A little French baking

[btmccutcheon]

A few weeks ago, my girlfriend found out about the joy of using an Opinel. She was doing a little food prep and used my No 9 on a few things. So we ended up ordering her a No 8 Slimline. She really likes this knife and it sees a lot of kitchen use. She's been good about keeping it clean and adds bit of mineral oil to the joint to protect it as well.

Last night she asked me to touch up the edge and I found it had gotten very tight. It was rather dangerous actually to open and close. So, how to fix a tight Opinel? I figured that the regular cleaning and oiling had likely caused the wood to swell a bit and a warm dry environment might help. So into the oven it went at 170 degrees (the lowest setting) for about 45 minutes. Once back out and cooled down, it was smooth as silk with a nice easy pull.

My question is whether or not I may have overlooked anything by doing this that could hurt it in the long run. Being an Opinel I wasn't too worried about hurting it as they are so affordable.

 

[screened porch]

170 degrees isn't hot enough to affect the heat-treat.
There are several threads about tuning Opinels that you could search. I've never used one enough to knock it out of tune myself.

 

[jackknife]

A few weeks ago, my girlfriend found out about the joy of using an Opinel. She was doing a little food prep and used my No 9 on a few things. So we ended up ordering her a No 8 Slimline. She really likes this knife and it sees a lot of kitchen use. She's been good about keeping it clean and adds bit of mineral oil to the joint to protect it as well.

Last night she asked me to touch up the edge and I found it had gotten very tight. It was rather dangerous actually to open and close. So, how to fix a tight Opinel? I figured that the regular cleaning and oiling had likely caused the wood to swell a bit and a warm dry environment might help. So into the oven it went at 170 degrees (the lowest setting) for about 45 minutes. Once back out and cooled down, it was smooth as silk with a nice easy pull.

My question is whether or not I may have overlooked anything by doing this that could hurt it in the long run. Being an Opinel I wasn't too worried about hurting it as they are so affordable.

You can adjust then very easily. Insert a large screw driver in the blade slot just in front of and in back of the pivot, and twist v try gently at first. What you are doing is prying the inner bolster slightly more open. This will loosen a tight Opinel. Then continue the mineral oil treatment.

I think the Vaseline treatment is more stable i the long run. Smear a good amount in the pivot area, and turn the better halts blow drier on it until the jelly melts into the wood. Do this two or three times and you've made a pretty darn near water proof Opinel. Or warm up the wood well with the blow drier, and then soak the joint in mineral oil that has been heated up. Let soak in for a while.

 

[btmccutcheon]

Thanks Carl! I'd remembered you talking about that in another thread, but was concerned about the vaseline application knowing her organic leanings and how much she likes to do food prep with it. She prefers the control she feels with it over her regular kitchen knives. I actually get a bottle of food grade mineral oil specifically for her cutting boards and this knife and the No 6 she carries in her purse. I figured I could bake some of the moisture out and shrink up the wood a hair to free things up a bit. Seems like it worked, but I still like to look to those with more knowledge and experience so I can continue to learn.

 

[Rich S]

For routine kitchen prep stuff, why not get Opinels paring knives? Made from Sandvik 12C27, take a razor edge and come two for $15. Just a thought.
Rich