what's moving and what's not
- Thread starter cm
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Elvislives
Gold Member
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From the looks of the washers, blade and handles when disassembled I'd say the blade against the washers. But from the assembly I suppose the washers could move as well.
Brandon
Brandon
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The washers are free to move against either surface but, due to the smoothness of the steel vs. the rather coarse texture of the titanium (relatively speaking) almost all of the motion is between the blade and the washers. Assuming that there is proper lubrication, the smoother surfaces will always slide easier than the rougher ones will.
It doesn't really matter, as the true test is how smoothly the blade opens, whichever surfaces are sliding.
------------------
Dennis Wright
Wright Knife & Sporting Goods
La Mesa, CA
1-800-400-1980
wrightknife@ixpres.com
("Have a knife day!")
It doesn't really matter, as the true test is how smoothly the blade opens, whichever surfaces are sliding.
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Dennis Wright
Wright Knife & Sporting Goods
La Mesa, CA
1-800-400-1980
wrightknife@ixpres.com
("Have a knife day!")
I'm with Dennis on this one. Regarding lubrication I would say that it's always a good idea to apply some sort of oil/grease to all parts which could possibly move. Not only that I also apply some rust inhibiting oil to surfaces where different metals come in contact without being able to move. That prevents other (nasty) liquids from creeping in and causing harm (stainless <> stainfree). In short, after disassembling I slightly oil all the parts and wipe the knife clean once it's back together.
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- Jan 19, 1999
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Ralf & Nimrod just about said it all. If it can move, lube it.
The dissimilar metals problem isn't as radical on these knives as it can be, due to the nature of the metals and the lack of electric voltage but it can be a factor in extreme conditions.
Flourinated grease, Militech, Breakfree, White Lightning, Tuff Glide, Smooth Kote, Hi-Slip grease, they all work. There is no "magic lube" and some may work better than others, to a degree, but they all work. I've used them all and sell most of them.
The best seems to be the flourinated grease. I've also had good luck with White Lightning.
Smooth Kote and Hi-Slip grease, (both Sentry products), are also really good but messy. They are black in color and have a tendancy to stain clothing if applied excessively.
Smooth Kote dries pretty quickly and leaves a dry film that works really well but I like it better on guns, than knives.
Tuff Glide, Militech and Breakfree are oils and act like it. They tend to run a bit. White Lightning does too but it's a wax and behaves differently. It's what I use most of the time for maintaining and relubing without disassembly.
When it's apart, relube it with the grease. A dab on each surface will do it. (Don't forget the area where the detent ball rides.)
A tube of CRK lube, when used properly, will last a loooooong time.
------------------
Dennis Wright
Wright Knife & Sporting Goods
La Mesa, CA
1-800-400-1980
wrightknife@ixpres.com
("Have a knife day!")
The dissimilar metals problem isn't as radical on these knives as it can be, due to the nature of the metals and the lack of electric voltage but it can be a factor in extreme conditions.
Flourinated grease, Militech, Breakfree, White Lightning, Tuff Glide, Smooth Kote, Hi-Slip grease, they all work. There is no "magic lube" and some may work better than others, to a degree, but they all work. I've used them all and sell most of them.
The best seems to be the flourinated grease. I've also had good luck with White Lightning.
Smooth Kote and Hi-Slip grease, (both Sentry products), are also really good but messy. They are black in color and have a tendancy to stain clothing if applied excessively.
Smooth Kote dries pretty quickly and leaves a dry film that works really well but I like it better on guns, than knives.
Tuff Glide, Militech and Breakfree are oils and act like it. They tend to run a bit. White Lightning does too but it's a wax and behaves differently. It's what I use most of the time for maintaining and relubing without disassembly.
When it's apart, relube it with the grease. A dab on each surface will do it. (Don't forget the area where the detent ball rides.)
A tube of CRK lube, when used properly, will last a loooooong time.
------------------
Dennis Wright
Wright Knife & Sporting Goods
La Mesa, CA
1-800-400-1980
wrightknife@ixpres.com
("Have a knife day!")
- Joined
- Apr 3, 1999
- Messages
- 2,052
Dennis,
It's interesting that you have had good luck with White Lightening on your Sebenzas. White Lightening works great for me on most of my knives, but I've had horrible luck with it on the Sebenza. Mine got so stiff, that it was worse than before I lubed it. Cleaned it, applied more WL and it was still stubborn. I thought it would get better if I carried it in my pocket so that it could warm up, but it didn't. Lately, if I do use WL on my Sebenzas I coat the parts in the pivot, and then wipe them off so that there is just a very thin layer of the wax. After that I apply CRK grease.
Paul
It's interesting that you have had good luck with White Lightening on your Sebenzas. White Lightening works great for me on most of my knives, but I've had horrible luck with it on the Sebenza. Mine got so stiff, that it was worse than before I lubed it. Cleaned it, applied more WL and it was still stubborn. I thought it would get better if I carried it in my pocket so that it could warm up, but it didn't. Lately, if I do use WL on my Sebenzas I coat the parts in the pivot, and then wipe them off so that there is just a very thin layer of the wax. After that I apply CRK grease.
Paul
Elvislives
Gold Member
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- Dec 13, 1999
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- 3,009
I agree with Dennis all the way!
Brandon
Brandon
- Joined
- Jan 11, 1999
- Messages
- 669
A comment from Chris on lubricants:
"Extensive research for lubricants for Sebenzas has resulted in us having our Fluorinated Grease made especially for us. This grease contains pure Teflon®, known by DuPont as Krytox® (we cannot use these actual names because of a variety of licensing technicalities). We have our grease formulated specifically for us by a registered DuPont mixer/forumlator. All Krytox greases are too viscous for our Sebenzas and so our Fluorinated Grease is mixed to be about 25% less viscous i.e. it is between an oil and a grease.
We have gone to great lengths having this lubricant made - not to try to sell you something more, but to have the product that what works the best. ..And here is why it works the best.. the bank vault feel of the mechanism on a Sebenzas is due to tighter tolerances than most knives. This means that the gaps, or difference in size, between connecting parts is a just a couple of 0.0001 (thousandths) not the couple of 0.001 (hundredths), which is far more prevalent in the industry. With such small gaps, the crease cannot be too viscous, a substance that is more fluid is needed. This is the reason why White Lightening caused the Pauls Sebenza to be stiff when it was applied while disassembled but worked better when applied after knife was assembled.
I dont knock any of the lubricants out there, the majority of them are just fine I simply went out to find the one that worked the best for my purposes.
Chris"
"Extensive research for lubricants for Sebenzas has resulted in us having our Fluorinated Grease made especially for us. This grease contains pure Teflon®, known by DuPont as Krytox® (we cannot use these actual names because of a variety of licensing technicalities). We have our grease formulated specifically for us by a registered DuPont mixer/forumlator. All Krytox greases are too viscous for our Sebenzas and so our Fluorinated Grease is mixed to be about 25% less viscous i.e. it is between an oil and a grease.
We have gone to great lengths having this lubricant made - not to try to sell you something more, but to have the product that what works the best. ..And here is why it works the best.. the bank vault feel of the mechanism on a Sebenzas is due to tighter tolerances than most knives. This means that the gaps, or difference in size, between connecting parts is a just a couple of 0.0001 (thousandths) not the couple of 0.001 (hundredths), which is far more prevalent in the industry. With such small gaps, the crease cannot be too viscous, a substance that is more fluid is needed. This is the reason why White Lightening caused the Pauls Sebenza to be stiff when it was applied while disassembled but worked better when applied after knife was assembled.
I dont knock any of the lubricants out there, the majority of them are just fine I simply went out to find the one that worked the best for my purposes.
Chris"