Spyderco Forums

So my dice was all gummed up and ready for a good cleaning. I slathered the bearings in Chris Reeve Grease, but it just didn't feel flippy enough... so I took her apart again, got all that grease out of there, and used 10 weight Nano oil. Perfection! (Also got her hair popping again after about an hour on the double stuff followed by knives plus green strop)..
What do you guys usually use on pivots whether they be washers or bearings?

I have only one bearing flipper (Advocate) and I've never disassembled it, but for my other knives I use 10w Nano Oil. Just recently I acquired a CPM REX 45 Military and when it arrived, I found the opening action to be gritty and a bit rough. I took it apart, cleaned it up, put a few drops of Nano Oil on/around the pivot area, and now it is super smooth.

I think some people prefer grease because it acts more as a barrier to dirt and grime but I've never used it.

I use mineral oil on all my knives. Regardless of pivot/lock type.

I use grease on my pivots, but i drizzle Thin Oil over the grease (YES i overlubricate). I might miss out on that initial supersmoothness of a thinner Oil but it stays lubricated for a lot longer.
The difference is very noticable on ballbearings, using only a Thin Oil it feels like its running dry in a matter of days if you use the knife a lot.
I have no experience with nano Oil though.
All my lubricants are specialized for bikes, tf2 teflon grease and pro link chainlube :)

I love nano oil, I use 5 weight as it will seep into thin spaces better. I'd rather use light oil as excess will run out it doesn't collect so much dust and grime.

For my bearing knives I just run them dry, or so!e graphite oil, as it'll evaporate and won't collect any debris, but running them dry nothing can collect in there, not sure about spydercos bearings, but zt will replace them if something we're to go wrong with them so I don't worry at all about running them dry

I have never used CRK grease but I suspect it's a lot thicker than the grease I use, which is Phil Wood bearing grease. I use it on all my pivots whether they're bearing or not.

I put 50 weight silicone (rc shock) oil in my mantra 3. It's extremely smooth now and the slight bearing noise or brass cage noise is gone.

I never use grease because it collects pocket lint like crazy. As far as lube goes, just about anything works, and frankly most of the time with Spydercos it isn't needed at all. I've got PM2's that run better completely dry versus using any type of lubricant.

I haven't had a need to lube either of my bearing type pivots, but in all of my washer based knives that can be disassembled a tiny dab of grease inside the pivot and on the faces of the washers works great, same for the detent ball on knives that have one.

For pinned knives silicone air gun chamber oil works nicely.

rossco599 wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 27, 2018 9:39 am

I put 50 weight silicone (rc shock) oil in my mantra 3. It's extremely smooth now and the slight bearing noise or brass cage noise is gone.

That's not a bad idea. I think I've got some old Team Associated shock oil somewhere.

:spyder: Knife Pivot Lube; https://knifepivotlube.com/ :spyder:

10 weight StClaire Nano-Oil here as well

Evil D wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 27, 2018 10:37 am

rossco599 wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 27, 2018 9:39 am

I put 50 weight silicone (rc shock) oil in my mantra 3. It's extremely smooth now and the slight bearing noise or brass cage noise is gone.

That's not a bad idea. I think I've got some old Team Associated shock oil somewhere.

I'm not sure of the weight, but airgun chamber lube is pretty thick as well and intended as a long lasting lubricant that doesn't migrate too easily. Probably very similar to the thicker shock oil...

DBCOOPER wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 27, 2018 9:10 am

For my bearing knives I just run them dry, or so!e graphite oil, as it'll evaporate and won't collect any debris, but running them dry nothing can collect in there, not sure about spydercos bearings, but zt will replace them if something we're to go wrong with them so I don't worry at all about running them dry

That's the best way imo, bearings only really need lubrication in a high rpm application like an electric motor, etc. On my domino I do put a small drop of oil on the detent ball, and the pivot, but leave the bearings alone.

I use 10w nano oil-
A. I have it around.
B. The applicator is good

Honestly I doubt it matters as these knives aren’t being exposed to extremes of any type so anything from your 3-in-1, baby oil (mineral oil),
Fishing reel lube, boiled out fat from the deer you just killed or super special edc special oil as Long as it doesn’t gum up the pivot, doesn’t spoil between services and dosnt adversely affect any hardware like discolour the scales and then it’s just as good as anything else.

Good success with Liberty Oil. Small amounts go along way.....


James

I like the CRK (krytox) fluorinated grease for washers and detents, and it was designed to prevent wear in high-load bearing applications, but I agree that it's too sticky. (I've also tried a teflon-carrying solvent I use for bike chains, but it's sticky if you don't apply it just right.)

After trying a few products I now flush bearings with Eezox if they need cleaning. Good solvent action, with good lubricant and rust inhibitors.

I guess I’m the oddball here. I use the same oil that goes into my automobile. It works very well for all kinds of pivots. I use a toothpick to apply a single drop to each side of the pivot. I haven’t used grease.

Ballistol. Spray it on, wipe off the excess. Penetrates well. Good results... so far.