Do you oil your Opinel?

Joe58

Joe58

Joined
Nov 11, 2002
Messages
1,969
Just curious if anybody has used oil on their Opinel pivot to free it up a little. Mine is pretty stiff. Not horribly so though. So it's not a real biggee.

I'm just curious if a drop of oil in the pivot will effect the wood. Such as cause it to swell, or maybe degrade in some manner. Mine is a No. 6 with the olive wood handle and Inox blade.

I've owned it for awhile but haven't really used it. But I may spend a little time carrying it now and then to try it out. I've read other threads here indicating many people are fond of them for a basic daily knife for lighter cutting chores at an extremely reasonable price. Have to admit that they're pretty simple to operate. :)
 
I oil the pivot on my no. 8 as often as I oil the blade, which is quite often.
I just let the oil seep in there, not too much, mind you.

It might loosen up the pivot a little when warm, but when cold, makes it harder to open IMO.
Olive wood is pretty dense wood, so oil would not make a noticeable swell- again, IMO.
Enjoy bonding.:)
 
Yes, I put a drop of oil in the pivot and then work the blade back and forth several times. It takes a while and some use for an Opie to loosen up. I then put Vasoline in the pivot and a coat of clear nail polish (my wife doesn't know :-) on the end cap wood to help seal the wood. It will still tighten and loosen as humidity changes, but not a much. Opies are good knives. Forgot to mention, I also mod my Opies by making them an "easy opener" using a round file or my Dremel drum sander to round out a half moon cut-out in the handle right below the nail nick; then seal the wood with nail polish. Makes them a lot easier to open.
Rich
 
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I oil the pivot on my carbon no. 8 as often as I oil the blade, which is not very often. Almost never, to be honest.

When the knife is exposed to moisture it swells a bit and gets a little more difficult to open (still, no harder than your average slipjoint, in my experience). But then the knife dries out and it goes back to being a cinch to open on handed. Can't go wrong with an Opi!

-- Mark
 
Rich S said:
?....I also mod my Opies by making them an "easy opener" using a round file or my Dremel drum sander to round out a half moon cut-out in the handle right below the nail nick; then seal the wood with nail polish. Makes them a lot easier to open.
Rich
Click to expand...

Yeah Rich, I had thought of that too as I've seen pics others have posted after modding. And I'm a fan of EO knives so I'll have to give it a go. Least if I really screw it up, I'm not out a bunch of cash. :)

Thanks guys - I'll try a dab of oil on the pivot then to smooth it out a little.
 
I oil the carbon blade on my #8. I'm sure some gets to the pivot. But, I haven't intentionally oiled the pivot. Never gave that a thought on that knife.
 
I haven't oiled the pivot on my Opinels, but I've heated up some Sno-seal beeswax and smeared it down into the pivot area to try to minimize swelling due to humidity. I think it's been quite effective in keeping the action smooth, but the true test will be the next few months. Last summer is when I was having real swelling issues, so much so that I could barely open a #6 I had until I dried it out by keeping it in a hot car for a day.

- GT
 
I've minimized or avoided oiling the pivot in my Opinels. I tried it once, and found that the oil will tend to collect more dirt & pocket lint, which negates any real benefit of oiling (assuming the goal is to free up or smooth the pivot's operation). With the wood handles, I've found it's much easier to keep the pivot clear of such junk if it's DRY, instead of oiled.

If the goal is to seal the wood from moisture, a penetrating/sealing finish like Danish Oil or boiled linseed oil would do a better and more permanent job, and won't attract all that dirt & other particulate matter that can bind up the pivot, once it's fully cured (a few days).


David
 
I heat the pivot area up a little with a hair dryer, smear a little vasoline in the pivot, heat it up a little more to encourage it to soak in. Then wipe of the excess. I have done this to my number 7 twice and have had very little to no swelling of the wooden handle/pivot area since.
This wasn't my idea, if I remember right, Carl posted that he has had good luck with this method.

Jim
 
I've used plain old WD40 on the pivot before, seems like all the Opinels I've got/handled new were very stiff so I loosen them up with WD40. After that I leave them alone unless they need it, I like them being stiffer so I don't have to lock them closed.
 
5K Qs said:
I haven't oiled the pivot on my Opinels, but I've heated up some Sno-seal beeswax and smeared it down into the pivot area to try to minimize swelling due to humidity. I think it's been quite effective in keeping the action smooth, but the true test will be the next few months. Last summer is when I was having real swelling issues, so much so that I could barely open a #6 I had until I dried it out by keeping it in a hot car for a day.

- GT
Click to expand...

Summer humidity...hadn't thought of that. I have the room, where I keep my guitars, dehumidified. I may have to put my Opinels in there.
 
Nah, I don't do anything to mine. Even carrying an Opinel daily for years working outdoors in the horrific Arkansas humidity, I never did anything special. It did get stiff during especially damp weather, but never so much that it couldn't be opened.
In fact I was actually glad that the wood swelled and the pivot stiffened, because back in those days Opinels didn't lock closed.
 
I can see where using something to get a good seal on the wood would help with swelling perhaps. I like the fact that these are actually pretty good knives at a really reasonable price which gives you the flexibility to experiment with them.

Some really good ideas. Much appreciated.
 
Not to keep the blade free, only to lubricate the locking ring. And I use olive oil. It doesn't go rancid like folks say, I don't use more than a tiny drop, and it doesn't smell mechanical. You need to dehydrate the handles from seasonal swelling. Silica dehydrating packets work wonders in a sealed Tupperware.

Zieg
 
Grateful said:
I heat the pivot area up a little with a hair dryer, smear a little vasoline in the pivot, heat it up a little more to encourage it to soak in. Then wipe of the excess. I have done this to my number 7 twice and have had very little to no swelling of the wooden handle/pivot area since.
This wasn't my idea, if I remember right, Carl posted that he has had good luck with this method.

Jim
Click to expand...

Jim is right. Carl (jackknife) told me about treating Opinels with vaseline, and the Sno-seal beeswax was just my twist on his idea.


The Zieg said:
Not to keep the blade free, only to lubricate the locking ring. And I use olive oil. It doesn't go rancid like folks say, I don't use more than a tiny drop, and it doesn't smell mechanical. You need to dehydrate the handles from seasonal swelling. Silica dehydrating packets work wonders in a sealed Tupperware.

Zieg
Click to expand...

This reminds me of what Señor Rafael, a knife dealer in Sevilla Spain from whom I bought a Taramundi friction folder, told me. He said if the knife swells up and gets stiff from humidity, just put it in a baggie with uncooked rice overnight. Made sense to me, but I've never had a chance to try it. Again, maybe this summer when the swelling is most troublesome for me.

- GT
 
Rice, of course! Forgot that old trick of rice grains in the saltshaker. I grew up in the south and you'd think I could never forget that.

Zieg
 
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