Flourinated Grease paste for knife pivots

Comeuppance

Comeuppance

Fixed Blade EDC Emisssary
Joined
Jan 12, 2013
Messages
4,765
I picked up some pure fluorinated PFPE grease from everyone's favorite South American river in my never-ending attempt to turn my knives into purely frictionless wündermessers. This has been my experience:

PROS:
- Decent barrier to debris entering pivot
- Knife gotta go fast
- Comes in a syringe
- Comes off easily (for cleaning or etc)
- Doesn't drip
- Apparently lasts for ages

CONS:
- Slightly messy, especially if it starts coming out of the syringe on its own and you're not paying attention
- Comes off easily (when putting the blade on the pivot, it scraped off the grease I had applied on the pivot hole of the blade)
- Does not seep into pivots; Knife has to be disassembled to apply

I put it in the following knives, each with a different pivot setup:
- Cold Steel Recon 1 (PB+nylon washers on either side)
- SRM Land 910 (steel caged bearings)
- Factor Iconic (ceramic bearings)

I wanted to put it in my Spyderco Carribbean, but the loctite and soft screws kept me from accomplishing the state of disassembly that would be necessary.

I didn't notice an appreciable difference in any of them versus the Nano-Oil I used previously, but I guess the benefit is that it's less likely to bind up the pivot with gunk. I've never had that particular problem, though.

Anyway, this is just an anecdote to be later discovered by a google result. If smoother knife action is the goal, one can use Nano-Oil, KPL, tuff-glide, mineral oil, whatever. I haven't found it really matters all that much. Lubricating the right places (detent ball, lock interfaces, all pivot surfaces) makes much more of a difference to the action.

Edit: I seem to have invented a word.View media item 6413
 
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I lube with BreakFree and don't bother to disassemble, except I did once to clean my new Sebbie of accumulated gunk. Seems to work fine.
 
Grease loves dirt/ dust / debris . :(:thumbsdown:

I just use a 3M silicon / teflon spray that drys fairly clean . Helps wash out the dirt rather than accumulate it . :cool::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Also , I'm VERY lazy and love spray stuff , 'cause no disassembly required . ;)
 
Never tried grease in knives because it collected so much crap when I used it in my Glocks long ago. I use Rem Oil in knives. Already have spray cans and dropper bottles around for use on guns plus it’s cheap and easy to find.
 
It's funny that such a simple product like a lubricant for a knife pivot generates such disparate opinions.

Fluorinated PFPAE grease is my favorite lube for knife pivots when I have to take down and clean the knife. Nothing works as well for me, and it lasts a long time with no problem with the build up of dirt and such.

My EDC Rukus 610 has a big, 4.25 inch blade. When I get the pivot cleaned, polished and greased, I can hold the knife in a horizontal position, release the Axis lock, and the blade will fall open and swing freely for a few times like a pendulum. Not even my shelf-queen Shirogorov 111 is that good, and it's really, really good.
 
Here in WV we use owl poo as a lubricant. It's the slickest substance known to mankind. There us NOTHING slicker.
Also, it's free.
 
Oil is better and much easier to maintain on a knife pivot. If grease was better then your automatic transmission would be filled with grease. It's not. Anybody know what the temperature limits are on that Fluorinated grease? How thick does it get at zero degrees?
 
I've used fluorinated grease and oil (krytox, fomblin) in the lab for almost 20 years. The only reason we use it is that it doesn't burn or react. I've never found it to be a particularly good lubricant.
One thing I have observed is that mixing fluorinated oil with hydrocarbon oil is really bad news - it forms a sticky gel. You have to remove every trace of the the old hydrocarbon oil before switching to fluorinated oil. I don't know if these cheap PFPE greases behave the same way.
 
For a couple of Decades I have used a grease that is used by Ford on the horn/ cruise control/airbag slip rings on the back aides of their steering wheels.

I don't know the Ford part number (EDIT: I found my other can: Ford P/N D2AZ-19590-A) but if you inquire at a ford service/parts department and mention their "Light Blue Teflon Grease" they will know what you are talking about. It comes in a small (1lb) miniature paint can.

It is to describe it a grease that is on the thin-side of "Lubriplate" grease. it isn't prone to migration and doesn't seem too prone to attracting grit
 
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Mikke said:
This? https://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Ford-Fluid-XG-8-Lubricant/dp/B000NU77DA
Click to expand...


That stuff is much thicker, intended for driveshaft slip yokes

But thank you for the P/N I need some for my truck, that stuff has the consistency of Duck sauce.
and is somewhat sticky, it is intended to correct an issue Ford had with certain "slip-jointed" driveshafts where excessive lash in their slip-joints would make a Clunk when shifting and the steel drive would resonate with a loud Church bell like ring.

Their other "fix" was to switch many RWD vehicles to ALUMINUM Drive shafts. they make a dull clunk, because aluminum makes a lousy bell.

The light blue stuff I was talking about is D2AZ-19590-A

It has the consistency of butter in August (when the temp is pushing 90'F)
 
In my experimentation grease will always slow down a washer knife whereas oil will help it. I use a synthetic motor oil rated at - 60f so no one in the world who uses a knife I wish on will have any issues with gumminess :)
 
I went through a grease phase years ago. It was just messy and did nothing for the knife. Frog lube is slimy and stinky.

I find Rem oil with teflon to be perfect.
 
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