
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Don't forget the day spa where we are massaged by wimmins of our choosing :D

At the CRK Club, everyone walks around with a sebenza or umnumzaan clipped to their shorts/pants while playing golf and tennis :p
 
Did your lock seem to make a "gritty/squeaky" feel/sound when you disenagaged the lock? My thumb is sore as heck now and iono whats going on.

For the past day, my basically new sebenza (Got it in Dec.) started acting up. I used Bluelube (used when I first got it and it worked fine) and now, my lock seems to be sticky. I've taken it apart 4 times in the past hour trying to figure out wtf is going on. This is extremely fustrating and I don't think my thumb can take anymore of this.

I'm going to take it down again tomorrow, and take off all the lube once again and see whats going on. I don't know how to explain it, but it just seems like it takes 5 X the effort to close the darn thing. How can a knife do this all of a sudden if it was working fine before? I want to say its the lube, however, the lube worked fine before, so I don't think it would be the cause.



**EDIT**

Hmm....did the pencil lead thing about 4 times and now it seems to want to work again. I want to take the knife apart to clean off the "lead" but am afraid its going to go back to being sticky again! Arg :grumpy:

Anyone have any thoughts or ideas as to why it is acting up? Is my knife just having a temper tantrum for the day? :foot:
 
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Well, took it apart again today and everything works fin, except my sore thumb. :rolleyes: I'm hoping it was a fluke.
 
It's almost sounding like what happened to mine, as it acted up about two days before becoming beyond my tolerance. I actaully have mine on the way back to me right now, less than a week after actually shipping it to them, that also includes the addition of tublugs.

I hope the same doesn't happen to yours, as it was agony for this last week being without my new seb, and not even my Benchmades could fill the void.
 
Try removing all the oil from the tang and lock face. That sometimes caused mine to stick. Grease seems to be OK though.
 
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