The Ultimate Lubricant Thread

I like my mineral oil laxative. It has more than one use if you know what I mean ;).

:jerkit: :jerkit: :jerkit:
 
Thanks, Yoda - I'll give that citrus spray a try. Then I might try some of that mineral oil!
 
the citrus stuff that I used was in a metal pump spray bottle, (like car air freshener, not windex type) with a white background with oranges on it or something. pretty strong, don't get it in yer eyes or open cuts (it hurts, I know this)
 
Extra-virgin olive oil!

For blades that will NEVER be used around food, Mobil 1 synthetic.
 
For kitchen knives or other food-contact bladeware: camellia oil (aka tea tree oil) for rust inhibition. Since it leaves a film of oil on the surface, I suspect it wouldn't work well as a lube, if compared to dry film modern products.

Camellia oil is:
-- digestible enough that it is an ingredient in some oriental cuisine.
-- non-toxic to skin, its main use is as a transport medium in cosmetics.
-- rust inhibitor, it is the traditional coating for katana blades.
-- economical, a very tiny bit goes a *LONG* way. In the woodshop, a spritz or two on a rag will wipe down several tools. Eventually the rag has enough residual camellia oil in it that you don't need to re-spritz it, just use it as is.

You can find camellia oil at woodworking shops (used on carbon steel chisels, plane blades, saws, etc), traditional sword purveyors, or tons of places online.
 
Around food, USP mineral oil is fine. Doctors have prescribed it for years as a laxative, so it's safe. A few bucks buys a lifetime supply as a knife lube. Olive or other vegetable oils work fine too, even on wood grips. If rust is a real bad problem, food grade silicone grease works well too.

WD-40 works well. It cleans and lubes guns just fine and does not harm rubber, wood or plastic grips. This from years of experience.

Hoppes #9 sovent is a great cleaner and dries nicely. Protects a bit. As noted it smells great too, and many of us call it one of the two smells of freedom, the other being burnt JP-4. does not harm plastic, wood, or rubber.

Hoppe's gun oil works great, what else can I say? I've also had good luck with Rem-Oil.
 
mamba-man said:
So what do you use - WD-40, 3-in-one, Tuf-Glide, Militec-1, Breakfree CLP, Mineral Oil, Silicon, Silicone, White Lightning, Teflon, Light Machine Oil, Grease, ..?

There are lots if threads on lubricants, but most seem to peter out inconclusively. Perhaps we can try to get some sort of scientific consensus on the best lubricants for various tasks, e.g. knives that cut food, knives in a marine environment, folders, fixed, etc?

We should also look at health and safety aspects, since many people here use Teflon-containing lubes like Tuf-Glide, which contains Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), which has been linked to health problems. See http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Teflon/teflon.htm

I like the look of plain silicon oil (RustFree), a safe alternative http://www.agrussell.com/accessories/polishing/rustfree.html

Other issues I'd like to throw out there:

  • Silicone sprays are not good. The petrochemicals in the spray can damage plastic handles (I'm not sure how it would affect G10 and FRN but probably badly). The same goes for WD-40.
  • BreakFree CLP is a good lube, but it has an unusual smell that makes me wary. I suspect it is a mutagen or carcinogen, but then I am paranoid. You put your health at risk when you use mysterious proprietary products with unknown ingredients.
  • 3 in one is crap. It contains resins that dry to form gummy deposits (“resinification”)
  • Militec-1 seems to have a safe profile: http://www.laniganperformance.com/Militec_is.html Can we give it an unreserved thumbs up? I have yet to see a full ingredients list.
  • Is Mineral Oil a good lubricant for knives used to cut food? And then again, which are bad for this purpose? You don't want to peel an apple with your knife and give it to your child to eat, if the apple is then contaminated with the "great" knife lube that also just happens to a mutagen! :eek:
Comments?
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Here is a test in one of the firearms forums. They have alot more steel to lube and protect than a knife owner, and probably alot more bucks tied up in their equipment as well. I'll stick with Breakfree CLP. It is affordable and readily available.

http://www.thegunzone.com/rust.html
 
I use Break-Free the way most people use WD-40 (but not as starter fluid). It's very potent. I've used it indirectly before; spray above the thing you can't get to and let it drip down. One or two drops will do any job you can think of. It has protected my gun finishes for over a decade and keeps my folder locks silky smooth. Good bang-for-buck, too, especially if you get it in the non-aerosol bottles (so you can use one drop at a time). As much as I love CLP, I've started looking at XF-7 because of the rather impressive claims made about it. I wonder how it smells, though.

I agree that Hoppe's #9 has a wonderful smell. My dad always used it on his guns and there is just a sense of comfort in that scent. The performance is, of course, very good as well.
 
moxie said:
As noted it smells great too, and many of us call it one of the two smells of freedom, the other being burnt JP-4. does not harm plastic, wood, or rubber.
.
Click to expand...

:thumbup: You, sir, are a man after my own heart!:thumbup:

:D I also love the smell of napalm in the morning, it smells like victory!:D
 
What about

Lubrication Oil General Purpose Preservative
Spec. VV-L-800C

Can it be used for lubricating the pivot mechanism of folding knives
and/or protecting Carbon blades against rust?
 
I decided to place my bet with Tuf-Glide and Tuf-Cloth. Reason being, it's the only lubricant I've heard of advertised for knife care.
 
For those of you who use silicon oils just remember that some people are severely allergic to silicon. I'm not, but i had a boss once who went crazy when I started using a cleaning spray on some plastic (think armor-all) because he apparently has a reaction strong enough to send him to the hospital. i learned my lesson then. It may not affect you but it may affect someone who uses your knife. Just a thought.
 
Eezox. Leaves a dry film, slick as hell and protects from rust like nothing else.

For food use, any food grade oil or olive oil works fine.
 
It is a misconception that silicone oil sprays are bad for plastic. Airsoft hobbyists use only silicone oil for their guns precisely because it doesn't dissolve plastic or rubber the way other lubricants do.

Heavy duty silicone oil is the best. Sets fast and leaves a slippery viscous film (dry to the touch) that doesn't come off for any reason other than fire or soap and water.

For food use, I also recommend 100% pure silicone oil. It's food grade and is sold in drug stores as a personal lubricant.
 
Are there any lubricants that may be detrimental to knife Coatings?
ie. quite a few non-stainless blades rely on some kind of coating.

This is a very educational thread btw :)
 
I have not seen any mention made of my favorite, Corrosion-X. The MSDS for it shows it as non-toxic, no special handling required and it works great. It is a CLP like product and I use it for gun cleaning and almost all my corrosion protection needs. It is a liquid and is easy to apply. I have been using it for about 5 years with wonderfull results.

I have also used Ezox in the past and it worked very well too. I had to stop using it when my supply ran out and the local dealer quit stocking it.

Recently I have started using Ren-Wax for some of my "display" knives because I like the shine that it puts on the bare steel. Still to soon to know about the corrosion resistance though.
 
Coatings on any knife of reasonable quality are pretty impervious to chemical damage, aside from heavy duty paint strippers and perhaps acetone. A notable exception are the pvd type coatings like Boron Nitride, Titanium nitride, etc. These are unaffected by most everything except peroxides (read household hydrogen peroxide here). Basically dont' clean your knife with paint stripper, acetone, or peroxide and you should be all clear! Not even gunscrubber has affected the paint-like coatings on most all of my knives, plastic handles on the other hand....
 
For kitchen knives or other food-contact bladeware: camellia oil (aka tea tree oil) for rust inhibition.
Click to expand...

Camellia oil is not the same thing as tea tree oil. Camellia oil [Camellia spp] is also know as tea oil and comes from China and Japan. Camellia/Tea oil is edible.

Tea tree oil [Melaleuca alternifolia aka Paperbark Tree] is super for external use but toxic if ingested. It is native to north east Austrailia.

-DD
 
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TLR said:
For those of you who use silicon oils just remember that some people are severely allergic to silicon. I'm not, but i had a boss once who went crazy when I started using a cleaning spray on some plastic (think armor-all) because he apparently has a reaction strong enough to send him to the hospital. i learned my lesson then. It may not affect you but it may affect someone who uses your knife. Just a thought.
Click to expand...

That's highly unlikely. Silicone allergy is so rare that if a patient reacts to a silicone implant (say a shunt or prosthesis), it gets written up and published in a medical journal. But Amor-all is full of shit that can make you sick, other than silicone.
 
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