Wiggle in Mnandi

S

SteelSnob

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Sep 7, 2009
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I notice when I moved the blade on my Mnandi side to side from the tip there is some wiggle in the lockup. Is anyone elses like that? Should I send it in?
 
absolutely no wiggle on mine.
maybe you can dissasemble it and reassemble it to fix the problem. adjust the pivot?

Did you already try to fix it? There are actions you can take before sending it in :)
 
Yeah I've assembled and dissasembled it. Do you push hard from the tip , side to side? What are the other options besides sending it in?
 
SteelSnob said:
Yeah I've assembled and dissasembled it. Do you push hard from the tip , side to side? What are the other options besides sending it in?
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I meant trying to fix it yourself :thumbup: didn't know you already tried that
 
There is no adjustment in the pivot, if it's together right and you have side to side and are willing to fix it yourself you can take it apart and lightly sand the bushing with a high grit sandpaper. I'd use 800 to start, do not sand the washers!

If you have up and down movement, that either because your lockbar is not mating to the tang right, or.... your lockbar needs more spring in it. That's also an easy fix, just take it apart and bend your lockbar a hair over to make it lockup a little harder.

People will probably say, don't sand or rebend to adjust.... I'm just letting you know that's all CRK will probably do ;)

If it was me Id fix it myself :thumbup:
 
SteelSnob said:
Yeah I've assembled and dissasembled it. Do you push hard from the tip , side to side? What are the other options besides sending it in?
Click to expand...

If your only feeling that movement when your pushing hard an really looking or something to feel.... It's in spec!!! and my fixes above will only tighten up your action!

Folding knives, no matter what price they cost or how well they are fit... need a little room for the action to still work! Yes even CRK need room to move. :cool: If I go pulling my Sebenzas around by the tip, and pushing and pulling looking for that slight little "movement," I can find it.

If that's the case here, Id say you should be buying fixed blades and not folders. :)
 
So-Lo said:
.. :cool: If I go pulling my Sebenzas around by the tip, and pushing and pulling looking for that slight little "movement," I can find it.
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Not sure I'm buying that theory, Solo..
Could be all the sanding and polishing on that bushing.. ;)

I couldn't get my old Seb or Mnandi to wiggle to save my life.

I can, on occasion get these old teeth of mine to wiggle.
But that's another story.

I'm just guessing here, but I bet 99% of any Sebs/Mnandi with a
wiggle problem is from a misaligned/pinched washer.

JMHO - Ron
 
I have 4 mnandi and and there is no blade play in any of them. ANY time I had blade play in a sebbie or mnandi, it was because it was not put together properly. Bronze washer was always riding up on the pivot bushing. The first few times I took apart my sebbie and mnandi, I had problems getting everything right. Now I can take them apart and re-assemble with no problems. I would never sand anything, you will void the warrenty for sure and ruin the Tight CRK Tolerances. To clean the bronze bushing, I lay them on a paper towel and place the pad of my finger on the bushing and rub back and forth on a flat surface. It will take all the gunk off the bronze bushing. You would not believe all the gunk that comes off. The mnandi is a little tougher to put back together since everything is smaller.

Is your mnandi New ??? Or are you having this problem after taking it apart.
 
440hard said:
Not sure I'm buying that theory, Solo..
Could be all the sanding and polishing on that bushing.. ;)

I couldn't get my old Seb or Mnandi to wiggle to save my life.

I can, on occasion get these old teeth of mine to wiggle.
But that's another story.

I'm just guessing here, but I bet 99% of any Sebs/Mnandi with a
wiggle problem is from a misaligned/pinched washer.

JMHO - Ron
Click to expand...

I bet I could feel wiggle. Grab your handle and push and pull the tip of your blade HARD, and I bet you can feel a flex in the movement vs doing the samething with a fixed blade.

Or try this, as your knife is closed... try to move your blade side to side within the scales. I bet you can flex the movement and can see it moving side to side in the scales.
 
I agree with everything So-Lo said. Also, if you open and close your sebenza/mnandi enough times it will start to have a bit of play, so a brand new one will feel different versus one that is well used. I have lightly and very carefully sanded my bushings to take up the slack with great results. However, I would only do it if it were really bothering you.
 
My Mnandi has wiggle when I move it side to side while pinching the tip but my small sebenza has none at all. I think I will send it in eventually.
 
The mnandi's blade is alot thinner than the small sebbie, so your more inclined for it to have some flex. It does not mean anything is wrong with it. Some people find something wrong with everything !
 
Does yours flex at all when you push it side to side? I'm hoping it's flex but looking at the pivot I see movement in there also.
 
SteelSnob said:
Does yours flex at all when you push it side to side? I'm hoping it's flex but looking at the pivot I see movement in there also.
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If there is flex at the pivot, I would say the bronze washer is riding on the pivot bushing. This has happened to me with both my mnandi and sebenzas. Its just that is put together improperly is all. Its an easy fix. It just needs taken apart and put together correctly. No Biggie. Was this knife purchased New from CRK ???
 
No but I got it new on eBay. But someone messed with it and the blade. He shinned the stop pin. I sent it in after that for the Damascus blade.

I just now took it apart and put it back together a couple times and it's much better.
 
SteelSnob said:
No but I got it new on eBay. But someone messed with it and the blade. He shinned the stop pin. I sent it in after that for the Damascus blade.

I just now took it apart and put it back together a couple times and it's much better.
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I bought a NIB vines small sebbie on ebay one time as well. The knife was not new, blade was scuffed and such, the knife was taken apart and put together improperly also. So I have first hand experienc with this. The bronze bushing was riding on the pivot bushing causing blade play. The blade play got very bad in a few days. I had to send the knife to CRK because of the improper assembly caused the lockbar to wear quickly and abnormally. CRK fixed it with no problem, but I was mightly upset because I paid $300 for it. Its as good as new now, but it was just the point..............Please be cautious on knives from ebay. I bought several CRK from ebay and that was the only one with an issue. It was just a dis-honst seller. But take caution.

Like I stated earlier, the mnandi is a little harder to reassemble because everything is much smaller............I am glad your mnandi is working better now for you.
 
nyefmaker said:
I bought a NIB vines small sebbie on ebay one time as well. The knife was not new, blade was scuffed and such, the knife was taken apart and put together improperly also. So I have first hand experienc with this. The bronze bushing was riding on the pivot bushing causing blade play. The blade play got very bad in a few days. I had to send the knife to CRK because of the improper assembly caused the lockbar to wear quickly and abnormally. CRK fixed it with no problem, but I was mightly upset because I paid $300 for it. Its as good as new now, but it was just the point..............Please be cautious on knives from ebay. I bought several CRK from ebay and that was the only one with an issue. It was just a dis-honst seller. But take caution.

Like I stated earlier, the mnandi is a little harder to reassemble because everything is much smaller............I am glad your mnandi is working better now for you.
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Hope you left that seller negative feedback. Saying a knife is NIB when it technically isn't is one thing, but saying it's NIB when there are obvious problems is just plain wrong.
 
Kenix said:
Hope you left that seller negative feedback. Saying a knife is NIB when it technically isn't is one thing, but saying it's NIB when there are obvious problems is just plain wrong.
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I am sure I did, I was and still am pixxed over the whole thing !!! I remember him saying " I was getting a $400 knife for $300, what more do you want " ??? I was new to sebenzas at the time. I kept the knife because I did not trust the seller to send the knife back to him and get my money back. Now, ebay has more protection for buyers, so now I would be okay, but I might not have been then. CRK fixed the knife, re-heat treated the lock and cleaned, sharpened and such for free. I explained what happened, they are the greatest. Its like new now, it was just a miserable situation..........I sell stuff on ebay as well, and I could never do that. I pride myself on being honest and charging little or no shipping depending on the item.
*Live and Learn* !!!

But back to the OP, I just think from my experience, the knife was taken apart and just put together wrong is all. Anytime I had blade play on a CRK mnandi or sebbie, thats what it was. Its an easy fix, just take it apart again and try to put it together more carefully the second time.....To me though, if someone says a sebbie/mnandi,etc. is NIB, that means it should be NIB, not taken apart and re-assembled, scuffed up, etc.
 
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JoHnYKwSt said:
I agree with everything So-Lo said. Also, if you open and close your sebenza/mnandi enough times it will start to have a bit of play, so a brand new one will feel different versus one that is well used. I have lightly and very carefully sanded my bushings to take up the slack with great results. However, I would only do it if it were really bothering you.
Click to expand...

Not sure I agree. Every mechanical device with moving parts is going to develop wear at some point, but I've got a 1997 small Sebenza that has had quite a lot of use and it has no vertical or horizontal play. If it did, I'd send it to CRK for either washers/bushing adjustment/replacement (lateral play) and/or stop pin adjustment (vertical play). But it may be my kids who get to do that. :thumbup:
 
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