Umnumzaan lock bar question

J

jurisprudence

Joined
Jul 17, 2009
Messages
414
Recently picked up an Umnumzaan and absolutely love it. I do have a question for you Umnumzaan owners. The lock bar on my knife engages about 55% (that is, just more than half of the bar engages the blade) when I open the knife. If I then push on the lock bar (after opening the knife), the bar will move further on the blade, up to around 75% engagement. Neither my Mnandi nor Sebenza perform in this manner. Is the movement of the lock bar normal? If so, is it a product of the ceramic ball, the newness of the knife, or the o-rings on the thumb studs being compressed?

Initial lock up is absolutely solid and I have no complaints about the lock up. Further, the distance the lock bar moves is very minute. I haven’t pull out a micrometer to measure the movement, but for purposes of my question did not feel that was necessary.
 
I noticed the exact same thing. I'll be watching this thread to see if there's any "official" response from CRK. I'd like to stress, however, that there's no issue with lockup. It's rock solid no matter where the lockbar rests.

The 'zaan may be a plain jane pocketknife, but it really grows on a fellow. If only it were flat ground.... :rolleyes:
 
I agree on the flat grind...I have tried to lobby them! :)

I am not an official answer, but I haven't seen any that had any issues. The % seems to be consistent with the ones I have handled.
 
Mine does the same thing. If I press on the lock bar it will further engage. No problems with mine and it has NO wiggle. Probably the tightest knife I own. Very stout.
 
Both mine are the same as yours. I'd imagine Reeve thought through the design completely and is well aware of it. Like all of you state lock up is solid and although it stops different than my other frame locks. I am thinking it's part of the design.
 
Thanks for the replies. Seems to be a common phenomenon. Again, I'll confirm that lock up is not a problem. In fact, lock up is rock solid with zero blade movement.

The slight movement of the lock bar seems to be related to the compression of the o-rings, but that is just my opinion.
 
I dont have a umnumzaan yet, but that happens on my large sebenza if I hold it with a very firm tight grip while doing heavy duty tasks. I just think thats normal with the frame lock design.
 
Mine locks up tremendously and as said, pressure engages the lock further. This is IMO designed purposely to avoid a knife unfolding in your hand while using it for self defense or heavy utility
 
i dont have a unumzaan but my large sebbie 21 does this. i read somewhere in the stickys that this can happen and is totally normal.

Edited to add: this is where i read it about the sebenza. I can only assume it would apply to the umnumzaan aswell.


My problem is that the lock travels and hits the opposing liner when a firm grip is applied. I disassembled it and cleaned it thoroughly but the problem persists.

There is nothing to fix!! The lock will move over toward the back of the front handle slab if you press hard on it. After all, it is a spring that has a natural position and can move further if pushed. The spec position for the lock is to cover 75% of the blade. If it falls naturally further than that, we will adjust it.
A difference between the Sebenza and other liner locks is that you can get in behind the lock of a Sebenza and push it over. With the others, you can only push from the top of the liner which is a less effective movement.

We know that a lot of owners of Sebenzas like to adjust the lock and the pivot etc. but we DO discourage this. When we ship the knives, they work the way they are intended and modifications usually end up with something not working right!

- Anne Reeve, 11/03/98
 
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