I'll get on it tomorrow. PM me your address and I can get the 10 out either tomorrow or Tuesday!
Opinel mods
- Thread starter Thanatophagous
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I'll get on it tomorrow. PM me your address and I can get the 10 out either tomorrow or Tuesday!
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- Jul 11, 2013
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Need some help. I received my first Opinel a couple weeks ago (No 8) and really want to make an easy open notch like pictured here. What tools do you use to make a notch like this?
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Number 8 from the early '70s. Gift from one of my sisters when she was a broke college student in the early '70s. My tool box knife. No modding this one.
Awesome vintage Opi right there!
You can carve the notch out with another knife, file it out with a small rasp/file or even rub it on a brick! it's very simple
Finish the surface with sand paper and a little food safe oil and you'll be sorted dude!
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You can carve the notch out with another knife, file it out with a small rasp/file or even rub it on a brick! it's very simple
Finish the surface with sand paper and a little food safe oil and you'll be sorted dude!
Sounds like soft wood for sure - thanks for the info. I have a variety of rasps, files, etc. So I should be set - I've always liked using older hand tools. I am waiting for my second Opinel to be delivered this week (No 9) and want to be sure I don't bugger up the only one I have now.
I think modding these knives will make me some nice winter projects - now to gather some more!
The standard ones have beech handles and are soft so you'll have no issuses when going slow.
Keep us updated on your mod's mate.
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As long as we are doing radical makeovers.
This was an Opie #6 which I had modded, and then re-modded (and again). I had tried to engrave a pattern in the wood which shredded it so I glued popsickle sticks to the bad spots and reshaped and stained. Still didn't look too bad really. It's the one on top.
A couple things I didn't like about it... It was the first I had taken completely apart to seal inside and out. I had to grind the peening off one side of the pivot pin to remove it and I found out that they are peened just so to hold the locking ring in place. If you don't peen it just right when you re-assemble it then the locking ring will ride up when you lock it closed. The factory peen is designed to fit the groove in the ring just right and prevent that.
The knife was just fine like that although I will avoid complete dis-assembly in the future. It was also a bit loose opening and closing from being sanded internally before sealing, still fine I guess.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naO_gwOp4KY
Still, when I saw the utube video linked above and wanted to make one, it was the best candidate.
I used .09" aluminum instead of .125" brass since they were throwing some away at work.
I kind of tore the Opie apart to get the blade out since I didn't have the right tools handy to knock out the pivot pin. I found out that an Opinel is actually a much tougher knife than you think. Here it is after the "slim mod", again on top in the pic below.
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I used an M3 nut and bolt locktited and ground down instead of a pin for the pivot. It was a pretty easy thing to make actually and I'll probably make these things out of any spare, decent blades I have around. The one at the bottom was a blade from an old CamCo barlow. The blade had somehow been rounded badly around the pivot. I sent the knife to a BF member who took it apart for parts and sent the ruined blade back. If you look closely you can see that I peaned the nut and bolt to tighten it up. This worked fine.
People apparently make quick and dirty friction folders from PVC pipe as well, but I haven't tried that myself yet.
http://www.primitiveways.com/two_bladed_pocket_knife.html
That PVC folder is pretty neat! I want to try one. I wonder how the hacksaw steel holds up. I think I got an old High Speed Steel one around here, that stuff is very hard. It's a mix of cobalt, nickle and steel I think.
Seems it would work well for any spare blade you wanted to use and carry. I've made friction folders from good paring knives. Opinel blades seem to be ideal (go figure, since they're a frickie to begin with).
I just marked it with a pencil, used a rasp & sandpaper to shape it. A Dreamel is faster but it's not hard to work. Like to how yours turned out.
mykel m
Gold Member
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- Sep 11, 2009
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My 6,7,8 & 9.
I dropped the points of the #6 & 9 and the #7 is a My First Opinel I shaped into a spey just because it looks better than the round butter knife shape it came in.That & the spey blade on my stockman's get more use than the sheepsfoot blades.
The #8 garden knife I just flattened the sides & rounded the butt a bit,then stained.
I used Fiebing's #121 Med. Brown leather stain & satin acrylic clear coat.
I first did the 6 like this (v),but decided it needed more jigging to look more like jigged bone.(^)
Here's a 6 I took a soldering iron to for the jigging.
I dropped the points of the #6 & 9 and the #7 is a My First Opinel I shaped into a spey just because it looks better than the round butter knife shape it came in.That & the spey blade on my stockman's get more use than the sheepsfoot blades.
The #8 garden knife I just flattened the sides & rounded the butt a bit,then stained.
I used Fiebing's #121 Med. Brown leather stain & satin acrylic clear coat.
I first did the 6 like this (v),but decided it needed more jigging to look more like jigged bone.(^)
Here's a 6 I took a soldering iron to for the jigging.
r8shell
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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- Jan 16, 2010
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Ugly is in the eye of the beholder. I kinda like it.
Opinels make make nice folding carvers:
I'm thinking of getting one of those wide handle raw models and really do some carving
mykel m
Gold Member
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Thanks Don,I call that poor mans stag.