Lube making Mcusta stiffer

H

Hair

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Nov 9, 2005
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I have used Tuf-glide before and it seemed to work well, but I just put some on my Mcusta Kasumi and the action now feels stiffer. It is still very smooth and can be flicked open, but it feels like the pivot was tightened.

Is this because I put too much on? Or because the tolerances on the Kasumi are too close? (I have heard that Tuf-glide doesn't work well on knives with close tolerances at the pivot)

Should I put some other lube on now (I also have Militec and White Lightning), or wait a few days or weeks for the Tuf-glide to wear off?

I don't mind the tightened action as it still feels smooth and can be opened easily. I just want to be sure that nothing is damaged or being worn as it is now. Should I take action to prevent damage? Or is it safe being stiff and maybe a little over-lubed?

Thanks in advance.
 
I have this problem with a Gerber bolt action (80's vintage) and trying to clean it out has done nothing for it.

I think you might have to wait for it to "work" out of the pivot.

But, I can't wait to see what others say.
 
Perhaps the Tuf-Glide had washed some crud into the pivot area. I do not think that the tolerances of any knife are so close that a thin film of Tuf-Glide would cause the blade to be tighter.

What I usually do when lubricating a new knife is to loosen the pivot until the blade wobbles badly, apply Tuf-Glide until it drips out to flush out the crud. You will often see that the Tuf-Glide dripping out will be discoloured. Then wipe/shake off, tighten the pivot, then you are good to go. If you cannot loosen the pivot, flushing with Tuf-Glide is still a good idea.

If there is still to some Tuf-Glide seeping out, then use the old hairdryer trick then polish off the dried Tuf-Glide. Personally, I love Tuf-Glide and will just wipe the drips all over the knife to keep every thing rust free.

I find Militec to be thicker than Tuf-Glide and harder to dry. So, if you are having problems with the Tuf-Glide, Militec would probably not solve it.

I find White Lightning to be very effective but the dried wax flaking off bothers me as it gathers fluff. So, I do not use White Lightning very much and then only on really tight knives.
 
what is so special about Tuf-Glide that it beats mineral oil for a pivot on a folder?

I maintain all my folders with mineral oil and work it in, clear the gunk, work it in some more till I get the smoothness I expect. If there's a piece of the outdoors still in there the knife may need loosening as airyq said or total dismanteling.
 
Funny,my brother was over last night,he'd been bitchin' about his Blink,used for cutting cardboard,paper,tape,etc.,not flicking properly.
WD-40'd it,Q-tipped and dried.Two drops of mineral oil.
Works fine now. :thumbup:
 
Thanks for all of the input guys. But I just got home from work and the Kasumi seems to be opening with less resistance again.

Maybe there was just too much liquid in the pivot and it had to dry or seep into the metal. Maybe it did work some gunk or dirt into an area where it would effect the action, and now the debris has been worked out. Or maybe I am just being too anal and it was never stiffer to begin with. It remained very smooth (not gritty at all), but just felt like the pivot was tightened when I was expecting the opposite effect. But again, it might have been all in my head.

I'll keep watching it for a few days and see how the action holds up.

Sorry about the false alarm.

Muddy- I don't think Tuf-glide is necesarily better than mineral oil. I like to try a wide variety of knife car products and see what works best for each knife and each situation. Sometimes it just depends on my mood. I have tried mineral oil yet, but I am sure it is something I will try some day.
 
when I got my first knife (a damascus Buck 110) the sales guy gave me a bottle of seed oil. I used it on the blade after sharpening or after a month or so of use and worked it into all the moving parts and kept my pride and joy like new. Now I have no idea what seed (or Seed) oil is and I never see it advertised or spoken of. It looked like green mineral oil, no odor. strange
 
The mineral spirits carrier can take a little time to evaporate in the tight tolerances of a folder pivot. Before that evaporated I noticed a similar "tightening" of most of my folders with synthetic washers.
 
I use Browning gun oil. It comes in a syringe and is easy to put just a little where you want it. My Mcusta seem to love it. I have a small Tinives knife that I could not get apart to clean and lube so I sprayed silicone in around the pivot. After working it a few minutes, it became extremely smooth.
 
I think seed oil is linseed oil. You can pick it up in an art supply store in the paint section. I never used it as a lube though.
Ted
 
IMO it depends on the clearances and materials involved, and properties of the lube, which lube is going to work best for a particular knife. I find with my folders what works best on one may not on another. Generally speaking I don't want a lube that makes the action any stiffer .... compared to many other mechanisms knives really aren't a demanding application, in terms of wear and pressures on moving parts, so light lubes should be sufficient.
 
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