Spyderco Forums

My question is do you only use grease on all parts, pivot, washers, detent etc. or is a less viscous lube OK to use as well? I took a part 2 knives and I used a Teflon lube on one and a Teflon dry lube that is much less viscous on the other. As you may have guessed the one that has the less viscous lube is like glass and the other knife while still really smooth still requires more force to deploy the blade. I tried it on 2 Emerson's and it was night and day and I lubed my Sebenza and as I said although it is smooth it still takes a bit to push it open.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Dwayne

I've been trying out different lubes lately. Most of my Spydercos had bee getting a drop of Tuf Glide until I bought a tube of Nano-oil based on all the glowing reviews. While it's a good lube it doesn't solve world hunger or anything. When I was testing it on my Sebenzas (complete teardown and cleaning) it would work fine for a few weeks but the lockbar would start to make a gritty sound as the knife was opened and closed. Another drop of lube on the detent travel path would solve the problem but would attract pocket lint and dirt. Finally called the local bike shop and got a tube of what CRK recommends: fluorinated grease. This was Finish Line's Extreme Fluoro but it's the same stuff as CRK and DuPont Krytox. Tore the knife down again, cleaned it up and applied this grease. The knife takes a little more effort to open now but definitely glides. It's a very smooth, refined action as it was from the factory compared to the Nano-oil. With the oil, the action felt a little snappy and less dampened. I prefer the feeling of the grease compared to the 10w oil, and it doesn't attract any more lint than the oil, even less I believe. The grease is very dry, almost powdery but adheres well to the titanium, bronze and steel surfaces. Will be trying this out on the Striders soon.

Clip wrote:I've been trying out different lubes lately. Most of my Spydercos had bee getting a drop of Tuf Glide until I bought a tube of Nano-oil based on all the glowing reviews. While it's a good lube it doesn't solve world hunger or anything. When I was testing it on my Sebenzas (complete teardown and cleaning) it would work fine for a few weeks but the lockbar would start to make a gritty sound as the knife was opened and closed. Another drop of lube on the detent travel path would solve the problem but would attract pocket lint and dirt. Finally called the local bike shop and got a tube of what CRK recommends: fluorinated grease. This was Finish Line's Extreme Fluoro but it's the same stuff as CRK and DuPont Krytox. Tore the knife down again, cleaned it up and applied this grease. The knife takes a little more effort to open now but definitely glides. It's a very smooth, refined action as it was from the factory compared to the Nano-oil. With the oil, the action felt a little snappy and less dampened. I prefer the feeling of the grease compared to the 10w oil, and it doesn't attract any more lint than the oil, even less I believe. The grease is very dry, almost powdery but adheres well to the titanium, bronze and steel surfaces. Will be trying this out on the Striders soon.

Hi Clip. Thanks so much for answering my questions, that helps a lot. It is easier for me to get the Finish Line product as I would need to get the CRK product shipped but I know that my local bike shop carries Finish line as that is the Teflon dry lube that I have used.

I wondered about the dry lube in comparison to the grease as it is "dry" so I thought it wouldn't attract to much debris and it does really smooth out the action but, like you wrote, it has the effect of making the knife much, much less dampened. In fact the Emerson that I did with the dry lube almost has no detent at all, where as the the other CRK and Emerson that I used the regular Teflon grease on have the same more refined action that you described in your post.

Thanks again, I will pick up some fluorinated Finish Line and give that a go.

Has anyone tried WD40 Silicone or Dry Lube?

I've been full circle with lubes. I like wax based White Lightning on some, and just plain old Tri-flow on others, with Tuff-Glide being used on anything that could be rust prone.

I use EEZOX Synthetic

Doc Dan wrote:Has anyone tried WD40 Silicone or Dry Lube?

Hey Doc Dan I'm glad you pointed out DRY LUBE>> because for the past year or so I've been going to DRY LUBE more than I ever have in the past. The one I'm using the most is made by Sentry Solutions and it's called "BP 2000". It's a lot like Graphite but it's got something else in it. It has worked great on my Dodo with the ball bearing lock.

Most of my conventional style folders I still use Militec>> if I find anything better than Militec I'll use it. Also Militec has something that would interest most of the posters in this thread. Militec makes a synthetic grease that is just beyong belief.

But I do want to check out dry lubes more because with all the progress that they have made with Dry Lubes overall is great and they don't attract lint and dirt, nor do dry lubes cause build ups in moving parts.

I like mineral oil or tufglide.

I think what you should use depends on the knife itself. Most anything will do on Spydercos. However one single drop of oil will destroy a classic slip joint with Brass liners when stored for long periods. I would say get all the oil off them and use nothing but Ren wax

There are so many new lubricants out on the market within the past 3 years. Again like I said in the last post if I find anything that I believe beats out MILITEC in convincing style I'll start using it immediately. One of the old school phiosophys that I live with is this><> "If It Isn't Broke, Then Don't Try To Fix It" and I do live by that adage for the most part.

But I am also the type of guy who likes to experiment with different things from time to time. But I've tried at least 6 to 8 samples of new lubricants that I have obtained from friend and so forth but nothing yet has shown me to be better than Militec that has been around for at least 12 years that I know of.

Sentry Solution's Tuf Glide, Tuf Cloth and their dry lube BP-2000 are all great products and I've used them a lot over the years.

From what has been said in the Guiness Book Of World Records is that nothing is any more slick than a compound known as PTFE. The PTFE is a teflon based lubricant that has other stuff in it and there used to be an automotive product that a lot of people used to swear by called "Slick 50".

I've never tried any PTFE products on folding knives but I would give it a try if they ever made any for general use. All I've ever seen is PTFE for automotive use.

For dry lube I like warming my metal knife parts on the car dashboard in summer sun (You can use a hair dryer in winter) & then applying FrogLube...let it dry & cool, wipe excess, then repeat... it's wax-like plus has the added benefit of being food safe...plus it has a mint odor...

For wet lube, I've had good results with very tiny drops of Nano Oil... :)

Good Luck!

RanCoWeAla wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 25, 2015 8:24 pm

However one single drop of oil will destroy a classic slip joint with Brass liners when stored for long periods. I would say get all the oil off them and use nothing but Ren wax

Can somebody explain the physics (or chemistry) of this statement for me? What is it in oil that is harmful to knives with brass liners?

Here in the middle of Canada, we get -40 temps, grease or heavy oil can make a knifes action less than desireable. I like to use fishing reel oil. Something called Quantum hot sauce, I believe is what I’ve got right now and it works great.

The CoPilot wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 07, 2020 3:19 pm

RanCoWeAla wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 25, 2015 8:24 pm

However one single drop of oil will destroy a classic slip joint with Brass liners when stored for long periods. I would say get all the oil off them and use nothing but Ren wax

Can somebody explain the physics (or chemistry) of this statement for me? What is it in oil that is harmful to knives with brass liners?

I’m confused as well. GEC ships their brass liner knives with a fair bit of oil on them. They are fully aware that many of their knives will never leave a safe and will be put there with the factory oil on them. They recommend oiling the joints as do other makers. Plus older knives of this style even have that etched or stamped on them.

I have old slipjoint pocketknives I’ve had since the 1970s with brass liners that, as a kid, I probably over-oiled, and the knives are still fine to this day. One of them, that I used to carry a lot, was a little messy from too much oil, but it didn’t ruin the knife at all.

As far as oiling Spydercos, TBH (and many here may disagree with this), but the only Spydercos that I lube on occasion are the back locks. I’ve never lubricated my Militaries, PM2’s, Para3, Manix 2, Caribbean, etc. Maybe I’m doing something wrong, but my knives always work just fine; the actions remain smooth, and they never feel gritty or gunky. Same with my CRK knives. I used to occasionally lube my first CRK a small amount occasionally, and it made the action worse, so I stopped, and it seems better without.

I do occasionally lube my SAKs very lightly with Tuf-Glide...less than a full drop on each pivot point. I simply get the blade tang/pivot areas slightly damp with the Tuf-Glide on the SAKs.

Jim

Doc Dan wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 12, 2014 12:36 am

Has anyone tried WD40 Silicone or Dry Lube?

I love the Dry Lube that Sentry Solutions makes. It's called BP-2000 and I've been using it for about 8 years now. If I find a better dry lube I'll switch immediately because I've had that good of luck with BP-2000.

If I were going to use any type of grease on any moving part on a folding knife I would use Militec's synthetic grease. That stuff is amazing. If there is a better grease out there with more lubricity I would love to know what it is so I could try it out.
That Militec Grease and a white lithium grease made by QMI are both great products.

The Tuf-Glide that the one Brother speaks of is also made by Sentry Solutions Co. and it's also a great product. I just like the Militec 1 synthetic oil a little better for most of what I use it on. Interesting thread for sure.

Shades of the resurrection of the dead! This is a 6 year old thread. I guess it is still relevant.

I have never, ever heard of oil ruining the brass on a knife. Blood, yes. Sweat, yes. Oil, never. There might be some oil out there that has additives that would react with the brass, but I do not know of any.

I don't mind the necro threads, it's always interesting to see what I thought and did years ago. Here we are five and a half years later and all I use anymore is Phil Wood bearing grease, except on knives that can't be taken apart and then I use Tuf-Glide if rust is a concern and motor oil on everything else.

Doc Dan wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 08, 2020 8:32 am

Shades of the resurrection of the dead! This is a 6 year old thread. I guess it is still relevant.

I have never, ever heard of oil ruining the brass on a knife. Blood, yes. Sweat, yes. Oil, never. There might be some oil out there that has additives that would react with the brass, but I do not know of any.

I’m to know glad I wasn’t the only one who read that statement about oil destroying brass-lined knives and thought “What the hay?!?”

The CoPilot wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 08, 2020 9:25 pm

Doc Dan wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 08, 2020 8:32 am

Shades of the resurrection of the dead! This is a 6 year old thread. I guess it is still relevant.

I have never, ever heard of oil ruining the brass on a knife. Blood, yes. Sweat, yes. Oil, never. There might be some oil out there that has additives that would react with the brass, but I do not know of any.

I’m to know glad I wasn’t the only one who read that statement about oil destroying brass-lined knives and thought “What the hay?!?”

Yes, I was a bit surprised by that one.

I know you are all aware, but I am most likely to use Vaseline Petroleum Jelly to lube my knives. It is basically mineral oil and paraffin wax. It lubes and protects against rust. A little dab and wipe it clean is all it takes. It will not hurt me if I use my knife for food, either.