Knife lubricant

[Paraguy]

WD40 is not a lubricant, it is made for water displacement and I read it gums up in time. I prefer sewing machine oil, bike oil, or, in a pinch, edibles like coconut oil / animal fat.

I also use sewing machine oil.

[Paraguy]

A friend of mine uses graphite and his knives are almost frictionless.

[jpm2]

A friend of mine uses graphite and his knives are almost frictionless.

I use no lubricant and some of mine are the same way.

[razorsharp]

I tried out Krytox oil out of curiosity ( its a common lube in the hobby I am in to right now) Its OK . But so far nano oil is still my go-to. :)

[notfixingit]

Knife Pivot Lube (on washers), or Nano-Oil - NanoLube (5w - 10w depending) although living in a dusty desert environment, certain knifes that I use specifically for dusty tasks, I use none on.

[Airlsee]

I had resisted for a long time, but I have become a big fan of Frog Lube when actually heated and applied properly. Especially for corrosion prevention and for a gun lube. For folders, fishing reel oil has treated me very well.

[DansGearAddiction]

I keep StClaire Nano Oil 10wt in all of my knives and am currently testing Knife Pivot Lube on my McBee.

I also like Victorinox Multi-Tool Oil if I'm looking for something food safe.

[mark greenman]

I think most of the liquid 'wet' oils are going to perform pretty comparably; and we saw that in the friction chart I posted earlier, where most of the wet oils are pretty similar to one another.

For me the biggest differentiator is between Wet vs Dry lubricants, and whether these also provide a rust inhibiting capability.

Thats why I'm pretty excited about the Hornady One Shot:

-Dry lubricant so wont attract dust even if over applied
-Knife/Multi tools open nice and smooth
-Dry protective coating allows covering the blade/pivot/liners with a rust inhibiting coating

[JD Spydo]

I think most of the liquid 'wet' oils are going to perform pretty comparably; and we saw that in the friction chart I posted earlier, where most of the wet oils are pretty similar to one another.

For me the biggest differentiator is between Wet vs Dry lubricants, and whether these also provide a rust inhibiting capability.

Thats why I'm pretty excited about the Hornady One Shot:

-Dry lubricant so wont attract dust even if over applied
-Knife/Multi tools open nice and smooth
-Dry protective coating allows covering the blade/pivot/liners with a rust inhibiting coating

Glad you brought that up Mark. Because there have been so many improvements in dry lube technology. One dry lube that has been around for over 10 years is "BP-2000" made by Sentry Solutions. I've had great results with that one.

There are a few newer dry lubes out there that contain PTFE and other Teflon compounds. I'm kind of surprised that they aren't being talked about more :confused: . Dry lubes have so many advantages especially with moving parts in constant contact.

[notfixingit]

I had resisted for a long time, but I have become a big fan of Frog Lube when actually heated and applied properly. Especially for corrosion prevention and for a gun lube. For folders, fishing reel oil has treated me very well.

I too use frog lube on guns but unfortunately on knifes I had an issue where it would break down to a liquid to quickly when it's 110F+ outside and most of it would end up inside of my pocket lol, on guns it would just cover internal parts and reform when cool

[notfixingit]

I think most of the liquid 'wet' oils are going to perform pretty comparably; and we saw that in the friction chart I posted earlier, where most of the wet oils are pretty similar to one another.

For me the biggest differentiator is between Wet vs Dry lubricants, and whether these also provide a rust inhibiting capability.

Thats why I'm pretty excited about the Hornady One Shot:

-Dry lubricant so wont attract dust even if over applied
-Knife/Multi tools open nice and smooth
-Dry protective coating allows covering the blade/pivot/liners with a rust inhibiting coating

Glad you brought that up Mark. Because there have been so many improvements in dry lube technology. One dry lube that has been around for over 10 years is "BP-2000" made by Sentry Solutions. I've had great results with that one.

There are a few newer dry lubes out there that contain PTFE and other Teflon compounds. I'm kind of surprised that they aren't being talked about more :confused: . Dry lubes have so many advantages especially with moving parts in constant contact.

Just ordered some BP-2000, this might solve my issue with extremely dusty situations where normal lube would just collect dust/dirt! Thank you!

[Airlsee]

I had resisted for a long time, but I have become a big fan of Frog Lube when actually heated and applied properly. Especially for corrosion prevention and for a gun lube. For folders, fishing reel oil has treated me very well.

I too use frog lube on guns but unfortunately on knifes I had an issue where it would break down to a liquid to quickly when it's 110F+ outside and most of it would end up inside of my pocket lol, on guns it would just cover internal parts and reform when cool

Oh no...I baked it into a few fixed blades and then let it cool and got it as dry as I can get it. I haven't sat them in the sun to see what happens. I also put it on the blades of a Rex45 Millie & NChief, hopefully it doesn't liquify to the point that it gets in my pocket. I'll obviously have a problem, haha!

I'll just keep using reel oil for the pivots on all my knives and if frog lube ends up being a no go as a corrosion preventative I'll just go back to mineral oil.

[notfixingit]

Oh no...I baked it into a few fixed blades and then let it cool and got it as dry as I can get it. I haven't sat them in the sun to see what happens. I also put it on the blades of a Rex45 Millie & NChief, hopefully it doesn't liquify to the point that it gets in my pocket. I'll obviously have a problem, haha!

I'll just keep using reel oil for the pivots on all my knives and if frog lube ends up being a no go as a corrosion preventative I'll just go back to mineral oil.

Unless you live in a desert like me or leave it sunlight, it will probably be fine

[Gibbo58]

Hornady one shot is a case lubricant for bullet reloaders.
Would that be the best lubricant for a knife pivot?
I use Ballistol on my Knives and Guns.
It may not be “Nano Oil” but it works fine and doesn’t cost that much.

[Michael Janich]

Dear Gibbo58:

Welcome to the Spyderco Forum.

Stay safe,

Mike

[mark greenman]

Hornady one shot is a case lubricant for bullet reloaders.
Would that be the best lubricant for a knife pivot?
I use Ballistol on my Knives and Guns.
It may not be “Nano Oil” but it works fine and doesn’t cost that much.

Hornady makes 2x versions of One Shot. You want the 'gun cleaner and lubricant':

https://www.amazon.com/Hornady-9990-Sho ... /B000LC9YM



I cant say its the 'best' but its pretty cool.
-cleaner removes old oil
-dry lubricant slicks knife without attracting dirt / lint
-protective coating helps prevent rust
-Spray format allows getting oil into pivot and washers without disassembly

[Airlsee]

Hornady one shot is a case lubricant for bullet reloaders.
Would that be the best lubricant for a knife pivot?
I use Ballistol on my Knives and Guns.
It may not be “Nano Oil” but it works fine and doesn’t cost that much.

Hornady makes 2x versions of One Shot. You want the 'gun cleaner and lubricant':

I cant say its the 'best' but its pretty cool.
-cleaner removes old oil
-dry lubricant slicks knife without attracting dirt / lint
-protective coating helps prevent rust
-Spray format allows getting oil into pivot and washers without disassembly

I bought a can of this when you posted the article a couple weeks ago...I haven't used it on a gun or knife yet, but that article definitely made me buy it.

[Jbaffoh]

5 years ago, the hot stuff in the fishing reel world was TSI 301 for bearings. I can vouch that if you soak the reel bearings in this stuff, the drum will free spool far longer than other lubes. On some reels, I could get three minutes of free spool with TSI 301, where other reel lubes were lucky to get 30-45 seconds. So, I’m a little surprised it hasn’t been discussed in any knife forums I’ve seen. I tried it yesterday on a ZT flipper with pivot bearings, and it seems to work pretty well. I bought the knife used and this was the first time it had been cleaned, but it was a definite improvement over before. I can’t say KPL or Nano or Blue Lube would have been any worse. https://tsi301.com/main.htm

[mark greenman]

Just wanted to report that I've continued to have good luck with the Hornady One Shot dry lube.

I give the pivot a solid squirt on each side, then spray down the entire blade. I let it stand for 5 minutes for the solvent to evaporate, and then wipe off any remaining residue from the blade. The pivot itself is fine since the small squirt doesnt leave residue behind.

This provides both a lubricant, and also a nice rust protective to the blade.

[FK]

Aerosol spray can give problems with rust under certain conditions.

The spray is rather cold when applied to steel,,,,, sometimes it will cause instant moisture to form on the steel which results later in rust/staining. Yes, you need oxygen to form the rust but I have observed this happening with aerosol sprays on machined parts.

Suggest you spray it on a cloth first,,, let it warm to ambient temperature,,, then wipe on the steel to be protected.

Regards,
FK