litithum grease

[Jwasm1992]

So I got a crkt ripple and really liked the smoothness, but I wanted to see how the barrings worked, so I took it apart and the barrings spilled every where and picked up all the crud that was on my desk, so after cleaning them off and spraying some rim oil on them before reassembly, the knife is back together but has lost its smoothness, so I was wondering if lithium grease would be a better solution? Has any one ever used it to lube a knife?

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Sounds like there's still some of that desktop crud in the workings. Even a single particle could get in the way of the ball bearings, which have to be absolutely clean to work well. Re-lubing with grease or anything else probably won't help a lot, until all the grit particles are out of it. Making sure the bearings are completely clean will have a bigger effect in the end. May have to dis-assemble it again and perhaps wash/rinse all of the parts in isopropyl alcohol or even hot water & dish detergent (Dawn, etc.), then rinse in hot water. Dry all the parts on a CLEAN surface, with clean rags and clean hands. The isopropyl alcohol can also be used to flush out any residual moisture, after the washing & rinsing. Only then would I put it all back together and lube it lightly. If the knife originally used grease for the lube, then that might work again. Otherwise, I'd just use some light oil, applied sparingly.

Found this pic on CRKT's site description of the knife (I'm assuming this looks like yours?):

David

 

[Jwasm1992]

yes thats what is looks like, i have taken it apart and cleaned it all i could find was a small fuzz on one of the balls, it was packed with some sort of grease so i put some Li grease on them and its back to the way it was before i messed it up, i can tell you i do not like the free barings, i much rather some thing that is encased alot less hassle, thanks for your help