Oil

[user24]

Hey guys, quick question: What oil do you use for your SAKs? I have a few in need of oiling.

I've seen the term 'mineral oil' bandied about, what brands should I look for, and is it food-safe?

Thanks

[nuphoria]

Yes, mineral oil is what you need for a food safe knife

I don't think there's a specific brand, just look for a generic - should be reasonably cheap.

[Threeme2189]

Go to your local pharmacy and pick up a bottle.

[North Man]

Hi

No doubt the best is the Victorinox mutitool oil, have never had any better, used for years...

[Ashley]

I like rusty rags oil.

[jekostas]

Hey guys, quick question: What oil do you use for your SAKs? I have a few in need of oiling.

I've seen the term 'mineral oil' bandied about, what brands should I look for, and is it food-safe?

Thanks

Just get any standard pharmacy brand.  It'll all be the same.  As for food safe, well, mineral oil is considered a safe laxative for children in moderate-large amounts so unless you're chugging bottles of the stuff at a time you'll be perfectly fine.

[user24]

ok thanks, I'll look in my chemist

[powernoodle]

WD-40 is mineral oil + mineral spirits.  The latter evaporates quickly, leaving the mineral oil behind as a light lube.  Its not food grade, but it is mineral oil.  Johnson's baby oil also is 100% mineral oil, plus fragrance.

FWIW, the Leatherman website recommends WD-40 on its products.

[duckman1975]

WD-40 is mineral oil + mineral spirits.  The latter evaporates quickly, leaving the mineral oil behind as a light lube.  Its not food grade, but it is mineral oil.  Johnson's baby oil also is 100% mineral oil, plus fragrance.

FWIW, the Leatherman website recommends WD-40 on its products.

I always thought that WD40 is a degreaser that removes the lube and dirt, so IT IS ALSO lube. Thanks

[Singh]

Mineral oil is the way to go.

Wd-40 is crap. It gums up.

[jerseydevil]

+1 for mineral oil. I bought a large bottle at a pharmacy for something like $5, and it'll last me for a LONG time to come.

[theonew]

I like and use mineral oil but wish it was slightly less thick. When I put it on, it seems to splooge around a bit rather than quickly sink in, requiring a bit of wiping off from areas where it will attract dirt. Not a big deal and perhaps that extra viscosity helps it stay in place better When I opened up my well maintained by me Vic Explorer to remove the scissors, I was pleasantly surprised to see a nice thin layer of oil, almost like a washer, around all of the pivot areas

[jzmtl]

I use the leftover inside bottle from when I do oil change on my car, so far so good. 

[ketchupgun]

I've used bike chain oil that i used on my mountain bike (not sure if it's synthetic)..brand's like Pedro's, White Lightning...works for me.

[enki_ck]

Mineral oil is the way to go.

Wd-40 is crap. It gums up.

+1

WD40 or water displacer isn't recommended. It just clogs up the moving parts and is a pain to clean afterwards. I use it for cleaning SAKs and multis but wash/wipe it off afterwards and apply mineral oil or fine mechanics oil.

[macabee]

I use Victorinox own multi tool oil [meets NSF H1 requirements] a food-grade lubricant so if you use your sak to slice any food you wont poison yourself.

[powernoodle]

Wd-40 is crap.

WD40 . . . isn't recommended.

Well, the guy who has sold 2,700,000+ multitools recommends it.    http://www.leatherman.com/about/maint

Made from crap?  Not really.  The mineral spirits component (hexane) is a mild solvent which dissolves gunk, and because it is highly volatile it evaporates quickly.  The mineral oil component hangs around as a light lube, which is what you want it to do.  It is aerosolized with C02, and contains a small volume (<2% by weight) of a surfactant. 

If never found it to get gummy after applied, but I also don't leave my toys laying around long enough for the mineral oil to goo-ify either. 

WD-40 has lots of haters.  And thats fine.  But crap it ain't.  Its just an aerolsolized mild solvent and light lube. 

[Grant Lamontagne]

Yes but if he recommended the stuff that doesn't gum up tools he may have only sold 1,987,000 multitools! 

Def

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

[dks]

I use 3 in one for lubricating the pivots and WD40  for soaking and cleaning.

  If you check at hardware shops they sell special lubricants, for not a a lot of money, Designed to be used by the food industry (meat processing factories, burger shops need to lubricate their machines too; how do you think they do it?).
These are certified for safe use around food and are designed not to harm you if you eat them.
Also bear in mind that toxicity is typically measured by seeing how many bacteria (standardised method) can be killed with a substance, so antibacterial soap is considered toxic too, thus even if you use a mildly toxic material to oil your knives, provided you remove it from the blade and use small amounts only on the pivots it is unlikely you will come to harm.

[Singh]

I use wd-40 t displace moisture out of frozen locks, but I don't use it as lubricant. WD40 tends to gum up, harden, and form a residue.

Mineral oil is cheap, foodsafe, odorless, and works a dream on knives and tools. What more can you ask for? 

[ICanFixThat]

I don't leave WD40 on long enough to gum-up so I don't know, but it's very good for cleaning as others have mentioned.  I have used it on my car rear door latch and it really worked well, I just left it on there and it's still going strong.  I just think mineral oil is better for the most part, but I have some other stuff with a micro applicator that I use some times if I'm not going to use the knife for food.

[Peter]

I use olive oil on my knifes, and leather.

[duckman1975]

I use olive oil on my knifes, and leather.

Wouldn't work for me might try to eat the olive oil soak leather 
I now use a generic all purpose oil, when I'm gonna use my multitool blade for food just wipe it first to remove as much oil as possible. After that wash and then re-oil as soon as I can.

[Peter]

Funny you say that. People in the past have had to boil up, and eat leather.

[duckman1975]

Funny you say that. People in the past have had to boil up, and eat leather.

Hope that would not be necessary to anyone anymore, unless you like to really eat it.
By the way does olive oil leave residues on your knives?
 

[Peter]

I don't think it leaves a residue. On a SAK it just stays oil wet till you wipe it. On a sheath knife that lives in leather, the sheath will sort of soak it up over time, i just oil them every so often. Cheers Peter

[duckman1975]

Thanks for the Info

[Peter]

Duckman if you give it a try on a user. Buy a spray can of olive oil, that way you can get it into the nooks. If you don't like it on your knifes, make garlic bread with it  .

[dks]

Having lots of olive oil in Cyprus people will sometimes use it for lubricating. However, if it gets hot or exposed to the sun it goes rancid and can also "lock" the object you try to lubricate. If it gets close to freezing (5C) it also thickens and becomes similar to margarine. This happens to pure olive oil, as it comes out of the olive mill. The one you buy in shops may have additives that make it more stable. tip: fresh, day old, olive oil with salt and lemon makes a great dip.

[duckman1975]

Having lots of olive oil in Cyprus people will sometimes use it for lubricating. However, if it gets hot or exposed to the sun it goes rancid and can also "lock" the object you try to lubricate. If it gets close to freezing (5C) it also thickens and becomes similar to margarine. This happens to pure olive oil, as it comes out of the olive mill. The one you buy in shops may have additives that make it more stable. tip: fresh, day old, olive oil with salt and lemon makes a great dip.

Duckman if you give it a try on a user. Buy a spray can of olive oil, that way you can get it into the nooks. If you don't like it on your knifes, make garlic bread with it  .

Thanks maybe I'll try it, I live in the tropic so might not work for me but will also by balsamic vinegar so the worse thing that could happen is around 3 days olive oil, balsamic vinegar soaked bread breakfast