Lubricating Detent Ball?

S

spiderdad

Joined
Jan 17, 2018
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Is there any real downside to lubricating a detent ball? I know the issue isn't the pivot -- when I pull the liner aside the friction goes away.

Also more generally, does using a non food-safe lubricant like WD40 on the internals (pivot, detent, etc.) of a folder pose any issues for using it with food? I'm talking about after I've opened and closed it a bunch, cleaned off the blade, etc.
 
I use nano oil like the applicator you find in a Grizmo case when received. 5w.
I have sensed an amount of better results that could only have been due to lubing the ball and as a result the ball track. They say we eat a certain amount of dirt during our life time, wiping the blade to use on food imo would be fine.
 
spiderdad said:
Is there any real downside to lubricating a detent ball? I know the issue isn't the pivot -- when I pull the liner aside the friction goes away.

Also more generally, does using a non food-safe lubricant like WD40 on the internals (pivot, detent, etc.) of a folder pose any issues for using it with food? I'm talking about after I've opened and closed it a bunch, cleaned off the blade, etc.
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Hi Spiderdad,

Im fairly new as well. I do see people lubricating detent path, but not with WD 40. WD40 will act as a lubricant for a short time only and dry up. It is used mainly to loosen up stuck parts momentarily but will not leave it sliding smooth after it dries.

Also, if you intend to use the knife for food prep, i would recommend using food grade mineral oil as lubricant. It is possible that any toxic lubricant may not touch the food you cut, but it would be safer to just use non-toxic lubricant.
 
I put a little bit on the detent path. I don't really care about food safe or not. I don't have it dripping from the blade when I'm using it. I also wipe any excess away so it doesn't travel. I have noticed knives become smoother when opening and close with weight of blade.
 
WD40 after the water displacing liquid evaporates leave a thin residue of mineral oil. Wiped off from blade should be safe.
Alternatively use pure mineral oil or I use baby oil. This option is more food safe if you’re concerned, but generally WD40 should be ok. WD40 works great to ensure the grime, etc got away too.

Besides, good cutting technique will not going to get the pivot area in contact with food. If it does, then the food residue can cause corrosion, which need WD40 to displace it, or after washing it cleanly.
 
I don’t like lubricating the detent path or ball on most folders because the lube can make its way onto the blade lock face. A lot of my folders have the detent ball contacting the lock face of the blade slightly when opening and closing. This could tranfer the lubricant and cause lock slip.
 
I use grease for the detent ball track... Stays put longer than oil and seems to work well for high friction contact like this
 
Use any low friction lube. Try and avoid Nano oil as it's expensive snake oil and other lube will do the same and cost less. It's just expensive mineral oil.

I put a drop on the track and follow the track with a qtip. That's all you need. Any more will fly around and even attract more dust. Also the more you have the more friction is created.
 
High pressure on the lock bar is a common problem with many knife designs.
On some designs you can easily reduce the pressure by counter bending the lock bar, typically I do this with Chris Reeve knives, liner locks require disassembly.
I also like Nano-oil in 10wt and apply it monthly to my liner lock and compression lock knives,,, really makes the action smoother.

Regards,
FK
 
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