Opinel - Fed Up!!!

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pinnah

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Jul 28, 2011
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My Opinel #8 won't be tossed out but I'm really, really darn close.

While I credit that knife for getting back in the EDC habit, I'm thoroughly and totally disgusted with the locking ring.

I've been rotating my EDC knives through kitchen duties whenever I get a chance to get a better feel for my taste in blades. Tonight it was the Opinel #8 up against 3 rather skinny zuchinnis - not a big challenge, right?

I twisted that lock ring into the locked position just as hard as I could. Cut a zuke, put the knife down, clear the cutting board, repeat. Before the 3rd zuke was cut, the lock ring was totally undone and the blade was swinging to and fro like a busted slip joint.

I'd say I blame my lock backs but, honestly, at this point, I trust a working slip joint more than I trust this Opinel.

Any Opinel fans out there with the magic French hand shake to get this lock ring to stay put? I'm just about ready to pour a bit of epoxy on the joint and dropping it in the kitchen drawer where it can live out it's live as a paring knife.

Grrrrr.....
 
I had this happen with mine. All you need to do is pop the ring off and give it a little squeeze to make it snug again. I used a screwdriver to pry mine off, but there are a couple other methods to remove it also. It may take a couple tries to get the adjustment right. If you overdo it, the ring will be too hard to turn.
 
opinels where originaly friction folders, the locking ring came later as an added safety, not really a lock. if your blade swing freely when unlocked that's your problem. i use mines almost exclusively unlocked and the blade has to stay open by friction alone. there's no need for a lock or slip joint for cutting zuchinni ...

if yours is that loose, try a good bath of mineral oil, has the wood gets saturated with oil it'll probably tighten it enough, if not lock it closed and force the blade open, this will make the ring pop out, then with a hammer, GENTLY tap the pivot pin a couple of times, check .... it must be usable as is. when the friction is right retighten your ring and put it back.

and if you can't live with some friction when opening i think you've bought the wrong knife.
 
The locking ring can be tightened by first removing it, then giving it a gentle squeeze to narrow the gap a tiny bit. The easiest way to remove it is with snap-ring pliers:

(updated image link on 14-NOV-2018)
piDEeh7.jpg


Take the ring off (don't over-extend it with the snap-ring pliers), and use some pliers with insulated jaws, or a small vise (with some plastic/wood inserts) to carefully squeeze it just a little. Be careful about it, a little bit goes a long way. Then gently ease the ring back onto the knife (with the blade CLOSED). Safest way, without stretching it out with the snap-ring pliers, is to align the slot in the ring with the end of the pivot pin seen on the same side as the logo on the blade (it's the pin's end seen in the pic above). Slide it on as far as you can; the un-notched side of the ring should butt up against the exposed blade tang. Then twist the ring into position (might use insulated pliers for this, too), until the un-notched side of the ring SNAPS over the blade tang, into place.
 
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Can't really say much more than the other folks who responded did. Follow those suggestions and your Opinel will be back in tip-top shape. I use mine as my go-to knife on the farm and have yet to have any lock issues in spite of using it HARD. Sometimes a little tune-up goes a long way. :)
 
Thanks all for the useful suggestions.

I've tightened the ring and we'll see how it goes. Given the weight and great feel in the hand, I want to love this knife more.

As I live with a (growing) collection of knives, it occurs to me that my lock backs have ruined my reaction when handling the Opinel.

I'm generally fine with slip joints. I really don't use them for rough work.

I don't use fixed blades often, but they are by far the most confidence inspiring. I prefer them for cleaning fish and such.

And my lock backs are in between - closer to the fixed blades. Yes, I know a locker of any sort can fail if pressed too hard but my hands (reaction - not thought) has learned that the lock backs can be set down, picked up and used for normal chores as if it they were fixed blades. The Opinel, not so much.

It may be that it's the right knife in the wrong hands. Reactions are a funny thing. Hard to change.

Really need to get that lock ring to stay put under normal use.
 
As soon as you confirm that the lock is fixed...beat the tar out of it! As long as you don't try prying with it you'll be surprised at what those li'l knives are able to stand up to! :eek::thumbup:
 
pinnah, try doing what I do with opy.

I make a mark on the locking ring, where it engages the most with the base of the blade. Then, I remove the locking ring, and with a smooth mill file, take down the high part of the locking ring very slowly, until the locking ring/collar can be rotated almost 180 degrees around. This deeper engagement is more secure and combined with the snug fit, will keep it secure. It just needs to be able to rotate more.

Keep in mind that Opinels are a cheap knife, even in France, and many times it is almost expected for the owner to tweek it to his liking. I know that I've never had an opy that I didn't have to 'adjust' a bit to get it to my satisfaction.

BUT...

Once you do, you will have a slice and dice machine in your pocket that has few equals.:D

Carl.
 
Carl,

Great idea. Will give it a try. Beer, file, repeat. Amazing how many things get better in this process (and on so many levels).

FWIW, I've already committed to the modification route with this knife, which is probably a contributing factor. The knife is a pre-closing lock vintage, so I notched the lower side of the ring to add that after a few times of having it open at wrong times. The back side of the tang is a bit too high to allow the ring to spin at all when the blade is closed, so I had to file the tang down a bit to get it so the lock ring would spin to lock it closed. But, on close inspection, I could tang down just a scooch more (technical term for something less than a mil). As it the lock ring sits now in the blade closed position, the tang is pressing the ring out just a bit. Makes for a very solid lock in the closed position but I can see it contributing to loosening the ring for when it's in the open position. I'll tackle both issues tonight (I hope).

FTB, ack on the "beat on it" goal. But, once bitten, twice shy as they say. It's going to have to re-earn my trust. This thing has scared me on several occasions. Life's a balance though. Trust or not, my nearly 1/2 pound of Buck 110 isn't riding in my pack! The Opinel still is.
 
I've always thoughjt of an Opinel as one of those things that's like being able to buy a brand new antique. Car's for example.

Lets say that you have a new Ford Focus in your driveway. You come out in the morning, get in, start up and drive away with no fanfare. All you have to do is insert key and twist, drop in drive, and go. But lets say Ford, for the sake of nostalgia brought out a brand new model A for sale. Just for the people who like old school. You come out, set the spark, set the throttle, pull the choke, and jab the gas peddle a few times, then hit the starter button. If everything goes well, it starts and you're off on your adventure. There's something you can't quite put a finger on that you find emotionally satisfying. You have to screw with it, it's not quite as reliable as a Focus, but it's sooooo much more fun to use. And that little flat head 4 banger sounds sooo neat going down the road.

An Opinel is something for a knife affictionado to screw with. No, you can't just pull open the blade and go to town on what needs slicing and dicing. A little more care is needed. You have to pay attention to it, and what you are doing with it. Not a bad idea at all when using a sharp knife. But these things have not been popular for 121 years for no reason.

An Opinel is like that first date, you have to get used to each other.:D

Carl.
 
Lots of interesting tips here :)
Since I grew up with friction folders, I usually don't lock my Opinel when it's open. And honestly, I never had the blade getting "weak" on the pivot and tending to close. Also, I guess this depends on your cutting movement, which depends on what you are cutting. Personally, I never got that kind of issue, so I never used the ring lock with the blade open.
I do like to lock my Opinel's when I close them though (sometimes I think that a "closing lock" is more useful than an "opening lock").
:cool:
 
My two No. 08s each have their own personality, with regard to pivot tightness. The 'Carbone' model is pretty snug (tight, actually), and I don't worry about it closing on me at all, locked or not. On the other hand, the Walnut-handled, stainless-bladed model is not quite worry-free, when unlocked. It's not free-swinging loose, per se. But if it's not locked, it tends to pivot closed a little bit when stropping the blade. The leather has just enough 'grab' to tug it in that direction.
 
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I've had my Opinel for over five years now and the locking ring is still as tight as it was when I got it. Perhaps you got one that was looser than normal ? maybe I got one tighter than normal... :)

Tostig
 
jackknife said:
pinnah, try doing what I do with opy.

I make a mark on the locking ring, where it engages the most with the base of the blade. Then, I remove the locking ring, and with a smooth mill file, take down the high part of the locking ring very slowly, until the locking ring/collar can be rotated almost 180 degrees around. This deeper engagement is more secure and combined with the snug fit, will keep it secure. It just needs to be able to rotate more.
Click to expand...

Carl (and everybody else),

I did this last night. WOW!

If the blade slot is at 6 o clock and the standard lock position is at 7, I filed the ring so that it now rotates to about 10 o clock - enough that the pivot pin is completely covered again.

This isn't a slight improvement. It's a massive improvement. Tightening the ring definitely helped but adjusting the lock ring so that it rotates more is a game changer. The proof of the pudding will be in the using of the knife over time, but this really seems like the ticket. I can't thank you enough for the great suggestion.

Quattromori, I don't disagree with you at all regarding about the lack of need of the lock ring if you know how to handle a friction pivot knife. Speaking only for myself, I find that with a lot of things, I fall into habits and the habits get ingrained as reactions. I grew up driving rear wheel drive cars and I've never been able to drive a front-wheel drive car in the snow comfortably. I just don't have the learned reactions. It's not a matter of one car being better than the other for me. It's a matter of which matches my reactions better. Same with knives. I used to only use slip joints but for a very long time now, it's been either fixed blades or full lock-back folders. When I'm busy in the shop or working, I'm focused on the job at hand and my hands react and remember how to handle a knife as second thought and for me, that second thought means as if it were fixed.

My Opinel had gotten to the point where it would suddenly just become even worse than a slip joint. This lock ring filing though. Wow. You guys just saved that knife for me.
 
I believe this is your favorite knife Pinnah. I haven't owned one to know.
 
I bought an Opinel No. 8 in a backpack shop back in 1974 and used it for many years until I could not hike any longer. It now lives in my kitchen block and gets used every day. I really love that cheap knife and it's crude 1095 blade. It sure does a great job cutting up veggies.
 
pinnah said:
My Opinel #8 won't be tossed out but I'm really, really darn close.

While I credit that knife for getting back in the EDC habit, I'm thoroughly and totally disgusted with the locking ring.

I've been rotating my EDC knives through kitchen duties whenever I get a chance to get a better feel for my taste in blades. Tonight it was the Opinel #8 up against 3 rather skinny zuchinnis - not a big challenge, right?

I twisted that lock ring into the locked position just as hard as I could. Cut a zuke, put the knife down, clear the cutting board, repeat. Before the 3rd zuke was cut, the lock ring was totally undone and the blade was swinging to and fro like a busted slip joint.

I'd say I blame my lock backs but, honestly, at this point, I trust a working slip joint more than I trust this Opinel.

Any Opinel fans out there with the magic French hand shake to get this lock ring to stay put? I'm just about ready to pour a bit of epoxy on the joint and dropping it in the kitchen drawer where it can live out it's live as a paring knife.

Grrrrr.....
Click to expand...
For posterity...
 
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