I figured I'd take a minute and talk about the miraculous chemicals which keep my knives rust-free and running smooth, and to dismiss the ones that, well, suck. Nano-Oil and Froglube are slippery, slippery gems.
I love the original Ballistol which is non-toxic... They used this since 1904 for everything: prevent rust from firearms, knives and tools, to clean wounds, take care of skin, to shave, to treat warts Ballistol H1 is their food-safe version which is odor-free...
I use a little WD-40 for cleaning (as it removes grease and dirt like a charm) and then, a nice amount of 3-in-1 for lubrication, working it very well, and letting it drip the excess for an hour or so. Works very well. Edit: I just happen to like the smell of both products lol
when i was a teenager i had a zippo lighter and i didn’t have knife lube so i found out zippo fluid is awesome for knife pivots because it is a solvent which evaporates very quickly and it leaves a much thinner oily residue than any oil i’ve found so it attracts less lint and so forth. it also is a good way to apply graphite powder because if you put it on the zippo fluid while it’s wet then it stays in place better. there was this guy at work who was making my life tough but wouldn’t stop or fight me so i superglued the door locks to his car shut and later we squashed the beef so i bought “lock-ease” at the hardware store and it is basically a solvent with graphite inside of it and i sometimes use it on my knives and it works well but it’s a lot messier than doing it the other way. i paid $40 for the three KPL knife pivot oils and honestly i think they suck. i started wearing mostly synthetic pants and i noticed that jeans and cotton pants get a lot more lint inside of the pivot than synthetic materials do so lint isn’t as big of a factor anymore but i don’t like how much junk oils attract.
Great video. I have been using frog lube for my guns and works great. I then started using it on my knives for ages now and not one has rust, works for me. Good job and info.
I just got my 560 Freek from BladeHQ and it came really dry. Usually when I buy knives online they come lubed or at least factory lubed. This video helped me quite a bit, thanks Nick.
Been using nothing but mineral oil on my spydiechef for a few years now and have been liking it well enough! Made the choice because I use the knife on food-related activities pretty much daily.
Thought I would mention this. Frog Lube shouldn't be used if you live where it gets very cold in the winter months. This has been proven over and over in the firearm industry, it's not my opinion. If it doesn't get to frigid Temps where you are, have a great time with the FL. What I prefer is a lube that I discovered years ago. It's called Mil Com 25B. It's available in a grease form and an oil. This was designed for military automatic guns that fire a solid river of brass out of a heli in full auto. Cold weather is no problem and a little goes a long way. Thanks
Yeah frog Lube has very limited use cases as a CLP for me personally. I'll use it for a quick smell good range day in the summer, but never for long term storage or EDC.
Krytox - the stuff that comes with Chrise Reeve Knives - is some space-age miracle lube. Only downside is that like most thick greases you have to dissassemble the knife to apply it... Nano-Oil has treated me well enough and no need for taking anything apart...
I know this is an old video, and I imagine you may have figured this out already... But, in case you haven't, that CLP on froglube (and other similar products) stands for "Clean, Lubricate and Protect" and you are right that it is made for firearms but obviously will work on knives (or any other metal) as well. I am new to the knife game but coming from collecting firearms and just getting into knife collecting, I use a lot of my gun oils/lubricants on both. Hoppe's #9, Gun Butter, Extreme Force Lubricant/Protection and BreakFree CLP are the ones I've been using and all seem to work just great for knives. Hoppe's is a classic gun lubricant and it's my go-to so far with knives and most guns. It's probably the best value, in my opinion, out of everything I've listed... It could be BreakFree, based on it's cheap price but I'm a sucker for the classics. The other stuff like Gun Butter and Extreme Force are a bit on the pricey side but I've used them and they work excellent just wouldn't use them on a regular basis. I used the BreakFree on a couple cheap garage sale knives that I really wanted to clean up and it worked really well for that. ALG 'Go Juice' and Slip 2000 are a couple others that would work just as well for knives based on my experience with them. Long story short, CLP = Clean, Lubricate and Protect. If you want to explore other lubricating options, try Hoppe's #9. Or one of the many others I've listed. P.S. New to your channel but really enjoying your videos!
December 2020 here - I use HOPPE'S No. 9 Lubricating Oil on pivots. I used to use Benchmade Blue Oil,. but prefer the HOPPE'S. I use Break-Free CLP on the blades to clean, lubricate, and protect. Last night I used a couple drops of CLP finger rubbed into the blade and a piece of an old t-shirt to shine up a carbon blade Mercator "Black Cat" knife that was starting to stain.
I give my blades a thin coating of Ballistol to help protect them and I use a good nano oil for pivots and washers. I don't use oil for bearings I use a tiny blob of Molly grease which I find works well
Hi Nick, thanks for the review and comparison. I wonder if you have ever used Weapon Shield for lubrication, and what do you think about it comparing to Nano oil. Thank you so much.
Out of everything i've tried. Motor oil has made my knives run the best. I personally run 10w30 synthetic. I've tried everything you have mentioned before.
Nick, I'm amazed at how much your vocal quality has changed over the years! Nowadays, I'd say your vocal tone is a little deeper, and warmer. Is it perhaps just the effect of a different mic? Or maybe life has just had it's inevitable effect of change.. Same accent though! ;) Anyway, thanks for the content. ✌
I'm gonna have to disagree on Tuf Glide's application for knife pivots. I've personally had great luck with the stuff and it is food safe once dry. Mineral oil has no place on my knives or anything mechanical, though it does bring a nice sheen to various materials used for knife scales. 3 in 1 serves little use aside from the occasional squeaky door hinge as it is a dust, dirt, and lint magnet! Frog Lube has a place for my firearms when I am in a hurry, but is far from the best CLP for firearm applications and despite being food safe it gunks up way too quickly and provide little lubrication when compared to the other mentioned products. As for the stated favorite Nano-oil.... I personally think it is over hyped and far too expensive for what you're getting. It is not food safe and boy does it gunk up pivots quickly with the addition of dust, dirt, or pocket lint .... just my unwanted two cents. Opinions are like assholes.... 🤔😉
There is a lubrication product that I don't think you mentioned (actually very few knife people seem to mention it) called Dri-Slide. It's been around for decades and used to be highly recommended for use in Colt 1911 style .45 auto pistols and other semi-auto firearms. It contains a lot of molybdenum disulphide, an extremely slippery substance. The claim was that it actually melded with the metals being lubricated, and even solvents didn't wash it away. It made bearing surfaces very slippery and reduced wear. It's primary use in my case was lubricating the barrel chamber feed ramp in semi-auto pistols, the underside of the slide where it slid back and forth over the top of the loaded magazine, and especially on the gunrails where the slide moved forward and backward. It seemed to work extremely well, and I never had a jam on the ammo feedramp after applying Dri-Slide there. One treatment seemed to last for years. I found my old bottle of the stuff recently (they still sell it online, but it's very expensive) and am going to try it on some of my knife pivot washers in the near future. Hopefully it will reduce the frequency of cleaning and lubrication.
Yeah, I can accept I can get long winded with my BS. Especially when only writing this intermittently between other obligations. Nobody's twisting your arm, you can take it or leave it. I was using Hoppe's number 9, and I have yet to have anyone chastise me for crossing some unseen barrier preventing use of a product generally seen as intended for firearms. I was changing scales (thank you Brian at Sharp Dressed Knives) and fine tuning a recently purchased, somewhat modified, Spyderco Smock, when I couldn't find the bottle yesterday ( and thank you Knives Plus. Who I have to acknowledge so put what I thought were at least my decent sharpening skills to shame with the edge they put on the Smock, I'll no doubt be looking at Mr. Shabazz's sharpening system reviews again next) . I thought I'd see what lubrication you recommend, and as is the general consensus nano-oil seems to be the stuff I'll pick up later today. However, as I was really looking for some validation in staying home yesterday, and making due with what was at hand, and since you didn't exactly forbid the old reliably handy 3 in 1, I loaded up a syringe with the old stand by with satisfactory results. Which brings me to the issue of l'odeur de machine oil. That was a predominantly mentioned sticking point for the product. I realize it's an issue that is both a personal matter and possibly impacted by your surroundings and occasion. However, I find nothing in the least offensive concerning the smell, and otherwise might happily consider it a men's cologne , with aroma therapy properties. The scent, missing maybe a hint of sawdust, evoking fond memories, sentimentality and nostalgia for Gramp's work bench. Where tinkering and inspired improvisation was both brought to a level of high art, and achieved a state of Zen. Only occasionally broken by moments when hammer met thumb, or finally loosening that frozen nut resulted in predictably skinned knuckles. Where you may have first learned 'colorful" language.
I see I should have commented in this video. Without going into detail, I agree. Tuff Glide is not great for pivots. Interflon Fin Super works great (though the spray is NOT practical), but now that you mentioned food safety ... well, I guess it is not meant for that. So I will leave it for other uses and get that Nano-Oil I guess.
Thanks for that scoop! Daiwa is a gem for me too and a bunch cheaper than the Nano oil, I believe! By the way, what was the knife in the video? Thanks!
I've been using 3-1 so long I never considered something else, but yes the smell is horribly strong. I use Balistol on my guns but it doesn't seem to do as well for knives.
+Nick Shabazz Have you tried Flitz Wax? If so, what are your thoughts on that product? To my understanding, it is also nontoxic and seems to achieve results similar to the FrogLube paste. I haven't used either to compare, but am hoping you have and could give some insight. Thank you in advance.
3 in 1 multipurpose oil here in the UK does not smell strong at all. Smells like motor oil or hydraulic oil. It's why I use it over WD40. Does it have different ingredients in the USA?
I've been using 3-in-one on my knife pivots for awhile, and it works great. I can't imagine a better product for this application. It's extremely cheap, been around for over 120 years in it's original formula, available everywhere, is a light machine oil that also cleans and protects, and just works. Agree that it's not for food prep knives though. I don't use my folders for that though.
hi, I look your videos very much the last weeks and I enjoy it. have you ever tried Balistol products. they are from Germany. gun cer is likely to Reeve grease but cheaper. they also have a grease which is like frog lube, but also much cheaper. maybe you test them for your viewers who have not so much money. I have 2 spyderco para 3. one with Nano oil (the same as you in this video) and one which gun cer which swings better and I believe it holds up as long. best regards from Germany and keep making more interesting videos Fabian
Am I the only one who, when he gets a new, good lube, runs around the house lubing every damn metal/metal contact point while his wife shakes her head? No? Just me? Oh.
Hey nick what would you recommend for food safe on an OTF? Right now I’m carrying my sebenza just for food but use my ultra tech for everything else lol
I have been using for years coconut oil in my knives, and that's all frog lube is at a fraction of the cost. It works well but I don't pay extra just for a fancy packaging and a funny name...
I asked chat gpt what it recommends for pivots with ball bearings in plastic casing, and it said it should not be oil, because it attracts dust and pocket lint. Instead one should use dry lubricants like ptfe/teflon etc. On my WD-40dry ptfe can it says food safe.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I'd say pretty much any oil which has lubricant and rust preventive characteristics. As if it is on display the oil won't wear off and humidity etc won't be as a big factor. For long time storage for metal stuff usually high viscosic oils or greases are used. If you buy some metal tools, ie. bench wise for example it usually has sticky grease on it to preserve it better in all kind of humidities and sea containers from China etc. But motor oil, crc, mineral oil what ever will probably preserve pretty well inside house humidity levels (dry). It's not bad idea to first check after half year for example is the metal surface still a bit oily etc.. This is just my common sense advice.
No mention of crk grease ? It's similar to the grease used on bike gears which is a cheap alternative. I saw a vid on protecting a blade in the outdoors. The guy coated many blades with different protectants and left it outside. The 3-1 did the best so I think for that application it may be nice.
Hi Nick, I see in this video you used 10wt Nano Oil. Can you tell me, how do you choose between the different weights (5, 10, 85)? I've done a little reading to understand that some are more viscous than others (as the number goes up); some will evaporate faster (as the number goes down). But that doesn't help me make a decision (I'm guessing because I haven't learned enough yet). Would using 10wt mean there is "snappier" action than a 85wt? Do I want the nano oil to evaporate faster? Maybe you haven't used all the different weights to compare and contrast, but any insight you can provide would be much appreciated!
+Michael Hernandez I'm planning a video on that. Basically, 85wt is a bit more resistance and "grease" feel. 5 wt doesn't really impress me. 10wt for speed, 85 for control.
I like 3in1 because it doesn’t really matter if it’s food safe for me because my knife is a heavy work knife constantly getting grease and oily and prying in stuff and I would never be able to get all the gunk off of it
As an aside, WD-40 is primarily a "water-displacement" product (hence the "WD"), as opposed to a pure lubricant. It was developed years ago for the delicate parts used at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. After washing the sand off, a formulation was needed to help dry the equipment. The first 39 formulas tried were unsatisfactory.
Nick, I just got a sebenza, and I'd like to protect the blade (I do a lot of food prep with my EDCs), I was just concerned that I might somehow mess up the finish. Do you use the FrogLube on the blades of your CRK knives? Any recommendations or observations?
While I like mineral oil for a lot of things, I'm not sure I would use the laxative version. While mineral oil is the _active ingredient_ there are several _inactive ingredients_ aswell. One of which being some sort of acid if I remember correctly. If you wanna use it on your beater Ontario or Gerber maybe, but id save the Spyderco and Benchmade from this one.
Great video, cut right to the nitty gritty! ;-) On the way to get some nano-lube, as I can't stand the smell of 3-in-1, thx. P.S. Daiwa that someone mentioned and Hoppe's look pretty good, too.
WD-40 is good for cleaning stuff like bearing pivots. I tend to just saturate everything with it then blow it out with an air compressor. The WD40 tends to bead up and leave with whatever it's cleaning, then I replace whatever oil I actually want in there. Great cleaner, great for coating a blade to prevent rust, terrible lubricant for knife pivots.
+Maxwell Super (Atomedge Sharpening) That's a good point. I'm a disassemble-and-clean guy, but I can see this being good for knives you can't take apart. Thanks for the comment (and for the sharpening on my Hinderer, way back when).
Thanks, I'm trying very hard not to suck. Feel free to post around, tell your friends, or exact vengeance on your enemies by making them listen to my voice.
I have some valve oil for trumpets (al cass fast to be specific). Would that be good for knives? It's non toxic and rather thin but designed to be more water resistant. I haven't used it but I don't see why not.
+S.H.V.C I've been using valve oil for a good year because it's so cheap from my band director. most of then work okay but that don't last very long, they usually dry out within two or three days and it attracts a lot of dirt and dust. it does work in a pinch though
Just tried T2 oil on my higonokami, worked ok but it's a bit thin and seemed to make it grabby in spots. Made an interesting patina on the blade though...
Two weeks after the valve oil, and I don't think I'll use it again. It is too light and dries to nothing quickly, leaving no slick. Also, I now see some rust spots for the very first time on my higo, I've not had that problem before with other oils. It seems that valve oil and carbon steel don't mix as the oil was designed for lubricating brass not carbon steel. I don't see why it wouldn't work with a stainless blade though.
