CUDA Lubricant

A

Athanatos

Joined
Jan 30, 1999
Messages
1,043
When I got my new CUDA, rather than use the gun oil that the vendor kindly included gratis, I used powdered graphite. This seemed to work pretty well. But when it seemed in need of more lubrication, I tried the gun oil. It ended up harder to open. I'm wondering whether this was because graphite is intrinsically better, or because the <EM>combination</EM> of gun oil with (remaining) graphite was a bad idea, or if some other variable might be responsible.

I'm also wondering what might be the best way to clean the thing. Would it be sensible to just disassemble it?

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It's always Dark. Light only hides the Darkness.
 
The combination of graphite and oil is causing the problem. Graphite is a dry lubricant and tends to "clump" when exposed to oil.

My suggestion is to thoroughly wash the knife removing both the oil and graphite. Then stick with one or the other.

[This message has been edited by Mike Moore (edited 04 February 1999).]
 
Oh, I forgot. If you like dry lubricants, there are several on the market. Tri flow (and several other similar products)is a good one as well as the product tuf-glide from sentry solutions (www.sentrysolutions.com).
Sentry solutions also make the tuf-cloth which is great for cleaning and protecting knife blades.

Tri flow and others can be found in hardware stores and bicycle shops, etc. Tuf glide is carried by most knife retailers or you can purchase it direct.

Of course you can still use graphite. It's not a bad lubricant, just messy.
 
Athanatos,
I agree with Mike regarding that the combination of graphite and oil is causing the problem. Cleaning & then re-lubricating would be your best solution. Compressed air & flushing might work for cleaning otherwise disassembly is the best way to go. You will need spline wrenches to do this. Take the clip side off the knife first. Use sparing thread locker for re-assembly. Be sure to apply a little light oil to all blade surfaces after cleaning as unprotected bead blasted ATS-34 can rust easily. For that reason, I would recommend a light oil over a dry lubricant in this application
Please note that disassembly does technically void the warranty (but I'm personally in charge of CUDA decisions & I try to keep our customers happy!)
If you would prefer simply ship the knife back to Camillus Cutlery to my attention & I will take care of it personally.
 
Phil --

It's very kind of your to make that offer.

I'm going to try blasting the thing clean with air (I have a filtered compressor for my airbrush).

It's really not bad right now, it's just not <EM>as</EM> easily opened as when it had <EM>just</EM> graphite.

This thing is <EM>so</EM> d_mned nice! (Can't say that I much use the button, though.)
 
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