Stop using WD-40 on your custom knife pivots

I was at a knife meetup in Denver last Saturday and saw three guys drenching their $400 custom flippers with WD-40 because they thought it was the same as proper pivot oil. One of them ended up with a gummy mess that took me 20 minutes to flush out with isopropyl alcohol. Has anyone else had to fix someone's blade after they got lazy with the wrong lube?

2 comments

2 Comments

grace_hunt841d ago

Wait, do people really not know the difference between a penetrating oil and a pivot lubricant? I had to rescue my buddy's Sebenza last summer when he used 3-in-1 oil on it. That stuff turned into sludge after a week and gummed up the detent so bad the blade wouldn't flip open. I ended up taking it apart, soaking everything in lighter fluid for like two hours, then scrubbing the washers with dish soap and an old toothbrush. After that I put a tiny drop of Nano-Oil on each pivot and it was smoother than when he bought it. The whole thing taught me that spending 15 bucks on proper pivot oil saves you from having to do that messy cleanup later.

milap351d agoTop Commenter

Did your buddy have any idea how wrong he was going in with 3-in-1 or was he just grabbing whatever was in the garage? Seems like most people don't realize penetrating oils have solvents that evaporate and leave that sticky mess behind. Genuinely curious if he at least felt dumb after you had to scrub all that gunk out.