Hardwood SS Opinels and swelling

mnblade

mnblade

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Feb 7, 2000
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Anybody tote one of the premium hardwood (oak, walnut, olive, etc.) Opinels? I'm wondering if they swell when damp like the standard ones. I'm thinking about getting my wife one for her purse.

-- Mark
 
I can't offer any advice, but I'm definitely interested. I have osteoarthritis in my hands pretty bad, so a lot of traditionals are tough for me to open. I'm thinking an opinel might just be the ticket, but I was concerned about the wood having issues with humidity.
-Parke1
 
Walnut is VERY stable, this I know. All woods will swell or shrink a little, but the effects are minimal with walnut. I have one of the SS Opinels in a walnut handle, and it hasn't had any significant issues. Used it 'as is' (untreated) for a while, then briefly treated it with some vegetable oil, and eventually sanded/reshaped the handle and followed with some Watco Danish Oil (linseed oil + varnish blend), purely for my own aesthetic preferences. Throughout, it seemed as if it didn't really matter if the wood was treated or not. Lots of knife block sets out there in walnut (Chicago Cutlery and others) over decades; my mother has used a set for at least 30+ years, and the walnut handles have held up well.


David
 
I haven't carried one of the hardwood models, but I wouldn't worry about swelling as much.
Even with the soft wood I never experienced swelling so bad that the knife wouldn't open - and that was working year-round in the Arkansas forests. They do get a little stiff, but that's easy to prevent or ignore.

I have osteoarthritis in my hands pretty bad, so a lot of traditionals are tough for me to open. I'm thinking an opinel might just be the ticket, but I was concerned about the wood having issues with humidity.
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You might have problems with the locking ring. They can be a bit tough, especially if any dirt/grime/sand gets into the ring grooves.
 
Yes. I have an 8 and a 6 in olive with that wonderful sandvik ss. The no. 6 swelled and is tough to open. It has been carried more. But I also think that tolerances vary so experiences will vary as well. I didn't treat them on purpose just out of curiousity to see how the olive wood would react to the environment here.
 
If you have concerns, the first thing you should do is to seal the wood, especially the exposed end wood where most moisture will be introduced and cause swelling.

You can use linseed oil, mineral oil, melted wax, wood sealer, shellac, or anything meant for wood. Work it in and sand afterwards. Repeat if necessary.
 
My walnut one has had no problems. It was stiff out of the box, and has only gotten looser since I got it.
 
i have oak No 8 inox
good prevention is to soak exposed wood under bolster with some Vaseline,that will seal wood,so far i never had any of Opinels swell that much that i couldn't open the blade.


IMGP6389.JPG
 
I've experimented with water and Opinels, and I have left them in a glass of water totally submerged for up to a half hour. I figure that's about as wet as can be. So far I haven't had one get too tight to open. Yeah, they get a bit stiff, but still doable. And after a few hours in pocket, they dry out pretty good. All mine have had the gasoline and blow drier treatment though. I'll smear the pivot area good with petroleum jelly, and then blast it with the better half's hair drier. When the jelly liquifies and soak into the wood, I smear some more in and do it again. After a few times it gets to be a pretty water resistant knife.

The outside is given a couple light coats of urethane for wear resistance and grip.

Carl.
 
My #8 did swell when I rinsed it off after some food prep. After it dried I soaked the pivot end in mineral oil and it has not done it since. Will repeat the process after a couple more months though just to make sure it stays sealed.
 
Just to be clear, I was just asking if the hardwood models swell like the regular ones can. I know all about the various methods of treating Opinels. So, the only advantage of oak or walnut is aesthetic then, right?

-- Mark
 
All wood exhibit movement with changes in humidity, some more (beech), others less. In some woods the extent of movement can vary across the grain or in the grain, so there can be some difference even in handles made from the same wood, depending on the way the handle was cut.

The boxwood in the Nature, Mountain Legend and some of the Animalia series Opinels is quite stable and looks very nice too.
The walnut mentioned above would be slightly more stable.
From the Premium wood models Honduran rosewood is very stable but pricey.

For your purpose, if price is not an issue, I would personally would pick a rosewood one, a cheaper and still very good option would be walnut.
Boxwood would be more stable than beech, olive or oak too.
 
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rinos said:
i have oak No 8 inox
good prevention is to soak exposed wood under bolster with some Vaseline,that will seal wood,so far i never had any of Opinels swell that much that i couldn't open the blade.


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Same here... I have 8's and 9's in Walnut in both Inox and carbon and don't have any issues with tough blade opening. Nice thing about the Opinel is that they can be easy for almost anyone to modify... I have a couple that I put "Easy open" type cut-outs on so I can open them with gloves on.
 
mnblade said:
Just to be clear, I was just asking if the hardwood models swell like the regular ones can. I know all about the various methods of treating Opinels. So, the only advantage of oak or walnut is aesthetic then, right?

-- Mark
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As I understand Walnut, it is used for many applications BECAUSE of it's stability (on gun stocks for example).
 
timcsaw said:
As I understand Walnut, it is used for many applications BECAUSE of it's stability (on gun stocks for example).
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^^That.

I'm sure it's no accident that walnut has been so widely popular for furniture, knife handles, gunstocks, etc. over the span of decades. Very resistant to swelling/shrinking, cracking, warping, etc., even when untreated (or minimally so). The aesthetics certainly don't hurt it, though. :)


David
 
walnut is awesome stuff. Also, in case you didnt know, you could do what opinel calls the coup du savoyard, which is grabbing it by the metal collar, and hitting the bottom of the knife on a hard surface, which will make the blade come out a bit. Then you can get it easily

thunk_zpse9fe6a28.png
 
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shrapne1 said:
walnut is awesome stuff. Also, in case you didnt know, you could do what opinel calls the coup du savoyard, which is grabbing it by the metal collar, and hitting the bottom of the knife on a hard surface, which will make the blade come out a bit. Then you can get it easily

thunk_zpse9fe6a28.png
Click to expand...

I always called that the 'Savoy smack!"
:D

All else fails, smack it on something hard.
 
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