Thumbstud Mod: Step by Step Instructions

Oh, and LightGuy, an afterthought I just had...it may be fastest to grind away most of the material with the dremel and then take off the last bit with the file. This will keep the end result flat and cut out some filing time. Either way, I can't wait to see your results. I'm just thinking with the tools that you will have.
 
richstag said:
Oh, and LightGuy, an afterthought I just had...it may be fastest to grind away most of the material with the dremel and then take off the last bit with the file. This will keep the end result flat and cut out some filing time. Either way, I can't wait to see your results. I'm just thinking with the tools that you will have.
Click to expand...

Yep, better idea yet. I'm definitely going to give it a shot as soon as I get the knife back from CRK and post some pics of the results.

Thanks again.

-Rich
 
Cool, I'm looking forward to it. Btw, I'm sure u have used your grinding wheel on your dremel, but just in case, they tend to 'run away' if you aren't careful. I would hate to see it grab the stud and 'run' down to your blade. Just another thought and that's all from me. Good luck.

Later,

Kevin
 
So the way I did it was I removed the blade and clamped it between some scrap wood to my workbench with the stud up. I just used a flat file and took my time to flatten/slightly round the top to where I wanted it. Then I used progressively finer paper in a block to get the level of polish I wanted. If you are going to polish the whole stud to remove the blue, make sure to tape the blade around it so you don't polish the blade. In fact, tape the whole blade anyway before you do anything in case the file slips.

If you can remove the stud, it gets even better because you can just chuck it into a drill and spin it while sanding/polishing. You would get a much more uniform result. In fact, that is how I scotchbrited my screws.

Also, just my 2 cents, but if a knife is going to be a user, you SHOULD do everything and anything you are capable of to make it as perfect as it can be for you. I plan on using this knife until I die and then I expect my son to take it and modify it for him. These are tools and as such should work for the user, not for the maker.
 
Oh...by the way...

I've mentioned this before somewhere, but I would love to see someone take some titanium that is the same thickness as the scales and make a thumbstud that sits level with the scale and has the same bevel as well. I think it would look amazing. I don't have the tools to do that, but if I ever get the chance, I'm going to try it.
 
richstag said:
Cool, I'm looking forward to it. Btw, I'm sure u have used your grinding wheel on your dremel, but just in case, they tend to 'run away' if you aren't careful. I would hate to see it grab the stud and 'run' down to your blade. Just another thought and that's all from me. Good luck.

Later,

Kevin
Click to expand...

Yep, I've noticed it does that.. Don't worry, I'll have 15 layers of tape on the rest of the knife when I do this...;)
 
bunghole said:
So the way I did it was I removed the blade and clamped it between some scrap wood to my workbench with the stud up. I just used a flat file and took my time to flatten/slightly round the top to where I wanted it. Then I used progressively finer paper in a block to get the level of polish I wanted. If you are going to polish the whole stud to remove the blue, make sure to tape the blade around it so you don't polish the blade. In fact, tape the whole blade anyway before you do anything in case the file slips.

If you can remove the stud, it gets even better because you can just chuck it into a drill and spin it while sanding/polishing. You would get a much more uniform result. In fact, that is how I scotchbrited my screws.

Also, just my 2 cents, but if a knife is going to be a user, you SHOULD do everything and anything you are capable of to make it as perfect as it can be for you. I plan on using this knife until I die and then I expect my son to take it and modify it for him. These are tools and as such should work for the user, not for the maker.
Click to expand...

Great - thanks for the info!! Your's looks absolutely awesome. I actually like it quite a bit more than the original (probably get blasted for saying that..).

I hope mine turns out half as good as yours.
 
I'm going to have to confiscate man cards for anyone openly admitting their thumbs are sore due to knife opening. PM me for address...Thanks!

After that, go ahead and mod your knife! It's YOUR knife, that's half the fun!

On a more serious note, I will need that man card. Thanks!
 
Mr. Clean said:
I'm going to have to confiscate man cards for anyone openly admitting their thumbs are sore due to knife opening. PM me for address...Thanks!

After that, go ahead and mod your knife! It's YOUR knife, that's half the fun!

On a more serious note, I will need that man card. Thanks!
Click to expand...

You want my man card?? You're the one who wants a pretty little blue "jewel" on your pocket knife...at least that's what my wife called it...;)
 
The thumbstud for the Sebenza is not perfect but it can be opened very
easily if you do it the right way. When you begin to open the knife your thumb
should be behind the stud so only your finger nail is touching the side of the
stud. From here you can flick it open or open it slow. Your thumb is only going
to hurt if you press down on the stud with the pad of your thumb which is the
wrong way to open a Sebenza.
 
snowreaper1 said:
The thumbstud for the Sebenza is not perfect but it can be opened very
easily if you do it the right way. When you begin to open the knife your thumb
should be behind the stud so only your finger nail is touching the side of the
stud. From here you can flick it open or open it slow. Your thumb is only going
to hurt if you press down on the stud with the pad of your thumb which is the
wrong way to open a Sebenza.
Click to expand...

That just seems very unnatural to me for some reason. I've never opened a knife using my fingernail. With practice I guess I could try to get used to it, but I'd rather just fix the thumb stud and open it the normal way (to me).
 
LightGuy said:
That just seems very unnatural to me for some reason. I've never opened a knife using my fingernail. With practice I guess I could try to get used to it, but I'd rather just fix the thumb stud and open it the normal way (to me).
Click to expand...

On that line of thought, I've been carrying Benchmade Axis lock knives that flick open at the slightest pressure of the thumb, so actually having to follow a blade all the way open is unnatural to me. That being said, I have played with my new sebbie and gotten myself used to using my thumbnail as mentioned above. I don't even think about it. No where near as fast as my Benchmades (ie: not fast at all), but fast enough for general EDC tasks. I don't even feel the thumbstud since I use my thumbnail. It works if you give it a try.
 
If you want some crazy fast thumbstud action, the Bradley Alias's are there for you, lol. You can also flick open a sebenza with just your thumb (no wrist flicking) but thats something else. I believe no flicking is recommended with the sebenza except for once post reassembly.

Anyway, I find the sebenza thumb lug to be fine, albeit a tad bit on the slower side, but hey, your food isn't going to attack you while you slowly open you knife to chop away...

Good luck modifying your sebenza, its yours and do with it what you will! I didn't like the coned lugs at first, but I've grown to accept them and they function just fine for me now. The flushed thumb lug looked great by the way, hope yours turns out well.

Oh, on a side note, will changing the contour of the thumb lug change the way you open the knife? I feel like either way you are going to end up following through with the blade...
 
The thumbstud works fine for me even left handed:
[youtube]82MrS3sJXZI[/youtube]


Good video
[youtube]HcXu6dVRCOE[/youtube]

Good luck on your modification.
 
This subject seems to be brought up mostly by newbies to Sebenza's..

Once you get your Seb tuned up properly, it becomes a non-issue.

Then opening/closing it one-handed is as natural as drinking your morning coffee..

-JMHO

sebflick2.jpg


bgsebs.jpg
 
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I can honestly say that it never even came to my mind that the thumbstud could be construed as sharp. If anything, I thought it was a little slippery.


If the Sebenza thumbstud hurts your hand, maybe its time to lay off the moisturizer for a little bit and go chop some wood or something...:p
 
I can honestly say that it never came to my mind to patronize a guy that wants to mod his thumbstud.
 
I saw pics of Sebenzas with the Benchmade studs and it looked kinda cool, maybe a bit oversized though.
 
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