Making an old knife new for a friend's Birthday - Opinel content

Lemmy Caution

Lemmy Caution

Joined
Aug 17, 2013
Messages
1,558
So a couple months back a friend of mine brought me his stock Opinel No. 8 and said he wanted me to customize it for him. He didn't know what he wanted but he had seen some that I had done for other friends and some of my own and said he trusted me to figure something out. He only used the knife on occasion for food prep while camping but said he was hoping to maybe start carrying it more often around the city. Well things got busy and I didn't get around to it for a while and I think he's pretty much forgotten about it. The other day we were out to lunch and i was using my toothpick to cut up a steak and he really admired the lines of the knife. That got me thinking and his birthday is tomorrow so this week I set about turning his stock Opinel into something of a toothpick that's be good for EDC as well as camping and food prep. Below is the finished knife. We all know what a stock Opinel looks like. So I'll just say a few words about my process. I start by whittling the basic shape. Then I sand getting rid of all irregular gouges and straight lines going from 60 to 400 grit. Well since I wanted a serpentine handle I wound up going a little too far near the bolster/ring lock and the blade well cut was showing throught the back of the handle. So I filled that with a matchstick and wood glue and kept sanding. Then after I had the handle sanded to 400 I soaked it in Boiled linseed Oil for about 15 minutes wiped it off and scorched the whole thing over the stove. The BLO will bubble out and I justkeep rubbing it in and go slow untill the whole handle is an even black but not too charred. Then I start sanding again with 600 up to 2500 cleaning away as much soot as I can between each grit. I finished it with beeswax and buffed with 8000 grit 3M cloth and clean white rags. The Blade started with rust spots that my friend wasnt all too happy with so i sand them away and polished it up to a very fine satin, reflective but not mirrored. Then I put a razor edge on it. Ok here it is.





Oh yeah and to cover that spot on the back handle where I had to fill the wood with a matchstick I decided to put on an oval shield I had laying around. It make a nice thumb rest too.



Well I hope he likes it. And I hope any of this might be useful to y'all here.
 
You do some amazing stuff with opies! I actually remember trying to look through the opinel thread trying to find how you finished these handles. So glad you posted this!
 
glassjaw said:
You do some amazing stuff with opies! I actually remember trying to look through the opinel thread trying to find how you finished these handles. So glad you posted this!
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Thanks a lot glassjaw. Its fun modding them. I really still like the stock opinel but since theyre so cheap and easy to modify it gives you options for converting them to different uses. The beechwood doesn't take stain very well, other's have figured out stains that work better, but I have sort of settled into my method. I find that it sets the color deeper into the wood than any stain would. The scorched BLO kind of cooks the wood and cures it. And when you sand to finish you end up getting rich brown streaks similar to ebony. I've polished this thing to a glass finish, but you can still see the grain in the light. Glad you found it useful. Maybe I'll doa Whip with pictures for my next mod. I might have to make myself an opi toothpick with a stock 7 I have laying around.
 
Very cool. I think he'll love it. What's not to like about a toothpick Opie?
 
Cory Hess said:
Very cool. I think he'll love it. What's not to like about a toothpick Opie?
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yeah right? Ironically his Opi that I just modded was the knife that got me into knives a year and a half ago. He showed it to me while we were camping and that started the madness. LOL
 
Great work my friend, and great pics and prose too :thumbup: I hope your friend like's his Lemmy Special as much as I like mine :)

 
That looks great!

I'm so stealing your idea!
I like the powderhorn pattern, but those huge bolsters always deterred me from picking one up.
 
Really super mod, Lemmy! I especially like the way you turned your sanding "oops" into an opportunity to add the shield - that's a fantastic touch, IMHO. Very flexible and creative thinking in the face of potential adversity :thumbup::thumbup:

-GT
 
That is a great mod! The shield is a cool, unique solution to your problem.

I'm sure your friend will love it!
 
glennbad said:
That is a great mod! The shield is a cool, unique solution to your problem.

I'm sure your friend will love it!
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Thanks a lot guys for all the nice comments. And Glenn that's very flattering coming from you. Your work is terrific. I realize the wood looks a little gnarly in pictures but it's super smooth in person, almost like horn actually. It might be cool to try greater contrast between the charred and plain wood in the future by sanding some parts deeper.
 
I only tried one opinel mod so far. Hasn't made it off my bench yet. Think I'll leave these to people like yourselves, they'll be in good hands!
 
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