What do you use for "maintenance"?

A

Allen E. Treat

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Oct 4, 2001
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Seems we've had our share of "rust" and other "maintenance" agenda ; I for one spent almost $2K just this year alone on knive(s)! For this reason, my "maintenance" product(s)
are "low end"( maybe I should've taken $100 of the $2K and sent it on "high end" product(s)?)

Lubricant - 3-in-1 Oil

Cleaner - Combination Brass/Chrome/Metal polish ($1.00)

Had a Sentry Tuf Cloth, but passed it on to a "less initiated" friend for his knife collecton. ;)

What about you forumite(s)? This'll
sure help out the "newbies" ;)

AET ;) (ATE on the Spyderco.com "home" forum ;))
 
3 in 1 oil and a torn up cotton shirt works fine for me...

On my carbon steel blades I keep a light film of oil on them.


A little trick with carbon steel blades....for the first month or longer if you want keep a medium coat of oil on the blade...coat it every night and wipe off before you are going to carry it...the steel will soak up some of the oil and it will be more stain and rust resistant..
 
i use remington gun oil on the pivots (i read on the microholics forum this is what MT uses........) and usually WD40 or mobil 1 spray oil on the blades/etc for rust prevention.

and thats about all i use......


greg
 
Sentry Solutions Tuf-Glide on the pivot and Marine Tuf-Cloth on the blade,
Flitz metal polish for additional protection and so the blade can shine :cool:,
and if necessary, an Eraser w/Flitz to take off slight to minor rust if the polish hasn't done so. (Although I don't let my blades get to that point ;))
 
Pretty much the only thing I've ever used for the past decade or so is Flitz and soap and hot water. I do have some Tuf-Glide and a Tuf-Cloth laying around, but haven't used it yet.
 
I´m not satisfied with Tuf-Cloth. Quite expensive, mediocre performance, dries up fast (yup, I know it can be revived, but there are easier mehtods to protect knives from rust).

Now I simply take plain ol´ WD-40 to protect my blades and it works fine!
 
FOR CLEANING:

I clean the joints of non-delicate knives using a product from Chemtronics called Flux Off. This is a flux remover solvent sold for electronics assembly. It comes in a spray can. It's very good for removing old oil and all sorts of build-up in knife joints. You can get it from electronics supply houses. But, it is a strong solvent and may attack some more delicate materials such as wood, bone, horn, leather, etc. Obviously, it's no problem on Micarta, G10, FR4, or Carbon fiber as there materials are used to make the very circuit boards that Flux Off is made to clean.

WD-40 is my first choice for removing sticky residues from blades. It's very gentle. If it fails, I carefully try a product called Goof Off which is just Xylene in a can. Again, this is a powerful solvent which may attack more delicate materials. Use it with caution.

Windex is good to put that final sparkle on mirror-polished blades. This is not surprising since that's what Windex is made for. That bit of dullness that sometimes seems to plague mirror-polished blades is due to a very thin layer of oils built up on the surface. That oil can literally come right out of the air around us. Yes, there's actually oil in the air you're breathing right now. That oil settles on surfaces and, if it's a clear or polished surface, dulls it. Windex is specifically formulated with Ammonia to remove that oil.


FOR POLISHING

I like Flitz. If you need to go stronger than Flitz, Mother's Mag Polish is the next step. When I need a dab of Mother's, I "borrow" it from my neighbor down the street who uses it by the gallon on his motorcycles. (When he needs his knife sharpened, he brings it to me.)

The biggest caution I'll give you about polishing is not to get the polish into cracks or other hard to get to places on your knife. It's very hard to get the stuff out.


FOR LUBRICATION

Militec-1. Click HERE to read all about it.


FOR PROTECTION

Tuff Glide in the joints and mechanisms that I can't wax. Militec is a better lubricant, but I think Tuff Glide is better for rust protection. So, if it's a user knife, I lubricate it with Militec. If it's a collector knife, I protect it with Tuff Glide.

But, the best protection is Renaissance Wax.
 
Tuff-Glide on the pivots, Flitz and Mothers Mag and Aluminum Polish for blades and bolsters, and I usually use acetone as a degreaser, or disc brake cleaner in a spray can for otf's. Just purchased a tool kit set from Wiha that has all the torx sizes I could ever need. Have used the Benchmade offering and while less expensive than the Wiha it acts that way! I have about 4 t-6 bits that are twisted, three from first time use. Not a problem with the Wiha product.
 
Have any of you tried White Lightning? It's a wax-based lubricant that is supposed to be self-cleaning. I've seen it at some bike sites, and always wondered how it would work for knives.
 
With my fixed blades, I clean them with spray on gun solvent like "Outers Nitro Solvent". I just spray the knife down and let it sit for a few. Then pretty much everything comes off with a paper towel. After its completely dry, I then put a couple of coats of Flitz gun wax on it, let it dry and buff.
For my folders, I oil the pivot with Mil-Tec, or gun oil. Whichever I have on hand.

Reagan
 
I've got various different products...WD-40, Goof Off, Tuf-Glide, and Puma metal polish. Toss in an old white cloth and I can keep my knives in tip, top shape!

Now all I need is a Sharpmaker...my old belt and chakma aren't quite enough. :(
 
I've used White Lightning for a few years now on the pivots of some of my older knives. I think it works pretty good. I hate to say this, but on my carbon steel knives that I handle a lot, after I'm done fondling I'll justt rub my finger on the side of my nose and run my finger along the side of the blade. Yep, just some good ol' nose grease, it's always handy. Some other knives I'll use a Tuff Cloth on, others a fine motor oil.
 
Oh my goodness.............Phil, remind me to NEVER ask you to cut an apple up for me!:barf: :barf: ;) :)
 
Originally posted by artsig1
Phil, remind me to NEVER ask you to cut an apple up for me!
Click to expand...

I'm not the only guy to do this, so you better cut your own #@%& apple. :p
 
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