- Joined
- May 18, 1999
- Messages
- 1,708
Ask someone what to use on their knives for lube and rust prevention, and you'll get as many answers as a politician has lies (I really shouldn't say that. I have a friend who is a Congresscritter). I've used several in the last 14 years I've owned good quality knives, so I figured I'd put some to the test. I wanted this to be bigger, with more products, but finances got in the way (or rather lack thereof). I finally broke down and started my rust prevention test, even though I didn't get around to getting any Benchmade BlueLube, Frog Lube, or Eezox.
The contenders (with links to their product pages):
The test medium:
hot-rolled steel flat bar that I bought at Lowe's, cut with my Dremel into smaller plates
a 2x4 that I cut slots into for the plates to fit in.
The methodology:
I cleaned the plates with some Blue Wonder Gun Cleaner which is amazing at getting stuff off of metal. I used the Gun Cleaner and 400grit wet/dry sandpaper to make the surface as even as I could and remove any surface rust. I wiped that junk off and then cleaned with acetone, followed by denatured alcohol (acetone will leave a residue, believe it or not). I now had chemically clean plates with no residual stuff on them.
Using a very unscientific method of finger-spreading, I applied a few drops of each liquid lubricant/protectant to both sides of the metal and spread it around as evenly as possible. I followed this with Q-tips to remove excess liquid, leaving a thin, even coat on the metal plates. I wanted it to be visibly coated, but not looking like someone left too much on (similar to what we would use on a knife in our pocket).
For the Militec-1, I heated the plate on my stove to make it hotter than a hair dryer could do, and about as hot as a gun barrel gets when firing (Militec-1 says their product penetrates hot metal better). I left enough on to be visibly wet but not saturated. The Armadillo is a hard wax substance, so I heated it a bit in the microwave, and heated the metal plate a little bit on the stove to facilitate melting the wax. After it dried to a haze, I buffed the excess off. There was enough Armadillo left on the plate to feel the slickness, but it wasn't visible. For the Tuf-Glide, I spread it on, then wiped the plate down with my Marine Tuf-Cloth to distribute it more evenly, and let it dry (it's supposed to be a dry lube).
I labelled the plates and stuck them in the 2x4 that I had cut slots in. I included a plate that was cleaned in the same manner as the test plates, but was left chemically clean for the control plate. I set it on top of my grill and sprayed the plates with tap water. While in many places this could be pointless, I live in the Sand Hills of Kansas, where the water is very hard. Not only that, but we have a Morton Salt plant here, along with the Underground Salt Museum that is part of Underground Vault Storage, who stores a lot of Hollywood films, props, etc. for preservation in the salt mine. Accordingly, the water here has some salt in it as well. I figured the stuff I pour down my gullet without a water filter or softener will work well as a real-world simulation of sweat. Every 24 hours, I photograph the plates, put them back, and spray them with more water. If it rains, I'll be setting them out in it to get them drenched.
So far, I'm on Day 2, and I'll keep folks updated, probably every 3 days or when one of the plates shows significant change. Due to the nature of my application process, I'm sure there are spots where the lubes are thinner than other spots, so I have elected to photograph the least corroded side, assuming that this side has had the best application of the product.
I'll mostly let the pics speak for themselves, but I'll add comments as I see fit.
Day 1:
Day 2:
One thing that I have noticed about the Militec and XFR plates is that they seem to have more rust on them than the control plate. This actually doesn't surprise me about the Militec-1 since it has sulfonates in it, which is basically a salt. Somehow this is considered a corrosion inhibiting additive by the chemical industry or some such, but it's basically an additive in areas that aren't supposed to dry out (think car engine). What I find surprising is that Militec says to apply it with heat, or apply it and shoot the gun to heat the barrel so the Militec can "bond" with the metal. Yet their MSDS sheet lists the "Conditions to avoid (stability)" under the "Stability and Reactivity" section. Condition to avoid? High heat. Not only that, but Militec-1 failed the Army's testing in the rust prevention category. That should tell you something.
I will say that in an area like Iraq or Afghanistan, Militec-1 would do very well as it won't attract dust/dirt like CLP does, and rust isn't much of an issue in such arid environments. Militec-1 is also an excellent lubricant. My pistol has a NP3 finish on the slide and rails, so rust is a non-issue for my gun. Militec made things even slicker than the teflon-impregnated nickel finish. My Benchmade knives open very smoothly with M-1 in the action, and with stainless steels like M390 and s30v, etc., rust isn't that much of an issue to begin with. M4, D2, 1095 and other carbon steels, on the other hand... But then, this test isn't about lubricating properties. It's about rust.
The Disotec XFR stands for eXtreme Friction Reduction, and it does just that! I have found nothing that lubricates better than XFR. It is very thin, gets in every crevice you need it to, and sticks around for quite a while. Until I did this test, I did not know how it works for rust prevention. Needless to say, I won't be using it on my Benchmade Presidio with an M4 blade, nor will I use it to oil the barrels of my firearms since finances don't allow me to shoot my guns as often as I want. They sit for a lot more time than they get used, and in a humid Kansas summer, that can be bad news without good rust prevention.
Day 5:
The Militec-1 and XFR are actually worse than the control. WD-40 isn't any better, and the others do quite well. Like I said at the beginning, I'm photographing the best side. On the Tuf-Glide, WeaponShield, and CLP plates, the worst side is noticeably worse, which just means I didn't apply it as well as I did on this side. You'll also notice that on the 4 good plates, the corrosion starts at the edge and moves inward. I've been handling the plates on the edges, and I know that I didn't get them applied well (esp. the Tuf-Glide/Tuf-Cloth -- didn't want to tear the cloth) due to the sharp edges on the plate from cutting it. I should have taken more time to grind the ends smooth and gotten a better application on those areas. The CLP plate was much easier to coat everywhere since I just sprayed it down.
I've been using Weaponshield on the pivots of my knives for lubrication, and I'm happy with how it performs rust-wise as well, although I'll probably stick with the Tuf-Cloth or CLP for the blades and use the Weaponshield in the action. I was given a Benchmade 910-LH left-handed Stryker, and 2 drops of Weaponshield turned a tough opening knife into one with a quick-flying blade. It lubes as well as the XFR and protects a ton better. If the XFR didn't perform so poorly in the rust test, I'd keep using it in my knives, but after this, I don't think I'll keep it around.
Day 15
This coming Sunday will have another pic at about Day 25. I haven't been as diligent at spraying the plates, but I've been setting them out at night so they are wet with dew overnight.
The contenders (with links to their product pages):
- WD40
- Militec-1
- Weaponshield
- Tuf-Glide/Tuf-Cloth
- Breakfree CLP (pretty much the gold standard in the gun world)
- Blue Wonder Disotec XFR
- Blue Wonder Armadillo (a wax-type product that is rubbed on and the excess buffed off)
The test medium:
hot-rolled steel flat bar that I bought at Lowe's, cut with my Dremel into smaller plates
a 2x4 that I cut slots into for the plates to fit in.
The methodology:
I cleaned the plates with some Blue Wonder Gun Cleaner which is amazing at getting stuff off of metal. I used the Gun Cleaner and 400grit wet/dry sandpaper to make the surface as even as I could and remove any surface rust. I wiped that junk off and then cleaned with acetone, followed by denatured alcohol (acetone will leave a residue, believe it or not). I now had chemically clean plates with no residual stuff on them.
Using a very unscientific method of finger-spreading, I applied a few drops of each liquid lubricant/protectant to both sides of the metal and spread it around as evenly as possible. I followed this with Q-tips to remove excess liquid, leaving a thin, even coat on the metal plates. I wanted it to be visibly coated, but not looking like someone left too much on (similar to what we would use on a knife in our pocket).
For the Militec-1, I heated the plate on my stove to make it hotter than a hair dryer could do, and about as hot as a gun barrel gets when firing (Militec-1 says their product penetrates hot metal better). I left enough on to be visibly wet but not saturated. The Armadillo is a hard wax substance, so I heated it a bit in the microwave, and heated the metal plate a little bit on the stove to facilitate melting the wax. After it dried to a haze, I buffed the excess off. There was enough Armadillo left on the plate to feel the slickness, but it wasn't visible. For the Tuf-Glide, I spread it on, then wiped the plate down with my Marine Tuf-Cloth to distribute it more evenly, and let it dry (it's supposed to be a dry lube).
I labelled the plates and stuck them in the 2x4 that I had cut slots in. I included a plate that was cleaned in the same manner as the test plates, but was left chemically clean for the control plate. I set it on top of my grill and sprayed the plates with tap water. While in many places this could be pointless, I live in the Sand Hills of Kansas, where the water is very hard. Not only that, but we have a Morton Salt plant here, along with the Underground Salt Museum that is part of Underground Vault Storage, who stores a lot of Hollywood films, props, etc. for preservation in the salt mine. Accordingly, the water here has some salt in it as well. I figured the stuff I pour down my gullet without a water filter or softener will work well as a real-world simulation of sweat. Every 24 hours, I photograph the plates, put them back, and spray them with more water. If it rains, I'll be setting them out in it to get them drenched.
So far, I'm on Day 2, and I'll keep folks updated, probably every 3 days or when one of the plates shows significant change. Due to the nature of my application process, I'm sure there are spots where the lubes are thinner than other spots, so I have elected to photograph the least corroded side, assuming that this side has had the best application of the product.
I'll mostly let the pics speak for themselves, but I'll add comments as I see fit.
Day 1:
Day 2:
One thing that I have noticed about the Militec and XFR plates is that they seem to have more rust on them than the control plate. This actually doesn't surprise me about the Militec-1 since it has sulfonates in it, which is basically a salt. Somehow this is considered a corrosion inhibiting additive by the chemical industry or some such, but it's basically an additive in areas that aren't supposed to dry out (think car engine). What I find surprising is that Militec says to apply it with heat, or apply it and shoot the gun to heat the barrel so the Militec can "bond" with the metal. Yet their MSDS sheet lists the "Conditions to avoid (stability)" under the "Stability and Reactivity" section. Condition to avoid? High heat. Not only that, but Militec-1 failed the Army's testing in the rust prevention category. That should tell you something.
I will say that in an area like Iraq or Afghanistan, Militec-1 would do very well as it won't attract dust/dirt like CLP does, and rust isn't much of an issue in such arid environments. Militec-1 is also an excellent lubricant. My pistol has a NP3 finish on the slide and rails, so rust is a non-issue for my gun. Militec made things even slicker than the teflon-impregnated nickel finish. My Benchmade knives open very smoothly with M-1 in the action, and with stainless steels like M390 and s30v, etc., rust isn't that much of an issue to begin with. M4, D2, 1095 and other carbon steels, on the other hand... But then, this test isn't about lubricating properties. It's about rust.
The Disotec XFR stands for eXtreme Friction Reduction, and it does just that! I have found nothing that lubricates better than XFR. It is very thin, gets in every crevice you need it to, and sticks around for quite a while. Until I did this test, I did not know how it works for rust prevention. Needless to say, I won't be using it on my Benchmade Presidio with an M4 blade, nor will I use it to oil the barrels of my firearms since finances don't allow me to shoot my guns as often as I want. They sit for a lot more time than they get used, and in a humid Kansas summer, that can be bad news without good rust prevention.
Day 5:
The Militec-1 and XFR are actually worse than the control. WD-40 isn't any better, and the others do quite well. Like I said at the beginning, I'm photographing the best side. On the Tuf-Glide, WeaponShield, and CLP plates, the worst side is noticeably worse, which just means I didn't apply it as well as I did on this side. You'll also notice that on the 4 good plates, the corrosion starts at the edge and moves inward. I've been handling the plates on the edges, and I know that I didn't get them applied well (esp. the Tuf-Glide/Tuf-Cloth -- didn't want to tear the cloth) due to the sharp edges on the plate from cutting it. I should have taken more time to grind the ends smooth and gotten a better application on those areas. The CLP plate was much easier to coat everywhere since I just sprayed it down.
I've been using Weaponshield on the pivots of my knives for lubrication, and I'm happy with how it performs rust-wise as well, although I'll probably stick with the Tuf-Cloth or CLP for the blades and use the Weaponshield in the action. I was given a Benchmade 910-LH left-handed Stryker, and 2 drops of Weaponshield turned a tough opening knife into one with a quick-flying blade. It lubes as well as the XFR and protects a ton better. If the XFR didn't perform so poorly in the rust test, I'd keep using it in my knives, but after this, I don't think I'll keep it around.
Day 15
This coming Sunday will have another pic at about Day 25. I haven't been as diligent at spraying the plates, but I've been setting them out at night so they are wet with dew overnight.
