Spyderco Forums

I bought some KPL a couple months ago and have been using it on all of my knives with great results. Yesterday, I pulled out my Southard that I haven’t carried in a while and figured I’d give it the KPL treatment. I was excited for the results, but didn’t really notice a difference after I put it on. Today, I pulled it out again and while flipping it noticed that my Southard was almost grinding now. I got worried and was wondering if I should send it in for service, but then figured I’d give it the old soap and water treatment first. I’m happy to report it’s back to its smoothness that I was used to. I can’t believe that lube could screw up the action of a knife but, believe me, it does on the Southard. Again, don’t lube your Southard!! Just give it a good rinse and it’ll be fine!

Bearing grease for the win.



Because..... bearings.

Better yet... just say no to bearing pivots. And this comes from a guy with a shiro f3

I use kpl on all my knives, bearing or washer, including my Amalgam (bearing flipper) and don't have any grinding or grittiness issues. More than likely there was dirt or dust in there that got dislodged by the kpl and it migrated to the bearing race and that caused the problem.

That's the bad thing about bearing knives. A little dirt or dust and they can get really gritty. I had to clean my 0470 twice to get all the grit out one time.

I'm pretty sure I've used a couple drops of Weapon Shield CLP to lube the bearings on my Southard. It still flips nicely.

soc_monki wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 17, 2020 6:18 pm

More than likely there was dirt or dust in there that got dislodged by the kpl and it migrated to the bearing race and that caused the problem.

Agreed, I think soc_monki nailed it. What else could it be unless your lube was contaminated? I would rinse it, then lube it and "rinse lather repeat" until I got the grit out.

I’ve found too much lube (especially the thicker stuff) can cause the action to feel like it is gritty, even with washers.
In this case, just absorb some with paper or paper towel, and try flipping again. It’s definitely not smart to rinse, then go without applying more lubricant.

Based on what you said I'm wondering if a dry lube might have worked better. I've been finding that to be the case on certain models. Sentry Solutions makes a great Dry Lube called "BP-2000". However there are others on the market that also work well.

When I use a wet lube I've had great luck with Militec over the years. If I ever find a better lube I'll switch to immediately. I know there are some new lubes on the market that I've heard good about. The Militec synthetic grease is really good.

But overall I think that the future may be in dry lube products.

I’ve had similar experiences with my Southard.

Call me crazy, but something also caused the plastic bearing retainers to swell to the point they would not rotate freely in their pockets.

I had to sand down the outer margin of the retainers so they would spin freely, and the action went back to normal.