I need a better lube for my pivot

Kamoe

Kamoe

Joined
Sep 30, 2012
Messages
183
I've been using plain olive oil as knife lube now for as long as I've had knives, but I'm kinda left wanting more. Since I've recently come into a knife with a ball bearing pivot system, the Zero Tolerance 0560, I've found out that wet lube isn't that good for them since they collect lint and crap in your pocket which can gum up the bearings. So I'm guessing a dry lube would be my best bet. I'm new to dry lube, can someone list me a few good brands that fit the bill, and your personal recommendation?

I'm sure there've been a lot of threads asking this very question, but the ones I looked at were from a few years ago, I'm sure things have changed since 2007 or so, new brands, new opinions, etc, so I guess maybe a more up-to-date thread would help me a bit more than one that's a few years old?
 
look up nano oil it, its been highly recommended by lots of knife users.
 
Just fyi, olive oil goes rancid, it is not recommended for lubing anything but cooking pans. For foodsafe oil, use mineral oil.

For what lube to use on a bearing system, why not ask the manufacturer. Could be no lube needed. Some people get overzealous with their lubing.
 
Good to know, Rat. I'll clean my knives out of any olive oil once I get my hands on mineral oil. Luckily there's a CVS a stone's throw away I can run over and pick some up in 5 minutes.
 
Pretty sure the ball bearing knives are semi-permanently lubricated, that is until you need to thoroughly clean the knife due to sand or grit getting into the pivot after a while. Any machine/gun/motor/bicycle chain oil will work really, and they don't even attract lint, the trick is to apply a drop or less to each side of the pivot area and wipe off any excess that doesn't immediately wick into the pivot (I use a folded paper towel or q-tip to wipe, and needle tip oil applicator).
 
I use frog lube on all my guns and knives and the stuff works amazingly well its also a USDA certified bio based product. Not to mention it Smells good too (like mint tooth paste).
 
That's what she said.

Inappropriate I know but I couldn't resist. I use CLP to clean and lube all my knives. It gets all the gunk, lint, tape residue, rust, anything off and out. Now for my 561 I clean it up with the CLP but then ill dry it off. If there is any oil in there it will attract any fine material that's in the vicinity because of the space the bearings create.

For knives with washers I leave a little bit of CLP around the pivot. The relative tightness keeps crap out and the CLP keeps them smooth.
 
There's a poduct known as "dry-slide" in gun stores. It sprays on and the carrier evaporates leaving the dry lube in place.

There's another called EEZOX that does the same thing.

Or, you can use a squeeze tube of finely powdered graphite. (warning, makes a mess, but works extremely well)

I don't lube knives, but these work well on guns.
 
I use ballistol, its a ph altered mineral oil. Not sure if its food safe or not, but I havnt died yet...
 
Jastab said:
I use ballistol, its a ph altered mineral oil. Not sure if its food safe or not, but I havnt died yet...
Click to expand...

haha this was great ^^^


i used cheap gun oil from the local gun shop. its like 2-3$ for maybe 3 years supply. i maybe 2-3 1/2 drops per knife then i air blast it out. less is always more. too much oil = good for a day but after that it picks up pocket lint/dust and makes it counter productive


good luck
 
I use a dry moly lube (powdered MoS2) for both knives and guns. It doesn't attract lint and other gunk that can gum up the works. My current favorite is Hoppe's which uses a less volatile liquid carrier and allows the moly to penetrate longer (compared to the Birchwood Casey and Breakfree formulations). I also like the smell of Hoppes better (in the morning...)
 
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