WD40 is bad for your blade?

Mo2 said:
Why are you guys bumping a very old thread?

Mineral oil is left when dry. Its not the best rust protectant but it works for a short time. Better to use mineral oil vs wd40. It's cheap and for the price can be applied when it wears off

There is much better rust protectant out there (wd40 specialist for example).
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By the looks of it, ol' 'joedf' googoled 'wd40 bad on blade'--or something like that--and he made a BF profile to comment, not bothering to consider the taboo resurrection.

I use mineral oil, but would be glad to hear any better options used by all yinz. If I'm not mistaken, Choji oil is mostly just mineral oil. I used plenty of wd40 at work, and it's not something I'd ever want on a knife that's going in my pocket or a sheath. It's definitely not something I'd want on a blade that will potentially be used for food prep, which is a task I do with the vast majority of my knives. Even the katana and wakizashi see an occasional pumpkin/gourd/watermelon.
 
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What's wrong with posting in an old topic? I think it is better and more appropriate then opening a new topic with the same subject :/
 
Whut???

That makes as much sense as saying weed killer spray is not toxic because it's water.

Petroleum is toxic.

Thats why the can I am holding says HARMFUL OR FATAL IF SWALLOWED on it.

Bill DeShivs said:
WD 40 is not toxic. It is also mineral oil.
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Wow. The interwebs. The fountain of all truth, alright.
 
WD 40 residue is mineral oil. Mineral oil is non toxic in reasonable amounts. My response was in reply to a post that said basically "I don't want WD 40 on my knives-I use mineral oil instead."

For all you people who seem to want to argue with me or prove me wrong, I ask "Why?" Is there some sport in it?
I try to be helpful here. For those that don't know, I have been making, repairing, embellishing, designing cutlery for longer than most of you have been alive.
I have experience as a jeweler, gunsmith, hand engraver, steam and refrigeration engineer, and even as a musician. Perhaps you should check out my web site.
I bring that experience here to discuss with you and attempt to give the benefit of my experience. Sometimes I wonder why I bother.
 
http://www.grantcunningham.com/2006/05/lubrication-101/

WD-40: WD-40 was never meant to be a lubricant – it was designed as a moisture displacer. It’s far too light for any load protection, has incredibly poor corrosion resistance, contains zero boundary lubricants, and rapidly oxidizes to form a sickly yellow varnish (hint: this is not good for delicate internal lockwork.) There are those who will defend this stuff vehemently, but then again you can still find people who think smokeless powder is a passing fad. Just. Don’t.
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I used wd40 as a motorcycle chain lube and got just as much mileage out of them as people using dedicated lubes, identical bikes, chains, riding styles, conditions, environment. I have theories on this, but doesn't belong here.

On the other hand, I did a lot of testing lubes during the 90's, my pistol competition days. To test the lubes, I shot my comp gun during practice without any maintenance till failure, counting the rounds. The results were pretty consistant to ~+/- 100 rounds fired till a fail. I have the data somewhere but off the top of my head, I consistantly had a fail at between ~300-1000+ rounds, depending on the lube. There was only one lube that always went more than 1k rounds. WD40 was consistantly at the extreme low end, ~300. The pistol was completely stripped, cleaned, and dried before each lube. Same gun, ammo, and environment.
What I regret not doing, is testing the gun dry (no lube).

I guess none of this has anything to do with the OP, so to answer the question, WD40 will not harm any metal blade.
 
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OK I'll admit that my previous post said some negative things about WD-40 but I personally just don't really like the stuff at all. Albeit on a positive note I have heard my hillbilly friend who uses it medicinally :eek: claim that by mixing it with other petroleum products and various other different products that he's had some interesting and good results claiming that it improves and enhances certain products.

He told me that by combining WD-40 with #1 grade kerosene that it makes a great parts cleaner. He also said that mixing WD-40 with Coleman fuel that it makes a great whetstone cleaner. Now I use Bar Keeper's Friend cleanser for whetstones and benchstones and all my other sharpening tools myself with superb results.

I'm sure it's got some redeeming properties to it but personally I've always found all the products I need for certain jobs. Overall though I doubt if I ever buy any of it again.
 
But, Grant Cunningham says it sucks!
Who the hell is he?
You know who I am. Why would I lie t
 
There are two main ingredients in WD-40; Mineral Oil and Stoddard Solvent. There are a couple of trace elements in it, but in such low concentration as to not require mention, and require a mass spectrometer to identify. And for those who read the sheet that says 'WD-40 was not created as a lubricant. It was made to be a 'water displacement' agent,' they are correct. That IS why 'it was made.' However, Coca Cola was made to be a medicine. They found other uses for it. Viagra was made to be a heart medicine. They found other uses for it. We found other uses for WD-40.

Mineral oil is a lubricant. It's a very effective lubricant when used correctly and for the right purpose. This means, it is NOT an effective lubricant for 5th Wheel axles. Those need heavy grease. It is NOT an effective lubricant on a condom. Those need a water-based lube. It is NOT a good lubricant to use on your pasta maker. It tastes like shit.

It is, however, a very effective lubricant where load-bearing is minimal and heat is not a factor, i.e. door hinges, bicycle wheels, small electric motors, etc. (this includes knife pivots.) It is effective in normal daily heat ranges that we experience in the US, Europe, Africa, and Asia. It is NOT recommended for the sub-zero climes of the Arctic.

WD-40 is oil mixed with Stoddard Solvent. This solvent thins the oil so that it will penetrate (hence the name 'penetrating oil,') between bolts and rusty nuts. Stoddard Solvent is highly volatile, which means it will evaporate almost instantly leaving virtually no residue of it self. So when mixed with mineral oil, the oil gets thinned, penetrates the crevices, then the solvent evaporates leaving a film of mineral oil behind. This is exactly what we want for knife pivots and blades. BUT...

Stoddard Solvent is poisonous! Do NOT drink it. Do NOT point the nozzle of a can of WD-40 into your mouth and press the button. However, if you spray it on a knife blade, wait three or four seconds, all that is left is mineral oil. If you wipe off the excess, which you should be doing anyway, the thin film of mineral remaining on the blade will not harm you in any way, but may taint the taste of your Eggs Benedict if you have a rather delicate tongue. That's a pretty mild-flavored dish. If you cut salami with the blade, you'll never know it was protected.

And... mineral oil is a pretty good metal protector. In fact, most metal-protecting formulas being sold under various names use mineral oil as a base. Then they add various chemicals to do specific tasks. PTFE (Teflon) or MOLLY are the most common. So, yes, there are better blade protectors on the market. There are better lubricants on the market. But for the remarkably low requirements we knife users have, on a score of 1-10, mineral oil comes in around 9. Even living in a tropical jungle environment as I do, WD-40 works. It's just not as cool to admit using it...


Stitchawl
 
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Knife blanks left outside for 2 weeks, It rained once or twice in that time, 3in1 Oil was the best with WD40 getting second place.

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John.
 
I've used WD40 for years to clean and de-gunk my SAKs and Multitools that I get second hand, heavily used or in flea markets.
I first run very hot water through the internals, then as it quickly evaporates (it's almost at boiling point) I put WD40 in the joints, pivots, tools etc. and brush with different brushes and sponges, this effectively removes the rust, takes away most gunk, sand, dirt, lint and stuff inside the tools and then I use some paper to take off the excess.
They look like new after that!
 
John Stubley said:
I just wish you could buy WD40 without that horrible smell.
John.
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You can, John. Just buy mineral oil.
Stoddard Solvent is also known by the name "Odorless Paint Thinner" but does have a bit of a smell to it. You may be reacting to that. I buy the solvent in bottles, as it's great for degreasing small parts with no residue.


Stitchawl
 
I have used WD40 on a piece of flannel cloth to wipe down my knives and firearms (external on firearms) for decades as a way to combat corrosion and rust. It seems to work, as I have never had corrosion or rust develop on any of my knives or firearms.

Your mileage may vary.
 
Has anybody tried those cloths you can buy for cleaning guns, they have some sort of oil or chemical that protects cleaned items from rusting, They look kind of dry, I don't want a diy oily cloth in my pocket so maybe one of these cloths might be better, their seems to be quite a few brands of them.

John.
 
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