To lube or not to lube the detent ball?

M

mrdeus

Joined
Mar 6, 2012
Messages
909
My frame lock and compression lock knives all have a super smooth pivot (Sebenza, Spyderco Southard, para2, for example). The only resistance opening the knife comes from the detent ball pressing against the blade.

Do you guys lube the detent ball and/or the path on the blade where the ball rides?

At first I was thinking that lubing couldn't hurt, but then there's the issue of the lube attracting dirt, which would make it "grittier". Would it be better to just keep the detent ball (and path) clean instead of lubing it?

The lubes I have are: CRK grease, nano oil (10) and tuf-glide.

The knives are all smooth. This is just a question of getting them even smoother.
 
If you lube the pivot area, there's a good chance the detent ball will get a small amount of coating on there. Mine end up with a little lube anyways. But I think what you're aiming at can hit a point of diminishing return.

As long as there's any type of contact, the detent ball will always create some friction. I think the knives you have are smooth enough. If it's too smooth, you might even complain about the detent being too weak and the blade flying open easily.

If you're not gonna be satisfied with those systems, you should look at another locking system, like the axis lock, lockbacks, etc.

I've polished the detent ball before, kinda wish I hadn't.
 
Yes, weakened detent is another potential issue that I forgot to bring up.

I am satisfied with the knives, it's just a matter of fine tuning/optimizing. It's mostly concerning knives that I can take apart easily for cleaning, like the Sebenzas and the Southard.
 
A drop of lube won't hurt anything. If you don't like it wash it off.
If you get into polishing there could be an issue.
 
The detent ball is a tiny, tiny area compared to the surface area of the pivot, most of the friction comes from there... I personally don't lube the detents on my knives, I don't think it makes too much of a difference.
 
c219460 said:
The detent ball is a tiny, tiny area compared to the surface area of the pivot, most of the friction comes from there... I personally don't lube the detents on my knives, I don't think it makes too much of a difference.
Click to expand...

Detents make a huge difference. I have a Spyderco Tenacious that didn't have the kind of action I wanted. I took it apart, milled out the liners, and installed bearings in the pivot. It still had a slightly gritty action. I took it apart again, polished and lubed the detent, and now its action is wonderful. If you have a knife with a gritty action, try holding the lock bar back while you rotate the blade in and out. If you notice the action is less gritty while holding the lock bar back, the detent is having a significant effect.
 
A weak or slippery detent could get one into trouble in some places. In some jurisdictions, if the blade can be opened by swinging or flipping the knife (without touching the blade), it's seen as a 'gravity knife' in a legal sense. Those are specifically defined as illegal in a lot of places, and LEOs will sometimes 'test' a knife by attempting to swing/flip the blade open without handling the blade. I have a ZT-0350 with a weak detent like that, and have never been comfortable carrying it, for that reason. The 'assist' on that knife, combined with a heavier-than-typical blade, only makes the issue worse.

Also had a friend who was stabbed in the upper thigh by a thumbstudded knife with a weak detent. Blade partially opened in his pocket. He was paraplegic, in a wheelchair, and therefore didn't know he'd been injured until he saw the expanding blood stain on his jeans.

Given a choice, I'll take a stiff and maybe even somewhat 'difficult' detent over a loose/easy one, any day.


David
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the feedback everyone. I think I'm going to try to "go dry" on my next cleaning.
 
For me it really depends on the knife, if its got a tight detent it gets lubed if not I leave it alone. My ZT0550 had such a strong detent that it was difficult to open so I lubed it with some Tetra grease and it made a huge improvement.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top