Spyderco Forums

So many people seem to swear by this stuff I figured I'd hop on the bandwagon and drink the koolaid. Honestly I have my doubts so this will be interesting one way or another, I'll either be proven wrong and love it (preferably) or I'll just stick with my bearing grease which I really really like so it already has some stiff competition.

To all you supporters, what other lubes have you tried that you feel this is better than? Have you ever tried bearing grease? I don't mean the nasty thick black stuff that'll stick to a wall, I mean high performance bicycle stuff like Phil Wood which is much thinner and extremely slick.

I first tried grease in my Southard, because bearings mean bearing grease right? I have tried a couple other lubes I have in bearings (White Lightning, Tri-Flow) and nothing compares. I particularly like that it creates a barrier at the edge that crud doesn't seem to get past. When I take my knives apart there is always a ring of pocket lint around the pivot but the pivot itself is always clean.

So we'll see. I've got a fleet of Sliveraxes'ss's that I'll try the Nano on and I since I've got a couple of them I'll be able to do a direct side by side comparison so there won't be any other variables besides my ability to tune the pivots equally.

I find it depends on the knife. Sometimes I use nano oil, sometime I use grease. Sometimes I use both, nano oil for the pivot, grease for the ball detent track. There are also different weights for nano oil, that can make a big difference. So I typically try nano oil, if it doesn’t work I try something else. Play around with it and see what works for you.

I wonder how Lucas oil stabilizer would work on knives. It's very thick.

I’ve always just used Knife Pivot Lube because that’s what I bought first and I’ve grown accustomed to the applicator. I really don’t care too much about what oil as long as they aren’t dry. I’ve even used Hoppe’s Elite Gun Oil on my knives from my guns with no noticeable difference. Let us know what you think.

Pelagic wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 11, 2019 5:32 pm

I wonder how Lucas oil stabilizer would work on knives. It's very thick.

Motor oil in general should work extremely well and it comes in a plethora of weights. You could also get one quart and it'll last 10 generations if you only use it for knife pivots. I may give this a shot too while I'm tinkering around.

Nano-Oil is my favorite for folding knives.

For new knives, 5wt for the initial pivot/washers and after that 10wt for routine lub.

Regards,
FK

I wish someone would send this stuff in for a VOA so we could learn exactly which motor/gear oil bottle it comes out of :D

I bought some a few years ago when the hype was really high (hard to find). It's good. It does what you expect. The new lubricant du jour is KPL. Given the price difference between it and Nano Oil (plus, people really seem to like KPL), I don't know if I'd get Nano Oil again. I'm skeptical of the "nano" benefits, but I was a sucker for those well-known YT channels that raved about Nano Oil.

I'm interested in what you have to say about how it compares to your normal lubricant of choice. I don't think you will be disappointed, but I don't think you will be blown away by it either.

I've actually used plain old 3-in-1 with good results

I'll be interested to read what you think about it. I've had 10 wt Nano oil in my shopping list for a few years. I haven't actually ordered it yet. To be honest I'm not real picky about oils. I'm the same way with gun oils. I probably have a half dozen different kinds. They all do what I need em to. I'm currently using Weaponshield for pivot lube. It works fine. I find it hard to believe that something KPL could be that much better.

Has anyone ever used Benchmade Blue Lube? It's the only thing I've used and seems to work pretty well. Interested in how it stacks up against the others from anybody with experience with it?

I’ll be very interested in your findings D. I’ve wondered about nano oil myself but balked, primarily because I couldn’t be happier with Shimano Ace-2 grease I’ve been using on pivots for a couple of years now. :)

My old Camo S30V Military is as smooth, slick and silent today as it was at least two years ago when I first serviced it. :cool:

I’ve experimented with all sorts of fancy lubes in the past playing with guns, re sizing cases etc. and knives pivots and I’ve found without exception the fancier the name and colour the more likely they’ll be nothing both but Snake Oil.

I'm currently using a Boker Oil Pen. Very lightweight oil. Seems OK so far.
I put some on the pivot and use my finger to smear oil all over the blade.
Sometimes I forget which way to run my finger and get nicked.Focus,focus !!!

TkoK83Spy wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 11, 2019 6:37 pm

Has anyone ever used Benchmade Blue Lube? It's the only thing I've used and seems to work pretty well. Interested in how it stacks up against the others from anybody with experience with it?

We tried it once , but the Mrs got a rash .

I've used plain old mineral oil for about a year now. Works pretty good. I have nothing to complain about.

I've used several different oils. I have trouble telling much difference. They're mostly good, with only a couple that gave me weird/bad results.

I have a case of SAE 20 non-detergent I bought for use with my lathe. I may as well use that since I have a supply for several lifetimes.

I typically use whatever I can just reach for at my workbench, which is currently either tri-flow or CLP. If I get some of that SAE 20 in a handy oiler I'll use that more often.

I've tried all the nano oils that was at work, but I went back to using Balistol. It seems to work just fine on the blade and pivot. Nano works too but it's quite a bit more expensive and it doesn't come with a nice funky smell my trusty Balistol does. :D

Any oil is going to be just a tiny fraction of the cost of the knife.

Swear by this stuff
Cheaper than Nano and basically the same