Knife pivot lubricant

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Mar 16, 2018
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5
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CA
All folding knives have a pivot sometimes with bearings and sometimes with bushings.
I have tested many oils from the expensive "snake oil" type products to synthetic motor oil to some group II and group iv PAO base stock oils.
They all appear to work very well.
If I were to bottle a few thousand 15ml dropper bottles to give away as knife oil what would be the "best" oil available in bulk, to use?
I am not really looking into doing any blending or doing lots of R&D to come up with the next best product.
Motor oil has additive packages already added which would not be needed for this application.
Fully synthetic oils would seem a bit of a waste for this low tech purpose but it would be a nice claim to make.
Maybe just one of the friction modifier packages bottled neat?
Odorless would be preferable.
At room temperature what is the type of oil with the most lubricity?
 
All folding knives have a pivot sometimes with bearings and sometimes with bushings.
I have tested many oils from the expensive "snake oil" type products to synthetic motor oil to some group II and group iv PAO base stock oils.
They all appear to work very well.
If I were to bottle a few thousand 15ml dropper bottles to give away as knife oil what would be the "best" oil available in bulk, to use?
I am not really looking into doing any blending or doing lots of R&D to come up with the next best product.
Motor oil has additive packages already added which would not be needed for this application.
Fully synthetic oils would seem a bit of a waste for this low tech purpose but it would be a nice claim to make.
Maybe just one of the friction modifier packages bottled neat?
Odorless would be preferable.
At room temperature what is the type of oil with the most lubricity?
HPL CLP, use it on your guns or your knives.
 
To me, this is a very benign use. Protection from corrosion is probably the more important attribute than lubricious because it’s just a knife pivoting. There’s no real speed or load here.

The main thing I’d be concerned with is it gumming up over time. So I’d probably find a clock or watch oil and bottle that. Something that has a pedigree to not gunk up over time and with oxidation.
 
Millions of old knives are survivors from the old days, when people used 3 in one oil, or Singer sewing machine oil.
 
Victorinox Multi Tool Oil. Increases folding precision exponentially. Always get the blade out on time. Or just use mineral oil. If you like the smell, Ballistol will work fine and it's food-safe in case you use your knife on tucker.
 
The OP didn't say why he wants to give away little bottles of "knife" oil but a few thousand has to be some kind of promo, nobody has that many friends & family. He probably shouldn't bottle, say, Victorinox and call it Altima2 oil...
 
To me, this is a very benign use. Protection from corrosion is probably the more important attribute than lubricious because it’s just a knife pivoting. There’s no real speed or load here.

The main thing I’d be concerned with is it gumming up over time. So I’d probably find a clock or watch oil and bottle that. Something that has a pedigree to not gunk up over time and with oxidation.
The knives are not precision instruments as are the clocks/watches. Having said that most clock oils are pure synthetics which by their nature do not gum up over time. It would not be cost effective to rebottle an already established specialist/proprietary brand. This is why I am trying to identify something like a base stock oil I can buy in bulk, one of the major brands Exxon, Chevron etc.
 
Mineral oil like butcher's block oil works just fine if any of the available knife pivot lubes busts the bank. Watch lubes are about $30 for 2ml and probably way too thin. There's no need to reinvent the wheel.

You can get started on looking into watch oils by clicking the link below. Look up the various viscosities if you must. Then just forget about it. These are extremely specialized products.

 
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To me, this is a very benign use. Protection from corrosion is probably the more important attribute than lubricious because it’s just a knife pivoting. There’s no real speed or load here.

The main thing I’d be concerned with is it gumming up over time. So I’d probably find a clock or watch oil and bottle that. Something that has a pedigree to not gunk up over time and with oxidation.
Clock 859?
 
15 ml is a lot of oil for a knife. I have a partial quart of Havoline Pro DS 0W-20 that I dip a toothpick into and place one drop each side of the pivot about once a year. It works very well. The more oil you use the more dirt and dust will get attracted into the pivot. This is more so with the ball bearing pivots. A tiny bit of pocket lint will always find its way into those.

I have several knives and 15ml would last me ten years at least.
 
15 ml is a lot of oil for a knife. I have a partial quart of Havoline Pro DS 0W-20 that I dip a toothpick into and place one drop each side of the pivot about once a year. It works very well. The more oil you use the more dirt and dust will get attracted into the pivot. This is more so with the ball bearing pivots. A tiny bit of pocket lint will always find its way into those.

I have several knives and 15ml would last me ten years at least.
Agreed. I mentioned 15ml just as a ball park. I haven't ordered the dropper bottle yet will probably be less than that. Cant be too small otherwise the bottles would e too fiddly to fill.
 
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