Lube on Ceramic ball bearing pivots. Yay or Nay, what say you?
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Knivesinedc
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Lube on Ceramic ball bearing pivots. Yay or Nay, what say you?
Looking to see what people think! I've heard people say that it IS beneficial to lube ball CBB pivots and others say no, the pivot is already a peak smoothness because of the rolling nature of the bearings. I want to know what the knife folk of the Spydie forums think!
Re: Lube on Ceramic ball bearing pivots. Yay or Nay, what say you?
Yes, but not much. I use very little on any pivot really. My ZTs get bare minimum, and my washer knives (most spydies and benchmades, etc) get very little as well. You don't really need as much as nick shabazz puts in his knives! Haha!
Also found that if you have a stubborn detent ball that just won't smooth out or be quiet, a little red lithium grease in the detent hole works wonders. Replenishes itself when it goes in the whole, doesn't affect action much, and really smooths it out.
Not food safe though!
Also found that if you have a stubborn detent ball that just won't smooth out or be quiet, a little red lithium grease in the detent hole works wonders. Replenishes itself when it goes in the whole, doesn't affect action much, and really smooths it out.
Not food safe though!
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curlyhairedboy
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Re: Lube on Ceramic ball bearing pivots. Yay or Nay, what say you?
detents frequently need more attention than bearings do.
EDC Rotation: PITS, Damasteel Urban, Shaman, Ikuchi, Amalgam, CruCarta Shaman, Sage 5 LW, Serrated Caribbean Sheepsfoot CQI, XHP Shaman, M4/Micarta Shaman, 15v Shaman
Fixed Blades: Proficient, Magnacut Mule
Special and Sentimental: Southard, Squarehead LW, Ouroboros, Calendar Para 3 LW, 40th Anniversary Native, Ti Native, Calendar Watu, Tanto PM2
Would like to own again: CQI Caribbean Sheepsfoot PE, Watu
Wishlist: Magnacut, Shaman Sprints!
Fixed Blades: Proficient, Magnacut Mule
Special and Sentimental: Southard, Squarehead LW, Ouroboros, Calendar Para 3 LW, 40th Anniversary Native, Ti Native, Calendar Watu, Tanto PM2
Would like to own again: CQI Caribbean Sheepsfoot PE, Watu
Wishlist: Magnacut, Shaman Sprints!
Re: Lube on Ceramic ball bearing pivots. Yay or Nay, what say you?
I voted "Yay". But I will make myself clear. I would personally limit it to using some type of dry lube. I've been leaning toward dry lube more and more in the past two years. They have made a lot of progress in the field of dry lube technology. I still use "Militec" for a lot of my basic lubrication jobs and it's a wet synthetic oil type lube. But I'm finding the dry lubes like Sentry Solutions BP-2000 to be ideal for a lot of moving parts on folders.
I also think that dry lubes will be more used in the future as they continue to improve the technology of those types of lubrication products. Because many new dry lubes with Teflon type materials and other synthetic compounds have been improving a lot in the past 10 years or so.
Millitec has been my favorite wet synthetic oil type lube for a long time. If I ever find one better I'll switch immediately.
I also think that dry lubes will be more used in the future as they continue to improve the technology of those types of lubrication products. Because many new dry lubes with Teflon type materials and other synthetic compounds have been improving a lot in the past 10 years or so.
Millitec has been my favorite wet synthetic oil type lube for a long time. If I ever find one better I'll switch immediately.
Re: Lube on Ceramic ball bearing pivots. Yay or Nay, what say you?
Depends.
On my blades with bearings, ceramic or otherwise, which are mostly Spyderco's or ZT's, my observations are such:
Out of the box, I find with Spydercos, especially on the newer, CQI style bearings (Sliverax, CQI Advocate, etc.) a small bit of nano oil improved the action a very noticable amount. Older style bearings knives (Domino, Mantra 1+2, etc.) was less noticable.
ZT's I rarely have had to oil down, OOB. except when something funky got in there, like my new-ish (at the time) 0562 which I loaned to my late brother, who managed to get all sorts of crud wedged in there. Stripped it down, flushed the area, little oil, and it was smooth as glass.
+1 to this. 99% of the time, the action improves markedly for me when this is cleaned/lubricated on my blades, without needing lubrication on the bearings, or cleaning of the pivot area.curlyhairedboy wrote: ↑Wed Mar 18, 2020 10:05 amdetents frequently need more attention than bearings do.
On my blades with bearings, ceramic or otherwise, which are mostly Spyderco's or ZT's, my observations are such:
Out of the box, I find with Spydercos, especially on the newer, CQI style bearings (Sliverax, CQI Advocate, etc.) a small bit of nano oil improved the action a very noticable amount. Older style bearings knives (Domino, Mantra 1+2, etc.) was less noticable.
ZT's I rarely have had to oil down, OOB. except when something funky got in there, like my new-ish (at the time) 0562 which I loaned to my late brother, who managed to get all sorts of crud wedged in there. Stripped it down, flushed the area, little oil, and it was smooth as glass.