Hats off................to Opinel

Sh6guzW.jpg
 
EngrSorenson said:
Looks great! I have my padouk in my pocket as I write to you.
I'm not used to such a mirror finish on an opinel. It's almost distracting.
I'm a huge fan of this one- I really feel like it's worth the extra cash.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I don't particularly like shiny blades myself. I might take some 0000 steel wool to the blade to cut the glare a bit. I like my carbon #07, but thought a stainless & upgraded handle would be nice. I figure, what the heck! I've spent a lot more money on knives that I like alot less than these Opinels.
 
The Olive No.6 arrived the other day, at 21ā‚¬ including delivery from France (to another EU country) it's a sensation. Quite different from the Bubinga No.6 I've owned for years: blade slightly thicker stock, stamped not etched & matte finish-just what I like. Superb finish & some excellent stripes on this Olivewood, that distinctive smell too. It is really useful that Opinel offers so many sizes for its knives (blades, handles too) The No.6 is my favourite all-rounder as it's a great pocket friend, for those fearing it may be too small- it depends on your task but bear in mind it's a bit larger than the ever popular GEC 15 Boy's Knife- and just a little less challenging to obtain... The boxes they come in are rather attractive too with a 'window' so you can see the handle. Depuis 1890 :cool:

pj6nuYv.jpg
 
So I threw a #7 in my pocket for 30 days intending to abuse it just to see how it holds up. I really didn't have much hope for it, but was greatly mistaken. It's been living in the little right side leg pocket on my carpenter jeans or in the cargo pocket of shorts.

This knife has been through tuna steaks, half frozen deer processing, a number of veggies and cooking related things. It's cut drywall, ceiling tile, thin wire, rope, my thumb, a bunch of wood and a number of packages. It's been a coffee stir, screwdriver, wire stripper, digging tool and probably the most abusive thing was scraping and prying plaster from a ceiling. It's had some surface rust from damp days and wet jobs. It's been through the clothes washer and dryer.

The blade is scratched and spotted a little bit, but this knife is no worse for wear than when I got it. Exception being a little blade loss from sharpening.

Beginning middle and end here
20230527_111623-COLLAGE.jpg

Blade today
20230527_115411-COLLAGE.jpg

Some observations:
Mineral oil works for water protection but you have to really soak it regularly in oil. Hot linseed oil was better for the wood and I haven't had to touch it since.

The blade looses it's edge quickly. It's been sharpened probably 5-6 times on an Arkansas stone. Of course, it probably wasn't meant to do what I was doing with it. Sharpens up very quickly. The softer steel prevents chipping and breakage but I had to bend the tip back once which went without issues.

It's just not a good screwdriver.

Overall I don't know what else you could ask for in a knife. It's cheap, robust and very functional. I was pretty sure it was going to be badly damaged at this point and it looks fine. In fact.... I'd say it's better now than when it was new.

I don't wear a hat, but hats off to opinel for sure. Now if only they made sheepsfoot blades or padouk #7s.... šŸ¤£
 
Last edited:
Nicely done Rick!


I have a similar experiment going with a carve-your-own #8 in cherryā€¦I canā€™t seem to bring myself to abuse it on purpose though. Thanks for the linseed oil tip. Thinking about modding the blade and notch to make it one-arm friendly today šŸ„³

IMG_8441.jpeg
 
ā€œThe blade looses it's edge quickly.ā€ I agree. That and the fat round handle in my pocket is why I gave mine away. I give them as gifts. There are some pretty decorated ones..
 
SlipjointPolitiburo said:
Nicely done Rick!


I have a similar experiment going with a carve-your-own #8 in cherryā€¦I canā€™t seem to bring myself to abuse it on purpose though. Thanks for the linseed oil tip. Thinking about modding the blade and notch to make it one-arm friendly today šŸ„³

View attachment 2199688
Click to expand...
I was looking at those! Looking good! Have fun

Ended up buying some pen blanks in padouk and purple heart to try and make my own handle for a #8. First attempt was not successful. Cutting the blade opening is proving to be a challenge.

brownshoe said:
ā€œThe blade looses it's edge quickly.ā€ I agree. That and the fat round handle in my pocket is why I gave mine away. I give them as gifts. There are some pretty decorated ones..
Click to expand...
First thing I did was sand the sides flat and add a notch. World of difference!
 
The carbon blades might be a bit soft, but it does make for easy sharpening outdoors which can be practical. Not found the stainless ones to lose edge quicker than CASE or Buck stainless though.

When talking about heavy-work or 'abuse' it's worth bearing in mind that the Opinel's construction is well adapted to this: good handle grip whatever the model (with lot of scope for mods) but no spring, no liners to get fouled up with dirt and muck. Contrast this to a spring knife...Yesterday was opening bags of compost, cutting up plastic etc and had a GEC 73 liner lock to hand. Very nice knife and well liked but it got full of sand, bits of wood and compost simply from laying it down and cutting stuff up o_O Let's just say its action is very 'gritty' today and will take a while to fix. I need a dedicated Opinel work-knife it seems (most of mine are indoor types or food related) I did have a beater one, one which one of my brothers put in a dishwasher as just some dirty old knife.....but it later disappeared. Time for a replacement, stainless for me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top