My first Opinel and first forced patina!

D

DGladden

Joined
Jul 18, 2010
Messages
592
Before joining Bladeforums I had never even heard of an Opinel. After seeing how obsessed folks were about them I knew I had to try one one day but it just kept getting put off. Well last week a generous member (155440) offered to purchase one and have it shipped to my door. It arrived Saturday afternoon and i played around with it most of the evening. After looking around I decided to try my hand at forcing a patina. I had never done this before, all of the carbon blades I had in my youth were handed down from relatives and had beautiful patinas and well worn scales already.

I watched a few vids on Youtube of some different methods and decided on a simple vinegar patina. I soaked a paper towel in warm vinegar and wrapped the blade. I let it sit for about 50 minutes. The blade came out looking almost blued. I rinsed it with cold water, dried and applied some oil to the blade. Here it is after.



Well, I took it to work today and put it to the test. It spent the evening cutting shrink wrap off of pallets, off of the axle of a forklift, and breaking down cardboard. It took it all in stride and only needed a slight touch-up on the stone when I got home. Here she is after her first day on the job.





I have a couple of handle mods in mind but will wait a bit. I can honestly say I now understand the infatuation with this simple blade. Thank you again Peter for the generous gift.
 
Nice job on the patina. This is why I love this sub forum, people are more willing to give help and sometimes even knives. I'm willing to bet this is the best sub forum on the internet. You guys are awesome.
 
Welcome to the club. They're pretty amazing knives, especially if you put a little bit of time in them.

My thoughts on tuning them up are here:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/28597626/tuning-opinels.txt

If somebody wants to try an Opinel (#8), feel free to jump in on my Opinel Pass Around here:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1097460-Opinel-Pass-Around-amp-Walk-About

Regarding handle mods, obviously, this is half of the fun. After playing around with a bunch of mods, I've settled on leaving the shape of the #8 as is and knocking the sharp corner off the top back of the #9 and #10. Here they are in decreasing order, top to bottom.


Opinel by Pinnah, on Flickr
 
just say no to forced patinas.:p i like the aged look and letting the knife age through use naturally.
 
BearMGCHafter said:
I soaked a paper towel in warm vinegar and wrapped the blade
Click to expand...

Congratulations on your Opinel! Lots of fun to play with, light, sharp, and locks. Also congratulations on having the courage to play with patinas. If you dont like what happens, you can always strop or polish it back off.

I use my knife for food, and it patinas really quickly. Here is where it goes after a few steaks, tomatoes, chiles, and apples.

IMG_6423.JPG


and here it is after getting a shine with Sunshine Cloth, including the wood

IMG_7044.JPG
 
I thought it turned out great. I like using vinegar as well, and like the texture you get with paper towels. Opinels are very addictive, but you're not going to break the bank with them.
 
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