How often do you lubricate your folders?

joeyza

joeyza

Joined
Feb 27, 2013
Messages
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I'm taking the domino flipper as an example here, it seems to me I need to lube it up quite often. And its not just the domino, it seems like this for most of my folders but in the case of the domino, I reckon I lubricate it every 200-300 flips. Is that normal? After 200-300 flips the detent ball always sounds a lot rougher and I can feel it getting rougher as well, almost like theres grit in it or something. I'm 100% sure there's no dirt or grit in it or anything, haven't even carried the knife yet but is it normal that lubricant only lasts this long for flippers and folders that are flipped a lot?
 
What are use using to lubricate your knives? I use Tuff Glide on autos, and the Chris Reeve grease on user folders, and I seem don't seem to have to clean or re-lube for several months.
 
I also use sentry solutions tuff glide. Maybe I should try the Chris reeve grease. Since it a grease is it a lot thicker than the tuff glide? Is it easy to get the grease into the inner working of the knife without taking it apart?
 
It's much thicker than tuff glide. I take my knives apart and put the grease on both sides of the washers. I'm not sure if it would be good for knives using ball bearings though.
 
I almost never oil a knife. Only rarely, when I take one apart for a deep cleaning. But as a general rule I just use my knives and they almost never get any oil.
 
Every 200-300 times and you don't carry it? :) Ever try Break Free? or is that not the best for this sorta thing.
 
White lithium grease works great for me. On a spyderco I recently polished the blade at the pivot hole with a 1000 grit and now it doesn't need lube at all.
 
On my EDC knife, I put a drop or two of nano oil in the pivot every other week, open and close it a few times, and wipe off excess oil that comes up around the tang and the back spring. That's it. Just to keep it lubed to add a bit of corrosion protection in the guts where you can't see and to keep the metal-on-metal friction down.

For my SAK, which I also EDC, I don't bother with lubrication and try to just keep the joints dry and clear of dust/dirt/lint.
 
I don't lube them very often. It's usually when they get all cruddy/linty that I clean and relube them. Nano oil sure is a dirt magnet compared to tuf glide, in my experience.
 
I use CLP to clean and lube them when i take them apart. That can range from a week to a couple months. It really depends on how much and what I've used them for.
 
I use Eezox probably once every few months on each as they all see equal carry time (more or less).

In the summer I'll coat the blade more often because of the humidity.
 
Maybe once a month.

just when it feels slow or gritty. I keep a mnandi on my table (practically unused) to compare smoothness.
 
I use white grease on the pivot of my EDC knives about once a year. I put on about as much as will fit inside of an 'o,' then wipe off the excess. That keeps my axis-locks swinging freely all year long.


Stitchawl
 
Nano-Oil on every joint of every/any/thing when placed in service, after a good cleaning...
 
I know the orgainl post was a while back but I was using the search function regarding tearing down a new folder and lubing it yourself before putting it back together and was wondering if many other did the same. I tend to take my new folders apart and if they have bronze washers I wipe everything down and then polish the washers to get them very shiny and smooth. Then I use a drop of TUF-GLIDE on the washers and put the knife back together. I find that this works really well and doesn't leave behind a heavy oil that will attract dust and grime.

I getting ready to do this to a Spyderco Tuff that arrived just about half an hour ago. I've had good luck with TUF-GLIDE, I like that it dries slick rather than staying wet and I'm pretty sure that buffing the washers on a micro-fiber cloth with a bit of Flitz and getting the washers super smooth helps as well.
 
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