What Lube?

I read a post by a Black Powder gun enthusiast where he evaluated a fist full of lubes for their rust prevention. Learned some things I have been wrong about since day one 60 years ago.

He made a box that held high humidity and hung mild steel plates in it after treating them with a lube.

WAX doesn't protect against rust. I was amazed. They had magnification of the structure and it looks like a bunch of plates laying on top of each other and the spaces never seal and pass water. The metal rusted after a few days. Bees wax!

Petroleum based oils "don't like ferrous metals". It doesn't actually bond to it as it appears. The plate dipped in mineral oil rusted in stages and started at the top and went down. The rust was as sever as a bare steel slab after while. They put stuff in Dion oil that helps it cling. I, personally, have taken bearings out of my vehicle that had half the bearing and race rusted badly. As though it had been dipped in acid. Seems that after it had sat for a year the grease had migrated off of the top half and condensate had rusted the top half. Even with that experience I did not put it together. It isn't what we think it is.

WD....junk for rust proofing. Water Displacing....GREAT STUFF.

3 in 1..... not worth a darn. Good common lube.

What worked was straight SYNTHETIC. They ran that test years ago and that slab dipped in syn is probably still rust free.

I know that nothing beats syn for being slippery and lubing way beyond it "weight classification". 30 weight lubes like 40 weight but flows like 10 weight..crude example, that. It truly LOVES metal and gets right down into the micro scatches and grooves and cracks and holds on relentlessly.

So it will rust proof better than the Sahara and slips better than anything.

What is the oil base in Break Free? Some of the other modern gun oils like Rem Oil? Is silicone oil another name for "synthetic oil"?

There is so much anecdotal and scientific evidence out there on this topic that I think the subject is closed. Sorta.

John
 
LOL, no matter what type of forum you go to, there will be a thread about oil and lubrication! That said, I am interested as well, because I am using 3 in 1 and whikle it works, its not ideal. Thanks for the suggestions
 
I've become a huge fan of White Lightning's wax-based bike chain lube. Their original formula, now called "Clean Ride" is awesome. In fact, Buck is (was?) selling a slightly repackaged[0] White Lightning as a knife and tool lubricant.

I also like Sentry Solution's Tuf-Cloth (and Tuf-Glide). Having a simple wipe-on cloth stored in it's own pouch is really handy for wiping down knives in the field after washing them.

[0] I contacted White Lightning to ask them if the formula that Buck was selling was different from their original White Lightning lubricant. They said it was identical product, just different packaging.
 
I've been using RemOil for a while, too, as Mil-tech seems a PITA. Anything wrong with that approach?
 
Used motor oil, lifetime supply from one oil change.

I'm only partly joking, I've used it before, it works.

Mainly I use blue lube, but I wash my knives fairly often, so pretty much anything will do as long as I don't use it for food.
 
Hi folks-

3-in-1 and Lubriplate here - just because I have that around the house.

I also have PJ1 chain lube - that is interesting - did not think of using that on knives.

I also have and use Amzoil MP for my firearms, and this might be great on carbon steel knives - I'll try it and see how it does. That is not a lubricant, it is a metal protectant (MP)...

best regards -

mqqn
 
LUBRIPLATE is the most AWSOME oil I have used in my 68 years. Without a doubt.

This is the stuff that Orygun loggers use on their equipment that they let stand outside in the Or. mtns all friggen year. I had a Toy Land Cruiser with a pto/hydraulic winch on te front. I had a typical 3/8 galvanized cable on it. Galvanize has a life span and it starts rusting in a year. Mine was used when I put it on but was clean. I did nothing to it for 6 months and when I went to use it the chain drive from the hyd motor to the winch was frozen solid. I had oiled it really well with motor oil. I hammer and pried it off with screwdrivers. Went down to the Loggers Supply and they put me on to Lubriplate. I sprayed that frozen chain with oil and let it sit a couple days and then it was free enuf to re install. Cheap B that I am. I also liberally sprayed the cable....per instruction from LS. I ran the cable out and in to work the oil into the chain. TWO YEARS LATER it was still rust free and running free. The third year I saw some rust spots on the chain and sprayed it down again. And that was the PENETRATING OIL Lubreplate that LS gave me. IT has to be a synthetic. It rains for 5 months solid in Or. and that winch was going down the road at 70 and was never in a shelter of any sort.

My apologies for not remembering this sooner. It is the only true rust proofing and lube on planet earth. $6 per can????

It is slippery as SNOT ON A PEELED ONION. That's the scientific spec.

John
 
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I was a big proponent of bicycle chain lube spray. MC's also. I learned that it hardens after a year. Vegie oils are the really slippery stuff outside the synthetic arena. ALL VEG OILS DRY/HARDEN. It works for them because they are labor intensive devices and the riders are really big on PM so that oil never sits for xtended periods. I know guys that remove their chains and "boil" them in oil on the stove for the weekend ride. Really anal about their $3K bikes.

NO on bi oil. yes it works well....for a while.

John
 
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