Nano Oil Thingy

[MadRookie]

Ok, decided to do some "high quality lube" testing.

Wanted to see the difference between the 85W & 10W grades.

The 10W is the thinner of the two & the recommended one for knives etc.

The 85W is much thicker & recommended for heavy duty use.

So went ahead & took apart some Spydies and first used the 10W (I had my suspicions...)

As expected there was a definite improvement in smoothness & deployment, yet lacking finesse...

Then I cleaned & used the 85W on the same knife (Blue PM2 M390 Sprint)....and....

The 85W grade lends just as much improvement in smoothness & deployment, yet gives the feeling & sound (slightly more muted) of a "better lubricated steel on steel, friction phenomena.

It also stays in the spot of application, not contaminating surrounding areas.

It is as if the 85W grade tends to act as a "gap filler" on the brass spacers, especially if they are not super smoothly polished.

My verdict - I go 85W


Some pics:























:)

[Mutt]

Did u consider doing this without taking the knife apart? Most people (me) are too lazy to bother with all that.

[MadRookie]

I suppose I could have, but wanted to clean all the previous lube from the pivot & spacers, and to check the difference between the two grades would have meant disassembly in any case to clean the previous grade.

I do believe that the 85W thicker lube might be somewhat problematic to get into all the "crevasses"....

The 85W gives the mechanism a real solid, clunky sound & feeling...

:)

[cckw]

One thought, in addition to the thicker giving it a nicer feel, the thicker might also have an increased ability to trap dust and become a negative over time. Something for some continued study if you care to.

[razorsharp]

I had the feeling 85w would have a super nice feel.... I might buy some and make something in the middle with my 10w

[FCM415]

Thanks for sharing.........Waiting for my Bluelube to run out to try this. I just can't have multiple lubes laying around!

[phillipsted]

I had the feeling 85w would have a super nice feel.... I might buy some and make something in the middle with my 10w

The folks at NanoOil say that the different viscosity products can be "mixed and matched" to create custom blends. I wouldn't want to try this with my car, but what a great concept!

TedP

[Evil D]

Did u consider doing this without taking the knife apart? Most people (me) are too lazy to bother with all that.

I suppose I could have, but wanted to clean all the previous lube from the pivot & spacers, and to check the difference between the two grades would have meant disassembly in any case to clean the previous grade.

I do believe that the 85W thicker lube might be somewhat problematic to get into all the "crevasses"....

The 85W gives the mechanism a real solid, clunky sound & feeling...

:)

Apart from modding a knife, this is one of the few times I feel it's necessary to strip down a knife for a thorough cleaning. When you're evaluating different lubes, you absolutely must remove all traces of the first lube before applying the second.

My only suspicion with the heavier lube is, does it slow down the action? Meaning, if you were flicking a lighter weight blade, would the heavy lube slow down the blade? I have noticed when using mineral oil that the thickness can be enough to slow the blade down. This was one of the reasons I moved away from wax based lubes, as they tend to gum up the action. It will still be silky smooth, but slowed down.

[MadRookie]

Yo David:

I only tested on the PM2 and Native 5, and there was no retarding in respect of the flicking action.

:)

[kbuzbee]

The folks at NanoOil say that the different viscosity products can be "mixed and matched" to create custom blends. I wouldn't want to try this with my car, but what a great concept!

TedP

Exactly what I was going to suggest. I've mixed the 10 with the 85 with great results. Faster flow than the 85 but much better than the 10 overall.

And it is easier to use without disassembly.

Ken

[kbuzbee]

My only suspicion with the heavier lube is, does it slow down the action? Meaning, if you were flicking a lighter weight blade, would the heavy lube slow down the blade? I have noticed when using mineral oil that the thickness can be enough to slow the blade down. This was one of the reasons I moved away from wax based lubes, as they tend to gum up the action. It will still be silky smooth, but slowed down.

My experience has been the opposite (of MR's) and the 85 does slow the action down more than the 10. This seems to lessen over time, I suspect as it dries?

[TomAiello]

Where did you get the 85? I can only find the 10 online.

[JNewell]

I suppose I could have, but wanted to clean all the previous lube from the pivot & spacers, and to check the difference between the two grades would have meant disassembly in any case to clean the previous grade.

I do believe that the 85W thicker lube might be somewhat problematic to get into all the "crevasses"....

The 85W gives the mechanism a real solid, clunky sound & feeling...

:)

A good idea. I think it's very rare, but I once had two different lubes interact inside a Python. They turned to a sort of varnish and locked the thing up like it'd been soldered together. Getting it cleared up enough to disassemble it was a real chore, and really cleaning it out was worse.

[Alchemy1]

I've used 10, 85, and the grease in pretty much every combo. I like the grease/10wt for heavy thick blades or just 85wt alone. I think 10wt gives a better feel on thinner lighter blades. I regularly maintain my knives, so I don't really see any negative effects of using a thicker lube.

[Nano-Oil]

A good idea. I think it's very rare, but I once had two different lubes interact inside a Python. They turned to a sort of varnish and locked the thing up like it'd been soldered together. Getting it cleared up enough to disassemble it was a real chore, and really cleaning it out was worse.

Hello JNwewell,

Actually Nano-Oil cannot polymerize (turn gummy cross linking into a polymer/plastic ),
It will in fact loosen up already polymerized other lubricants and frees the component affected.
this is true to bearings and anything else all the way to frozen shafts due to polymerized lubricants and or oxidized metal parts for the latter the 5 weight is the one.
Shot Show 2014 was great and a lot of beautiful Spyderco's were presented at the booth for a quick and dirty oiling since we used people's knives as demonstrators,
ongoing constant supply available.
I could not get enough of the Wow factor, just too much fun.

[jackknifeh]

Where did you get the 85? I can only find the 10 online.

Here is the site for the Nano-Oil company. The prices are about the same as I've seen anywhere and they have all the options.
http://www.nano-oil.com/Products.html

This is a really good thread. Lots of info. As I was looking through the pictures in MR's first post I had questions pop into my head. They were all answered as someone else asked the same things.

Jack

[jackknifeh]

I forgot to compliment the pictures MR. They are almost as good as your pictures of food. Almost. :)

Jack

[RadioactiveSpyder]

I swear by the 10 weight Nano oil, it is amazing stuff! I bought mine direct from the company but through their eBay storefront (stclaireusa), they have some up currently for $18 a tube. I've been using mine generously for about a year on many knives and barely dented the supply in the tube. Hope that helps. Cheers, Radioactive

[jackknifeh]

I'll mention the 5w. I have used it to break free some rusted bolts. Lets say the 10w works twice as good as any other lube I've tried. That's a pretty accurate statement. Well, the 5w works 10 times better than anything I've ever used to soak rusted bolts/nuts so I could break them free without cutting them off. If you can see the end of the bolt and the nut, put 5 or 6 drops where the threads are. I don't know how important this is but I like to hold the bolt so gravity may help the oil soak down into the threads. In the past I've had to wait hours for other products to work so the nut could be removed with a wrench. I've never had to wait more than 10 seconds when I use the Nano-oil 5w. Maybe the corrosion wasn't as bad as other times. But even when the corrosion didn't appear to be that bad, WD-40 or other things ALWAYS needed to soak for a while, usually hours. After applying teh Nano-oil I put it down and picked up the wrench and broke the nut free. That has happened every time I"ve used it. Probably 5 or 6 times since I got it about 2 years ago or so.

I also have used it to get into tight places because it is so thin. After that I think the 10w will get in there easier because of how a liquid seems to travel along a previous "trail" of the liquid. I have no idea if I'm better off using the thinner oil first or not. It may not have helped at all.

Jack

Jack

[Revival]

One of these days I will have to try this Nano Oil out. This thread reminded me that I need to order my Wiha torx screwderivers too.