Has anybody modded any of these Opinel carbone paring knives? Would you lol?

M

MarsHillPicker

Joined
Apr 23, 2017
Messages
67
I saw one used at a friend's house and my first thought, I could improve on that, make a sheath and carry it in the woods... you know, my usual first thought lol. I have been modding old hickory knives for quite some time and have created a whole line from the old hick 3.25" and 4" paring knives. Plenty sold and all happy customers. When I got these Opinel carbone paring knives I noticed they look much nicer. Nicer packaging even has a cut out to show off the wood, 3/4 or so tang instead of half or less on the old hicks. The handle is nicer and seems more well shaped. I almost hate to bust these open... almost lol. Flat grind and razor sharp out of the box. I literally paid $9 free shipping for this 2 pack of knives. Has anybody ever modded one of these before? Are these compression rivets like the old hicks? I imagine so. Would anybody buy something like this? My passion is making things functional and nice to look at, I think these are a good starting point! Any suggestions welcome as always!
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I feel like I'm cheating on my " Made in USA" way of thinking. Selling out almost lol. I even use local burlap micarta from a farm up the road who recycles their feed sacks etc. Pretty nice, 2 for $9 though, and well made I give them ol' France boys that lol.
 
Very nice Bladescout! I love the sheepsfoot and wharncliffe variation shape blades. Some of the most useful in my opinion. This is the #12 folder if I understand correctly? Has it done you good in service? I literally just bought an opinel #8 after seeing the quality of the fixed blade paring knives. Was your mod by choice or did the blade break? I have several older folding knives with sheepsfoot and wharncliffe blades... because the tips had broke too far to fix lol. I prefer the new blade shapes anyway lol! Good job brother, I hope to see some more Opinel mods, and receive a little advice regarding ,interest in the products, quality of the knife steel, stories of use and versatilit, construction of the knoves etc
I should mention I sell my knives very cheap, for anyone thinking I am trying to turn this into a $100 masterpiece lol! Keep em coming guys!
 
Its the #12 folding Opi, yes.

It was bought brand new and cut down without even slicing a piece of paper.

Its the carbon version and its a mean slicer.

You need a gold membership or better, if you plan on selling knives here.
 
I bet that thing slices like a beast lol! I didn't even know selling here was possible, I'm gonna have to look into that! Thanks for the info, and the sweet knife mod pic!
 
I just got my Opinel #8 folding knife today and went straight to town on it! I blued the blade, sanded the handle to fit me better and started my signature finish. It's only been sanded once and oiled for the pics but you can get an idea of the finished product. Already wore it in my custom kydex neck sheath this afternoon before oiling lol!
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Very comfortable carry and useful to boot! I want to make a small kydex sheath for a smaller Opinel folder to attach to my camp cleaver sheath, heck I might even be able to fit a #8 on that beast lol. Next is the paring knives, still not exactly sure what to do with em...
 
Opinels are good bang for the buck knives and beg to be modified.
Here's a couple of folders I did a few years ago.
Top is a Garden knife and the bottom is a Coghlan's.
The flat sides of a paring knife would be great to do this stag look jigging on imo.
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Moded? No
Use the hell out of? Oh absolutely!

I love my opinel paring knives, they're the only kitchen knives my kids have picked up on being great (I have some nice, Asian style kitchen knives and a nice bread knife they don't care about but the opinel they realize is a great knife and actually search them out in the knife drawer / block when they need a sharp kitchen knife)
 
Beautiful mykel m mykel m ! How does one go about doing some jigging like that, looks like it could take some time. I bet if feels nice though, and looks great! my wife already took one Opinel paring knife, she said she was using my 60 year old carbon steel slicer, no way, or taking one of these, the other ones don't cut good she says lol. She's sick of that Farber ware type junk now too lol. Oh well, what's $4.50 to make the lil lady happy!
 
MarsHillPicker said:
Beautiful mykel m mykel m ! How does one go about doing some jigging like that, looks like it could take some time. I bet if feels nice though, and looks great! my wife already took one Opinel paring knife, she said she was using my 60 year old carbon steel slicer, no way, or taking one of these, the other ones don't cut good she says lol. She's sick of that Farber ware type junk now too lol. Oh well, what's $4.50 to make the lil lady happy!
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Thanks, it didn't take long at all actually. I used a tiny ball head bit (3/32-1/8") in a dremel to cut the groves then sanded, stained and a few coats of BLO.
 
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mykel m said:
Opinels are good bang for the buck knives and beg to be modified.
Here's a couple of folders I did a few years ago.
Top is a Garden knife and the bottom is a Coghlan's.
The flat sides of a paring knife would be great to do this stag look jigging on imo.
Rb5FtAQ.jpg
Click to expand...
Looks good.

I notice the top one is the stainless version.
I like the carbon steel ones but suppose the ss gets plenty sharp as well.

Is that natural patina from use or did you treat the ring locks?

Looks almost gun metal (might just be the light).
(I have a slew of Opis but eliminated the ring lock on all of them).
 
MarsHillPicker said:
I saw one used at a friend's house and my first thought, I could improve on that, make a sheath and carry it in the woods... you know, my usual first thought lol. I have been modding old hickory knives for quite some time and have created a whole line from the old hick 3.25" and 4" paring knives. Plenty sold and all happy customers. When I got these Opinel carbone paring knives I noticed they look much nicer. Nicer packaging even has a cut out to show off the wood, 3/4 or so tang instead of half or less on the old hicks. The handle is nicer and seems more well shaped. I almost hate to bust these open... almost lol. Flat grind and razor sharp out of the box. I literally paid $9 free shipping for this 2 pack of knives. Has anybody ever modded one of these before? Are these compression rivets like the old hicks? I imagine so. Would anybody buy something like this? My passion is making things functional and nice to look at, I think these are a good starting point! Any suggestions welcome as always!
NslfbKn.jpg
4ylSgYp.jpg
iu1ZiGT.jpg
I feel like I'm cheating on my " Made in USA" way of thinking. Selling out almost lol. I even use local burlap micarta from a farm up the road who recycles their feed sacks etc. Pretty nice, 2 for $9 though, and well made I give them ol' France boys that lol.
Click to expand...
I haven't, but definitely would.
I've often thought an old school carbon steel paring knife would make a great lightweight fixed blade for daily utility.
 
BladeScout said:
Looks good.

I notice the top one is the stainless version.
I like the carbon steel ones but suppose the ss gets plenty sharp as well.
Click to expand...

Opi's are fun to mod and all the hipster, fiddly, traditional, french, etc., etc. stuff. But I would not like them nearly as much without their 12c27 stainless. It might get a frog hair's less sharp than their carbon, but it holds it better. 12c27 is the carbon steel of stainless.
 
davek14 said:
Opi's are fun to mod and all the hipster, fiddly, traditional, french, etc., etc. stuff. But I would not like them nearly as much without their 12c27 stainless. It might get a frog hair's less sharp than their carbon, but it holds it better. 12c27 is the carbon steel of stainless.
Click to expand...
I wouldnt know about, what a hipster would do to an Opi. I can only imagine ... shudder.

I bought mine to make into very efficient cardboard cutters, which they are.

As for the steel, I prefer the carbon version. It gets sharp, like you wouldnt believe.

When one box cutter gets dull, the other takes over.

Couldnt be happier with the steel.

But good, that there are choices and that those who want ss, can buy those.

:DAs misguided, as they may be (THAT WAS A JOKE! - Im sure, they are fine):D
 
D davek14 I have a 12c27 on the way, I want to get a feel for it, so this one will be a keeper, modded of course lol. Plus, just like all great knifemakers, I would like to have the options my customers would want. I see posts about, "I wish they had X knife but in X steel." on forums all the time, daily I would dare to say. Nobody can offer everything, we'll I can't anyway, but I can have variety. My preference is geared toward carbon steel, but I have many quality stainless knives as well. I'm a collector as well as maker and modder. I'll be sure to post my findings, and pics!
 
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