Opinel lock collar: How to remove?

M

MSCantrell

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Mar 12, 2005
Messages
1,213
Hi all,
How do you go about taking off the lock ring of an Opinel without damaging it, so it can be put back on successfully?

I've got a project in mind for my Opinel No. 8: I want to...
take off the lock ring,
pop out the pivot,
sand the inside of the handle so the blade travels more freely,
drill a hole in the blade,
install a thumbstud,
and hollow out a groove in the handle in which the stud can fit.

But first step is to remove the lock collar without ruining it. Any advice?
Thanks,
Mike
 
I just pop it off by prying with a little screwdriver. It's even easier if you use two little screwdrivers.
 
I use a circlip tool. Barring that, a small flat screwdriver should be able to pry it off.

The locking collar may be the least of your difficulties. I have two Opinels. The old one disassembled fairly easy. The new one's pivot will not budge! Repeated hammer and punch, grinding down, etc, and still it refuses to come out. I'm afraid I'll destroy it before I get that pin out.
 
One of the things I like most about Opinel's is how easy they are to customize.
I blued the blade and collar (blade came out a dark shiny blue/black and collar came out with a nice 'wavy' patina) , sanded down the handle some and dyed it and finished it , drilled out a lanyard hole for it and installed some brass tubing.
An 8$ knife turned into a knife of hierloom quality.:thumbup:
If I can get my camera setup later on today I'll post some pics in a new thread , of my latest projects and acquisitions.

A word of caution , be careful to not pry too much so that you bend out that collar and , my Opinel is razor sharp , be careful of that blade when working on it.:eek:
 
Tape the blade first to the handle for safety. If you have a wood vise use that to free up your hands but sometimes I use my feet with shoes on for the same purpose.

Use screwdrivers as suggested and wear leather gloves. Do not use a knife to remove the collar. I found the collars to be quite strong and have a good spring to them so you don't want hurt your hands if the tools slip.

File the rivet holding the blade down then use a dull point nail and gentlely tap the rivet shaft out.

Tape the blade edge well when putting it on the new handle.
 
So they're springy enough to pop off and not likely be damaged? Great! Thanks guys!
 
shecky said:
I use a circlip tool. Barring that, a small flat screwdriver should be able to pry it off.

The locking collar may be the least of your difficulties. I have two Opinels. The old one disassembled fairly easy. The new one's pivot will not budge! Repeated hammer and punch, grinding down, etc, and still it refuses to come out. I'm afraid I'll destroy it before I get that pin out.
Click to expand...

Hi all,
I think a circlip tool (spring clamp pliers) is the best way to remove the Virobloc of an Opinel. You can find on my website, mainly about custom Opinels, technical information on that subject. For disassembling you can translate the page http://michel.montlahuc.free.fr/demontage.htm with Google or others (unfortunately it's only available in French).
shecky, you should grind the head of the pin rather than the punched end, it will be easier. Some Opinels are more difficult to disassemble without reason.

Best regards from France
Michel
 
Naphtali said:
Will the removal procedure described here also work on Cold Steel's TwistMasters?
Click to expand...
For the TwistMasters I don't know, but it doesn't work on many Opinel-like knives (Le Gavroche, Le Marjacq...) because the lock collar isn't a spring.

Michel
 
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