Help! How do you unlubricate a knife?

bquinlan

bquinlan

Joined
Jan 5, 2001
Messages
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I recently bought a new Leatherman Crunch. I didn't like how stiff the plier jaws were, so I lubricated them with Tuf-Glide. It did its usual magic and they loosened right up.

That's when I discovered that they are designed to be a bit stiff, as part of the mechanism that lets the thing fold up and close. Now it doesn't want to stay closed and it is also difficult to open. :(

Can anyone tell me how to unlubricate my Crunch? Most of the methods that come to mind are potentially destructive and I really don't want to screw it up any more than I have already. Help?

--Bob Q
 
Hot soapy water. A good dishwashing detergent like Dawn or Palmolive. Slosh it around, let it soak a bit. Rinse with the hottest water coming out of the tap, shake off excess and blow dry it for awhile. That should get rid of any excess moisture still hiding in nooks and crannies.
 
Gun Scrubber does an excellent job. Watch out for nometal parts though. If left on too long, I've seen it "melt" or discolor some handle materials. If you flush it with water immediately, at least in my experience, it doesn't have time to react.

Of course, your mileage may vary.

I'm gonna try Dawn (blue). That sounds like a good idea. I use it to strip wax off of my cars. Don't know why the blue works better, but it does. I picked that up over on www.edmunds.com car forums.
 
Another good product is electronics flux remover which is available at Radio Shack. It comes in a spray can with one of those tubes attaches so that you can get it into tight spaces like under components on a circuit board or into the joints of a folding knife.

The secret ingredient in Dawn (the component that makes it the only dishwashing soap strong enough for Bachelor Cooking) is Ammonia.
 
Thanks for the tip, Gollnick! No one close to me carries Gun Scrubber, but there's a Radio Shack very close.

I've been putting ammonia on my cars? Yikes...I assume it's a low concentration, but still...that just sounds BAD for paint...
 
Codeman, almost any dishwashing soap is bad for car washing. It will strip any wax, right off, and it is hard on the paint, and/or clear coat.
Get car wash soap from the auto parts store, it is made for that purpose, and won't harm the finish.:eek:
 
Mike,

Have you heard of Zaino car care products? Way better than anything you'll find in a auto store. More expensive, too. I use blue Dawn purposefully to remove wax and only then. In fact, using blue Dawn before claying is a great way to prep for a really good wax. I, too, cringe at the thought of someone using BD every time they wash their car.

Thanks for the warning, though. If I was using it all the time, I sure would hope someone would take the time to tell me.

Hmmm...I wonder if Zaino's wax (actually a polymer) would be good to protect my knives...
 
If Gun Scrubber works, but you can't get access to it easily, good ol' fashioned off-the-shelf brake cleaner works just as well :)
 
I knew I could count on someone here to have an answer for me. Thanks to everyone for the great suggestions and information!

I looked through the household cleaners I had around and found several that claimed to be degreasers. I ended up trying a tiny bit of Formula 409 and it "melted" the lubricant right off. My Leatherman Crunch is once again willing to close properly and stay that way. Victory! :cool:

--Bob Q
 
Hmmm...I wonder if Zaino's wax (actually a polymer) would be good to protect my knives...
Click to expand...

Maybe, but maybe not. These modern polymer formulas can be very specific. Something designed to work on paint may not work well on bare metal.

A true wax such as Minwax will work just fine on a metal blade, but may not be good for some insert materials, shell, wood, etc.

Just about every museum in the world uses a product called Renaissance Wax to protect a wide variety of materials. Do a web search and you can buy the stuff. It's kind of pricey. But, a little dab goes a long way. A $15 jar will probably protect a thousand typical knives and it's safe and affective no only on the metal, but on just about any insert or handle material. It's not a tough as a car wax might be, but if you're not going to leave your knife out in the weather 24/7, then you don't need that level of protection.

Gun Scrubber, on the other hand, is a very powerful product that will attack plastics, wood, and other delicate materials. You need to be very careful with it.

A lot of folks associate water with rust. They think that if you get a knife wet, it will necessarily instantly rust. This is just not true. Water can be used to clean a knife out. Just be sure to dry it when you're done, maybe use some compressed air to blow the water out of the tight places.
 
Zaino is the best I have ever used, bar none, and I have tried a lot. The best part is that it can be done in sunlight and actually lets you do the job faster. As far as Dawn on a car, if you don't wax it it is not that bad. Basically it will strip any wax off and dries out the clearcoat. However, every once in a while it is a good idea to use Dawn because it takes EVERYTHING off and lets you start with a clean slate. Now that I have gone off topic I'll let y'all in that one of the most commonly overlooked/underrated pieces to doing a car up right is using a quality claybar to remove particles from the finish before they get ground around and/or trapped under your polish/wax.
 
Originally posted by Gollnick


A lot of folks associate water with rust. They think that if you get a knife wet, it will necessarily instantly rust. This is just not true. Water can be used to clean a knife out. Just be sure to dry it when you're done, maybe use some compressed air to blow the water out of the tight places.
Click to expand...

As a general rule, follow up with a lubricant that displaces water... Tuf-Glide for example... that is, if you want some sort of lubrication.

Specifically for your problem, it seems that certain parts are lubricated and others are not. Perhaps you can lubricate it evenly and live with the looseness. If you carry your leatherman in a nylon or leather sheath, it should keep the tool well secured. On the other hand, the tool is made of 100% stainless steel. So, get yourself some sort of spray blast cleaner/degreaser from the gun shop and blast every nook and cranny out. Work the mechanism and blast... get every bit... Now, the trouble with Tuff-Glide is that it was designed to deposit chemicals that bond to the metal. whether or not that cleaner will remove the bonded chemicals, you will have to find out...
 
If anyone does try Gun Scrubber, and you're probably a lot better off if you heed Gollnick's advice, I wouldn't rely on any lubricant to displace the Gun Scrubber residue. The damage that it can do to Zytel and such occurs pretty quick. When I do use it, I always flush the knife thoroughly with water within 30 seconds or so and then dry it. Hairdryers are handy to help with the drying. The pivot then gets lubed with Militec-1 and the blade rubbed down with TufCloth. By the way, the G-10 that Benchmade uses stands up to Gun Scrubber well, but it will have a slight haze of residue, even with a thorough rinsing. A good rub with TufCloth gets rid of it.

Speaking of hairdryers, I started using one to help the Militec-1 dry. My experience with it on knives is that it works much better once the carrier has evaporated. Militec's website states that when used in gun barrels, the heat of the barrel helps the Militec-1 to bond. Well, I'm not going to cycle a folder fast enough to generate that level of heat, but I thought a little boost might help some. With a 3-4 cycles of applying and let dry, it's made a real difference. Without the hairdryer, it would take a few days to dry enough. With just a few minutes of heating (I keep it about 6" away to avoid excess heat), the carrier has evaporated within a few hours.
 
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