Anyone tried a different lube?

I've learned on my ti lock. One lube job with Crk grease will last 6 months easy. I've cleaned after a month or two in the past and it was pointless. That said. The grease acts different in the bearing pockets of this knife. And it is phenomenal. I tried my rem oil and nano and it made things worse and attracted more mung.
 
Been using DuPont Krytox GPL 205 grease for one of my older 21s...works pretty well, although the movement is almost a little more firm. Which i don't really mind...feels a little more dense than the CRK grease but similar...
 
Corytr said:
I've heard that this is the stuff:

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I may try and buy the one in the 2oz. Syringe.. Have you tried using this Corytr?

416isToronto said:
Been using DuPont Krytox GPL 205 grease for one of my older 21s...works pretty well, although the movement is almost a little more firm. Which i don't really mind...feels a little more dense than the CRK grease but similar...
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I use the Krytox on my Titanium flashlight threads.. great stuff... :D
 
I've had 85w Nano-Oil on my EDC 21 for a couple of days now, and I have to say I'm impressed. The action is very smooth, and it hasn't attracted any lint or debris. I wouldn't say it's a night and day difference from CRK grease, but I used maybe 1/100th of the $18 Nano-Oil tube and it feels perfect.

I will say that the applicator syringe is amazing. Really a pleasure to apply.

Time will tell if it dries out. That's my only concern at this point. Will report back after a couple of weeks.
 
I've had my Sebenza 25 for six months. The only time I've disassembled it was the day after I got it, and that was just to see what makes it tick. I cleaned & reassembled using the supplied tube of grease. An occasional very small drop of gun oil to the pivot with a needle oiler has kept it running smooth. Judging by the amount of grease I used, the tube that CRK supplied should last another year or longer.

By that time, it's likely that someone will invent a Delta Force & SEAL approved, super slimy, never wears out, magic unicorn snot, that will make all other lubes obsolete & be the recommended the lube for everything from CRK knives to Jet engines.
 
Anarchy84 said:
I've had 85w Nano-Oil on my EDC 21 for a couple of days now, and I have to say I'm impressed. The action is very smooth, and it hasn't attracted any lint or debris. I wouldn't say it's a night and day difference from CRK grease, but I used maybe 1/100th of the $18 Nano-Oil tube and it feels perfect.

I will say that the applicator syringe is amazing. Really a pleasure to apply.

Time will tell if it dries out. That's my only concern at this point. Will report back after a couple of weeks.
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Thanks for following up, Anarchy84. As I wrote earlier, I've used 5w and 10w extensively, but haven't yet used any of my tube of 85w. I plan to try it in a CRK pivot next time I open and clean one.

BTW, there's a recent but not-yet-extensive NanoOil thread over HERE with some thoughts on NO and a few other lubes. I referred to Cody's post above in that other thread and mentioned that my lack of success with fluoro-grease--CRK or other--may be due to my ham-handed inability to apply a small-enough amount.
 
ChazzyP said:
Thanks for following up, Anarchy84. As I wrote earlier, I've used 5w and 10w extensively, but haven't yet used any of my tube of 85w. I plan to try it in a CRK pivot next time I open and clean one.

BTW, there's a recent but not-yet-extensive NanoOil thread over HERE with some thoughts on NO and a few other lubes. I referred to Cody's post above in that other thread and mentioned that my lack of success with fluoro-grease--CRK or other--may be due to my ham-handed inability to apply a small-enough amount.
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Honestly, I've gotten really good results by applying more than a little CRK grease. Not to the point where it's excessive, but just a decent amount between each washer and the blade, and a little more spread around the pivot bushing hole (in the grooved pockets). I put just enough on so when I assemble the knife it doesn't squeeze grease onto the blade tang or lock face. More than a dab, less than a mess. If that makes sense.

I can't imagine putting too much grease on the knife unless you were being completely careless.
 
I use Nano Oil 10w on all my other pivots so I figured I'd give it a go in my small sebenza. Opened her up when she needed cleaned and added a drop of nano oil on each side after a thorough cleaning. I hated the way the action felt on it afterwards so I went back to the CRK grease and haven't looked back. YMMV but if it ain't broke don't fix it!
 
BeardlessBuckeye said:
I use Nano Oil 10w on all my other pivots so I figured I'd give it a go in my small sebenza. Opened her up when she needed cleaned and added a drop of nano oil on each side after a thorough cleaning. I hated the way the action felt on it afterwards so I went back to the CRK grease and haven't looked back. YMMV but if it ain't broke don't fix it!
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I think 85w could be a little thicker / more viscous for the job, so I can only imagine 10w would be awful for it.
 
Anarchy84 said:
I think 85w could be a little thicker / more viscous for the job, so I can only imagine 10w would be awful for it.
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Well, just to revisit my original post when I started this thread, I put 10w Nano in my large 25 and very much prefer the action to the condition of the knife when I received it (used) and after my initial cleaning and re-lubing with fluoro-grease. Not awful in any way.

After all, CRK pivots are excellent, but not fundamentally different from other well-made knife pivots utilizing phosphor-bronze washers, consideration/discussion of bushing pivots notwithstanding. 10w Nano works well for me in other knives, so why not in a CRK?

However, I do still plan to try the 85w Nano in the the next CRK I disassemble and re-lube just to see how that goes.
 
ChazzyP said:
Well, just to revisit my original post when I started this thread, I put 10w Nano in my large 25 and very much prefer the action to the condition of the knife when I received it (used) and after my initial cleaning and re-lubing with fluoro-grease. Not awful in any way.

After all, CRK pivots are excellent, but not fundamentally different from other well-made knife pivots utilizing phosphor-bronze washers, consideration/discussion of bushing pivots notwithstanding. 10w Nano works well for me in other knives, so why not in a CRK?

However, I do still plan to try the 85w Nano in the the next CRK I disassemble and re-lube just to see how that goes.
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Interesting. I've never used 10w on a knife pivot, I just thought it might be too thin / watery for the purpose. Do you find that the 10w dries out quickly on your 25?
 
Anarchy84 said:
Interesting. I've never used 10w on a knife pivot, I just thought it might be too thin / watery for the purpose. Do you find that the 10w dries out quickly on your 25?
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I use the 10w in my other knives and love it, but I don't know any different. It does tend to leak out for a day or two after application, but doesn't seem to dry out too quickly. I think I was just too used to the action on my sebenza to change it!
 
BeardlessBuckeye said:
I use the 10w in my other knives and love it, but I don't know any different. It does tend to leak out for a day or two after application, but doesn't seem to dry out too quickly. I think I was just too used to the action on my sebenza to change it!
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FWIW, even with the 85w I noticed a little bit of seepage / migration near the thumb stud just after applying it. Wiped it away and it never came back. I probably just applied it a little too liberally. 😀
 
Anarchy84 said:
Interesting. I've never used 10w on a knife pivot, I just thought it might be too thin / watery for the purpose. Do you find that the 10w dries out quickly on your 25?
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I had to go back and look to see when I got the 25. It's been 6 weeks and I changed to the 10w pretty much straight away. I've carried the knife probably a dozen-or-so times since and have played with it lots of evenings. It's still as smooth and easy as right after I did it and no oil has migrated out onto the tang or scales. It thumb flicks out very easily (please don't tell Chris ;) ). I didn't use much, maybe 2 drops each washer plus one in the pivot hole. The NanoOil needle dispensers are awesome for careful placement of tiny amounts.

I have between 2 & 4 drops of Nano in pretty much every knife I own. Most of it has been added to fully assembled knives. I'll rotate the blade between open and closed positions to find the most accessible spot with the most washer exposed, put a drop there at each side, and work it in. If the knife seems sticky or sluggish I'll use the 5w as it seems to penetrate well, otherwise I use the 10. According to Christian St Claire, NanoOil's formulation allows it to combine with whatever other lube may be present and to reduce any existing friction or stiction.

I've tried a lot of different lubes, but none other since I started using NanoOil, save for one successful and one not-so-successful use of fluoro-grease in 2 CRKs.

Edit: One other use of something other than NanoOil recently--My Wilson Combat Eagle gave me fits for months. I finally used TriFlow (PTFE) on the Teflon washers and the knife is wicked smooth and flips easily now.
 
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I completely agree that the Nano-Oil has made flicking the knife open far easier. I don't tend to do that (not because it's frowned upon, I just don't see the need), but I think that's a pretty good indication that the Nano-Oil has awesome lubricating properties.
 
ChazzyP said:
...After all, CRK pivots are excellent, but not fundamentally different from other well-made knife pivots utilizing phosphor-bronze washers, consideration/discussion of bushing pivots notwithstanding. 10w Nano works well for me in other knives, so why not in a CRK?...
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Some say the CRK pivot system is special, given it's use of the bushing and the washers. Most knives don't use a bushing. The washers are different than most knives, given the holes it has to hold the grease and provide long term lubrication plus helping to keep moisture out.
 
brownshoe said:
Some say the CRK pivot system is special, given it's use of the bushing and the washers. Most knives don't use a bushing. The washers are different than most knives, given the holes it has to hold the grease and provide long term lubrication plus helping to keep moisture out.
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CRK pivots have features not found in most other knives, but I would not characterize them as fundamentally different. Bushing or no, perforations or not, you still have an axle through a hole in the blade supported by phosphor-bronze washers. The purpose of the bushing (aside from its function as an axle) is to enable the maker to pre-establish the tolerances at the pivot--scales, washers, blade--and to enable the pivot screw to be tightened down all the way without loctite. A bushing pivot requires no more or less lubrication than an adjustable pivot.

It's also worth noting that 25s, Umnumzaans, and now the Inkosis do not have bushing pivots. They have adjustable pivots and are shipped with loctite.
 
I've never owned a new CRK so I've never had any fluoro-grease to try. Knife pivots aren't a particularly demanding application for lube (low shear, low heat, no where near the cycling of an engine spining at thousands of rpms) so I've always just used what I've had on hand.

Up until a few months that was STOS (slicker than owl sh*t). It's a grease designed for the pivot areas of over/under shotguns. It did the job but, I didn't know what I was missing till I tried some frog lube paste on my umnum. I couldn't believe how much of a difference it made in the action/feel. Not only does it make my knives buttery smooth:
  • I can wipe it on all the metal surfaces for rust protection
  • It smells 10x better than anything else I've used
  • It's food safe so I don't have to worry about it as much. (Not that I would recommend eating it).
  • It's a paste so it stays put/doesn't migrate and it's not nearly as messy.

Just like any other lube it gets sluggish after some dirt build up but, it doesn't seem to attract it as quickly. It's also a bit pricey but, so is fluoro-grease.
 
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