Sharks, knives, and lubricants?

freewheeling

freewheeling

Joined
Dec 30, 2012
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In one of the Jack Reacher novels the plot turns on a lubricant used in the watch repair industry called squalene, which I gather is refined from shark liver oil or olive oil but is also found on human skin (by the side of the nose mainly). I guess the point is that if watchmakers and repairers use it they must expect it to not only work very well as a lubricant but also that it lasts without spoiling or going rancid (which happens to a lot of food oils). It's also used us a food supplement and some people think it cures or prevents cancer, but I was wondering if anyone has any experience using this sort of thing on folding knives? I know the stuff that comes off the face probably has salt and other corrosives in it, although I gather watchmakers even use that in a pinch.

Anything else that works well as a lubricant, besides something like REM oil? On the blade itself, would beeswax actually be better than oil?
 
Watches are sealed and parta are not exposed to dirt and are not easily relubed. I don't think that type of lube would work well for knives.

My favorites right now are Finish Line bicycle lubes. I use the White Lightening wax lube on the blade and the grease at the pivot and detent.

For food safe use I use butcher block treatment. It has mineral oil plus a little natural wax.
 
oregonknifenerd said:
Watches are sealed and parta are not exposed to dirt and are not easily relubed. I don't think that type of lube would work well for knives.

My favorites right now are Finish Line bicycle lubes. I use the White Lightening wax lube on the blade and the grease at the pivot and detent.

For food safe use I use butcher block treatment. It has mineral oil plus a little natural wax.
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Thanks. I have some exotic bicycle chain lube I used to use when I rode my bike a lot more so will dig that out of storage and see if that stuff works. Supposed to be better than White Lightning, although that was pretty good. If I remember the name or find the stuff I'll post it. BTW, I think White Lightning contains paraffin, if I remember correctly.
 
Here's the stuff I was using for a chain lube on my bike. Worked really well, and it looks like he now has a version specifically for guns, and an industrial lube coming.

ProGold Lubricants The stuff I used is called ProLink.
 
I've heard lots of good things about Frog Lube, at least for guns. My logic for using bikr stuff over that or Tuff-Glide is that it is very easy for me to find.

For knives I'm storing I drown them in cheap RemOil and ziplock bag them. Anyone know if this is a bad idea? Damascus blades get mineral oil as I have heard RemOil may fade damascus.
 
oregonknifenerd said:
I've heard lots of good things about Frog Lube, at least for guns. My logic for using bikr stuff over that or Tuff-Glide is that it is very easy for me to find.

For knives I'm storing I drown them in cheap RemOil and ziplock bag them. Anyone know if this is a bad idea? Damascus blades get mineral oil as I have heard RemOil may fade damascus.
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I read a test someone did on which oil works the best on rust prevention. He used all the major brands with the exception of Frog Lube (Its still pretty new) and Rem Oil. The best one, hands down, was Break Free CLP.
 
FYI, freewheeling, 'paraffin' to the British means mineral spirits! Fine instruments did use an oil refined from whale oil - it has great low temperature properties - impossible to find these days. Clock oil seems to be in two types nowadays - petroleum based and silicone based - I wonder fow they fare as knife lubes/protectors?

Stainz
 
Just about any of them work just fine. Though it is fun to try the different flavors. I have a big collection and still want to buy more, which is pretty stupid as I rarely lube a knife to begin with.
 
I use militec oil and grease on my knives and guns both, protects and lubes very well.
 
I use Nano 10w just to squirt on pivots (not dissembling and replacing the original lube), and wipe a very little on damascus blades. You can't tell it is on the blade, but allegedly it provides a very thin layer of protection. And does not affect the contrast.

WakingTh3Fall3n said:
Correct , well at least that's the way I understood it. I only ordered the .25oz bottle it was only $16 shipped.
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2 shot said:
What does to rebuild the edge mean? The edge of what?
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I'm just being silly about some of the nanotech legends, like rebuilding human organs in the body and stuff like that. Basically you never have to sharpen the knife because the little nanorobots are constantly repairing the edge. Well, someday... not yet, though.
 
I just ordered some of this stuff. Seems to get pretty high reviews for semi-automatic weapons so I figure it might be OK on knives as well. Also got a syringe of the grease for the bearing systems on my ZT 561 and CRKT Eros. If I find that Progold stuff I'll try that on some knives too, although as I recall when I used it as a chain lube there was the dark coppery-colored stuff that collected on the chain and I never figured out whether it was corrosive or not. Also, you have to completely remove White Lightning or anything else using a citrus degreaser before you put it on. I have some of that stashed somewhere too, but Lord knows where it is exactly.

(Sorry about the nanotech crack. Just couldn't help it. Magic grease! Someday we'll have replicators.)
 
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