WD-40?

E

evasion

Joined
Apr 14, 2000
Messages
123
Hey guys. I've always coated my carbon steel knives with a thin layer of WD-40, but recently someone told me that WD-40 was not good for carbon steel knives because it is water soluble. Any opinions on this? Is it okay to put WD-40 in the joint and lock mechanism and coat the blade with it? Thanks.
 
How about vaseline? It's gonna take some time for me to get tuff cloth and some good lubricants.. I need a quick fix until then.
 
Nah. WD-40 is fine. Someone told me that it wasn't good for high carbon steel blades as well. I ignored him and used it anyway and I've never had any problems. I prefer Tri-Flow, and that is what I use now. Works great in the pivots and stuff. Smells kind of nasty though, but the smell dissipates eventually.

-Chang the Asian Janitorial Apparatus
 
Yeah WD-40 is kinda smelly. And food doesn't taste too good if you use your WD-40 coated blades for food prep...
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WD stands for Water Dispersant. So, no, it is not water soluble.

While it may not taste good, WD-40 is USDA approved for use in food service. It says so on the can. So, for knives you're going to be using for food prep, it's a good choice, I suppose.

And, in a recent, unscientific test conducted by a BF member and reported here on BF (digging up the old thead is left to the reader as an exercise), WD-40 beat all of the other, more expensive, more exotic treatments at preventing rust on weather-exposed steel.

The nice thing about WD-40 is that I've never seen it damage or attack or stain or discolor any knife material.



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Chuck
Balisongs -- because it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!
http://www.balisongcollector.com
 
I agree with Cliff. There are much better products. My main complaint with wd 40 is that it stinks. It's the worse smelling product i've tried. I don't like it on knives but it you're fishing for trout or salmon it works great sprayed on the lure.
 
Evasion--
Check out the thread, "Corrosion Prevention Test Results" on the current Knife Reviews forum, especially the last line (BTW...) of a very informative post by StarPD.

Break Free is a significantly more effective rust preventative than WD-40.
 
I have used Breakfree and WD-40 for years without any problems on knives and guns.I have a tuff cloth,but to me it smells alot worse than wd-40.I've only owned one knife in my life that I had a problem with some small rust spots a(Schrade old timer)actually never used any lubricant on it so thats probably a good reason why it rusted,otherwise I haven't had any problems.
 
I'm around damp, salty air and salt water all the time. I have used WD-40 and CLP Breakfree extensively. Good results with both. Around the boat we use marine CRC.

On duck hunting guns and carbon steels I use motor oil with great results, but I stay away from it on blades that touch food regularly.
 

WD-40 is fine in my books as a knife lubricant/protectant. Tuf-Cloth/Tuf Oil is horribly overpriced (esp. in Canada), as with anything that caters to specialty markets such as guns, knives, etc. There is usually always a generic equivalent that will do a similar job without the hype that comes from being "tested and used by Navy SEALs" Sheesh.

PM
 
I'll bet those Seal guys keep a can or two of WD-40 around anyway. No product does more things as poorly as WD-40, and that's a compliment. I've often said, "Give me a roll of duct tape, a can of WD-40, and my Leatherman PST, and I can fix most anything."

Some time ago, I and some friends went out car camping in one of the many state parks here in Oregon. When we arrived, we found that we had charcoal, matches, but no lighter fluid. Well, I've never been able to get charcoal to light with a match. Nobody could. I thought "We need some sort of accelerant." My first thought was the scotch, but then sanity set in and I remembered that I always keep a can of WD-40 in the car. I sprayed those coals down and they started fine with just one match. No funny taste in the food either. Try that with Tuff-Cloth!



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Chuck
Balisongs -- because it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!
http://www.balisongcollector.com
 
You can light charcoal or even damp campfire wood in a pinch with WD 40 and a lighter, Hold the lit lighter just in front of the WD 40 can nozzle and spray, you get a blow torch flame 2++ feet long, this isn't the cheapest way to do it but I had to once and it works great!!
 
WD-40 and a lighter is not only great for starting fires, it has been proven more effective than bear mace to ward off bears, and more effective than Raid to kill bugs. Also very effective in warding off attacking people.
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Jason

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"I have often laughed at the weaklings who call themselves kind because they have no claws"

- Zarathustra
 
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