New opinel has stiff action

J

JoHnYKwSt

Joined
Mar 1, 1999
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1,904
I received an opinel a couple of days ago and the action is very stiff. Any ideas on how I can fix this? Thanks in advance.
 
The wood will swell depending on the humidity. You can try and varnish the exposed wood to minimize the size variations.
 
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I realize the wood can swell but I don't think this is the problem. I don't live in a particularly humid enviroment. I did try putting a blow dryer to the pivot area to possibly dry out the wood in case it did swell up but that did not work. It may be that I just received a dud.

Thanks for moving the thread Cougar, I should have known better. :o
 
One incredible agent for displacing dirt and lubricating to revive swollen joints in Inox, a multi-purpose lubricant. Good luck! :thumbup:
 
Don't do what I did which was use light vegatable old which evaportated and became sticky. I small drop of mineral oil can help but I think the best thing is to do nothing it will loosen up quite quickly and Opinels have a loverly action when they do.
 
Just do like the elders here do with their opinel : let it be stiff! :)
When you want to open it, just knock the butt of the knife against a hard surface (table, floor, whatever...) and the blade will open a little, enough for you to open it easily.
Or you can look for a modified opinel with a thumbstud (quite expensive though but very very nice).

Antoine
 
:grumpy:
lapinot2003 said:
When you want to open it, just knock the butt of the knife against a hard surface (table, floor, whatever...) and the blade will open a little, enough for you to open it easily.
Click to expand...

Antoine, its stiff enough that not only will it not open by itself when I hit the butt of the handle, opening it with my thumb is not an option because my thumb will simply slip. Even when I manually open it half way I cant finish opening it with my thumb alone. :grumpy:

Thanks for the other ideas, any more would be appreciated.
 
You do not want your Opinel to open too easily.
Scenario..... your out for a little walk in the woods , your trusty Opinel in your pocket , you reach in your pocket to grab your gum/lighter/whatever and because your Opinel opens so easy , the blade opens up enough to open you up with a nice 4 inch gash on your palm.
The action is supposed to be stiff , there is no spring action to help it open or to help keep it closed.

Maybe some are tighter than others , mine opens just right , not too stiff and not too fluid.
If you want to avoid possible moisture swelling , simply sand and re-finish with tung oil , that should keep most of the moisture out.
 
Work a little parrafin, beeswax, Renaissance wax, or even car wax into the pivot area.
Bill
 
Keep opening and closing it, maybe a drop of mineral oil in the pivot. Remember it is a $7 knife not a William Henry.
 
yehh keep working it till it is loose enough, then you will have the best of the best, or buy another and customise the stiff one then you will
never be parted from it i promise you :D
 
If you really need it looser you should be able to pop the locking collar off with a screwdriver. Then remove the pivot pin and blade, and sand the wood around the pivot. Just as a warning I have never done this but it seems perfectly possible.
 
Bill DeShivs said:
Work a little parrafin, beeswax, Renaissance wax, or even car wax into the pivot area.
Bill
Click to expand...

:eek: I got beeswax in the pivot of my opinel and it was really stiff for quite some time. And it couldn't have been much, cause I was just cutting the wax.
 
Well I tried taking it apart today but failed. I was able to remove the collar with a pair of pliers, but the pin gave me a really tough time. I was only able to remove it half way. I was hammering it through but I think I only manage to make it worse by flattening the pin. I've put it back together and have given up for now. I'll probably try again some time in the future.
 
I was able to fix my opinel today by rotating the pivot pin. While the pin was half way removed (stuck against the pivot hole of the blade) I noticed that it would rotate when I rotated the blade. I tried rotating it 180 degrees and voila(!) instant smoothness. I also ground down the top and bottom of the side of the pin that protrudes from the side holding the collar in place. It helped smooth out the rotation of the collar a bit. Thanks for all the suggestions and help and especially thanks to Gilles who emailed me providing links to opinel sites as well as personally calling the Opinel factory (he lives in France).
 
You'e welcome JoHnYKwSt, for the lovers of Opinel's customisation, try this link http://www.netlaputa.ne.jp/~opinel/opinel/charles/charles.htm, sorry text is in French, but sometimes pictures are better than words, also scroll down the page of this site, at the bottom click "a l'entrer" and you will see more links with beautiful realisations.:thumbup:
 
I was able to translate the page using google: LINK

I was quite impressed with the quality of the materials on these opinels - specifically the collar. The metal seems very hard and holds its shape very well even after repeated removals. Attempts to weaken its springiness were unsuccessful.

Here are some modified opinels found on that page: LINK
 
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