KNIFE LUBE QUESTION

afishhunter

afishhunter

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(quote) "The only dumb question is the one not asked." (Al Einstein)

While whittlin' a pointy end on a stick filled with graphite, I started to question.

1) Graphite is an excellent dry lube. "Everyone" (allegedly) knows that.

2) Mechanical pencil "lead" is graphite, easy to find, inexpensive, and easy to crush.

While it would be a major P.I.A. to work it into the joints of knives that have pinned construction, for example, would or does graphite powder make a poor, or fair, or good, or excellent, semi-permanent non-stick (possibly and probably messy) knife lube?
 
Graphite is a good lib in certain Situations, knives are not one of them. A good quality thin oil is best. You’ll hear many many suggestions. I use only Go-juice by ALG DEFENSE. Works noticeably better than anything else I’ve tried.....and I’ve tried a lot!
 
I have noticed an immediate improvement in every knife I owned after using Otis dry lube on the pivot. Not sure exactly what is in it but it make the actions smooth at silk.
 
I second what sickpuppy1 said about the Go-Juice,Go-Juice is also the slipperiest oil I have ever tried and also it's dirt cheap at 11.50 for 4oz and you only need 1 small drop down the side of each washer.

Go-Juice is also food safe non toxic and plant based and it will not gum up at all,it makes a difference you can feel over other oils,just get a needle oiler bottle off of ebay to apply it with because the hole in the Go-Juice bottle is to big for knives.

Grease is the worst thing for knives because as the grease squeeze's out from in between the washers it collect's all the dirt and gritty crap in your pocket.
 
This is a timely thread because I have been using Hoppes but was thinking about getting some lube specifically for my knives.
 
I'm no lube expert so these are just my observations. With knives with PB washers, I personally have developed a preference for the duration of grease.

I became interested in this after reading about the common means of using graphite to ease lock stickiness with brand new CRK frame locks. I've played around with dry powder graphite lubricants, and at least on knives with PB washers, my pseudoscientific observation was mixed. It's friction reduction was less than other lubricants I've used (my observation...I did not use a machine to test this) although it certainly has persistence/staying power and its low toxicity is desirable for a folding knife used with food prep. To my understanding, graphite lubricants shine especially bright in high-temp, lower-speed applications, which are a bit different from most knife usage scenarios.

The closest thing I have found to a semi-permanent lubricant has been DuPont's Teflon Grease, which is a dry, fluorinated grease marketed for cycling usage (significantly 'dryer' than say CRK's or Tetra Gun's fluorinated greases). Its application absolutely necessitates disassembly though, but it does a reasonably good job at reducing friction while also persisting for insanely long periods and maintaining its level of friction reduction even as it becomes increasingly contaminated by the gunk that tends to accumulate inside of knives. Its resistance to evaporation, migration, water, and solvents is just spectacular. I recently took a Benchmade apart that I last disassembled in 2014 and have carried pretty often and the grease was still present and still providing effectively the same level of friction reduction it was in 2014 without having had any additional lubricant applied in this period. It's also persisted inside of CRK perforated washers after boiling the entire knife.

I have wondered about PB washers with slots/perforations where the slots/perforations contains a graphite insert that is developed specifically for knife usage. I would also love to see future washers made from some of the new solid lubricants they have been developing as well.
 
pnsxyr said:
I'm no lube expert so these are just my observations. With knives with PB washers, I personally have developed a preference for the duration of grease.

I became interested in this after reading about the common means of using graphite to ease lock stickiness with brand new CRK frame locks. I've played around with dry powder graphite lubricants, and at least on knives with PB washers, my pseudoscientific observation was mixed. It's friction reduction was less than other lubricants I've used (my observation...I did not use a machine to test this) although it certainly has persistence/staying power and its low toxicity is desirable for a folding knife used with food prep. To my understanding, graphite lubricants shine especially bright in high-temp, lower-speed applications, which are a bit different from most knife usage scenarios.

The closest thing I have found to a semi-permanent lubricant has been DuPont's Teflon Grease, which is a dry, fluorinated grease marketed for cycling usage (significantly 'dryer' than say CRK's or Tetra Gun's fluorinated greases). Its application absolutely necessitates disassembly though, but it does a reasonably good job at reducing friction while also persisting for insanely long periods and maintaining its level of friction reduction even as it becomes increasingly contaminated by the gunk that tends to accumulate inside of knives. Its resistance to evaporation, migration, water, and solvents is just spectacular. I recently took a Benchmade apart that I last disassembled in 2014 and have carried pretty often and the grease was still present and still providing effectively the same level of friction reduction it was in 2014 without having had any additional lubricant applied in this period. It's also persisted inside of CRK perforated washers after boiling the entire knife.

I have wondered about PB washers with slots/perforations where the slots/perforations contains a graphite insert that is developed specifically for knife usage. I would also love to see future washers made from some of the new solid lubricants they have been developing as well.
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If it were me I would use Go-Juice because it's extremely effective and although you may have to lube it more you don't have to take the knife apart and worry about stripping or loosing a screw,also you can just use a good amount of dish soap and running water to clean the knife and it's comes really clean.

I'm sure you have heard the term heirloom furniture and it's used with other item's,ALG should put on the bottle if used as a knife lube this oil will be a heirloom item,I think I got m first bottle 4 or 5 years ago and I have only filled 1 needle oiler bottle so in terms of cost for 4oz it's priced right if you ask me.

I think your idea of a PB washer that hold's graphite may have promise if the graphite could be turned into little hard pucks that went into 2 or 3 holes that were stamped or drilled into the PB washers,I think the big thing would be making the graphite hard enough to act like a dry lube so it's not to soft and wouldn't get used up to fast,and if it was to hard it would most likely crack and shatter,I think if a person could find the right balance it could have promise to be a real winner.
 
Ask 40,000 knife owners about lube and get 40,000 different answers!!

Everyone's lube is the best lube.

I prefer Rhino Smegma. The problem is that is is hard to get.
 
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Ask your self if you want the lube to migrate or stay in a given area. Knives or guns, CLP if I want the oil to thin out and migrate to a bigger area and Super Lube or Neil Keller's Kellube if I want it to stay in place.
 
I agree with Daniel that a lot of us swear by different things. The two I use most often are Tuff Glide and Benchmade Blue Lube.
 
NMpops said:
Mineral oil. Food safe and cheap and easily available.
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Only problem I have with mineral oil is at the assisted living facility I am at, I need a doctor's prescription to get some, even if it is an over the counter item. (two of my prescriptions and the dosage are over the counter medications.)
I suppose I could ask my doctor for a one-time prescription, if I promise not to take any of it (ew.) and to only use it as a knife lube.
Maybe it wouldn't have to be locked up with all the other medications, and I could keep at least a unicorn bottle of it in my room.
 
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