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Opinel Maintenance?
- Thread starter Thomason
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- Apr 12, 2009
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I'm a little on the fence about using oil on Opinels, but I have tried Vaseline and simple Chapstick-type lip balm in the pivots, with some perceived success. Liquid-type lubes worry me a bit, because of their tendency to soak into the wood and make it swell. Thicker stuff like the Vaseline/Chapstick seems to soak in less, but still keeps other liquids, dirt & grime out of the pivot. Pocket lint tends to stick to it and collect there, but it's not too hard to dig that out with a toothpick, using a magnifier, then use the same toothpick to apply some fresh 'grease' if needed.
David
David
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I've used Opinels since 1982, and for most of that time they have been beater knives. Reserved for the so called 'hard use' that I didn't want to sully my nice knives for. They need much less maintenance per se than a regular knife, and hold up well. I used to take the new Opinel and sand off the factory finish, and soak with linseed oil, and do a once a month rub down with the oil. That worked okay. Then a friend who is a bonafide born and raised in Paris type of French guy, laughed and showed me how to treat an Opinel.
About once a month or so, just take a pipe cleaner, paper match, or toothpick, and smear a good amount of Vasoline petroleum jelly in and around the joint. Then fold a paper towel in fours and wipe out the excess grease. Thats it. Once you wipe off the excess and just use the heck out of it, it will be fine. I've submerged my Opinel for up to 20 minutes in a glass of water, and it still opened up just fine. A little stiff but okay. Dropped in pocket and by that night is was back to normal. Wood likes Vasoline. It gets rubbing in and the wood gets pretty water resistant.
An Opinel pivot is metal on wood, not metal on metal like a regular knife. It's weird old design is not like the stuff of today, and is not in need of a lot of maintenance. Over in France and other places in the world, the Opinel is put to hard use like most of the posers in the tactical knife community only day dream about in their office cubicles. Construction sites, farm labor, dock workers. These knives have a very long reputation as a reliable sturdy knife by people who make a living the hard way. They ain't meant to be pampered.
Carl.
About once a month or so, just take a pipe cleaner, paper match, or toothpick, and smear a good amount of Vasoline petroleum jelly in and around the joint. Then fold a paper towel in fours and wipe out the excess grease. Thats it. Once you wipe off the excess and just use the heck out of it, it will be fine. I've submerged my Opinel for up to 20 minutes in a glass of water, and it still opened up just fine. A little stiff but okay. Dropped in pocket and by that night is was back to normal. Wood likes Vasoline. It gets rubbing in and the wood gets pretty water resistant.
An Opinel pivot is metal on wood, not metal on metal like a regular knife. It's weird old design is not like the stuff of today, and is not in need of a lot of maintenance. Over in France and other places in the world, the Opinel is put to hard use like most of the posers in the tactical knife community only day dream about in their office cubicles. Construction sites, farm labor, dock workers. These knives have a very long reputation as a reliable sturdy knife by people who make a living the hard way. They ain't meant to be pampered.
Carl.
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- Jun 13, 2007
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- 7,743
I work in a factory and almost all of the spray chemicals have to be food safe. I happened to have my Opinel in my pocket the other day while using a can of spray silicone. After confirming its food safety, I just sprayed the entire knife with a liberal dose of the stuff. After a minute it was completely dry and pretty smooth.
I'll probably keep doing it this way unless something changes.
I'll probably keep doing it this way unless something changes.
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2011
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Putting Vaseline into the joint of an Opinel may be helpful, but I assure you that they don't do that in France. I'm guessing that people might have started doing that outside of France based on a bad translation: in France, they call any kind of light lubricating oil "Huile de Vaseline." It's a generic term for any light lubricating oil (for things like sewing machine parts). They could be talking about light grade mineral oil, any kind of sewing machine oil, Hoppes #9 lubricant, etc. But they are not talking about the thick, greasy stuff you buy in tubs.
This is "Vaseline" in France:
Now, far more often they don't do anything to the joint of their Opinels. They leave it "naked," as Skimo said. If you know how to open an Opinel, you will always be able to open it easily no matter how stuck the blade is, hence no need to oil it, grease it, etc. The technique is called the "coup de savoyard":
[youtube]73U1PhWMzEM[/youtube]
This is "Vaseline" in France:
Now, far more often they don't do anything to the joint of their Opinels. They leave it "naked," as Skimo said. If you know how to open an Opinel, you will always be able to open it easily no matter how stuck the blade is, hence no need to oil it, grease it, etc. The technique is called the "coup de savoyard":
[youtube]73U1PhWMzEM[/youtube]
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2009
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- 1,134
not to disturb you but vasoline in tube exist in france too. and its called vaseline... vasoline oil is exactly what you describe but in the common language when someone says ''vaseline'' it refers to the thick thing, ''huile de vaseline'' is way less known.
other than that you're right, its meant as a simple tool, use it, sharpen it, thats about it.
just one point i'd like to point. it's not meant to be smooth, it's a friction folder with an added safety. the blade should stay open by friction during moderate use. the virobloc is just an optional safety. the first ones had no virobloc.
other than that you're right, its meant as a simple tool, use it, sharpen it, thats about it.
just one point i'd like to point. it's not meant to be smooth, it's a friction folder with an added safety. the blade should stay open by friction during moderate use. the virobloc is just an optional safety. the first ones had no virobloc.
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Hi pwet,
I didn't mean to imply that they don't have the thick Vaseline in France. I meant that they don't use it on Opinels, but I think foreigners saw all the references to "huile de vaseline" to use in the joint of an Opinel and assumed it was the thick stuff. We don't refer to lubricants as Vaseline oil in the U.S.
I didn't mean to imply that they don't have the thick Vaseline in France. I meant that they don't use it on Opinels, but I think foreigners saw all the references to "huile de vaseline" to use in the joint of an Opinel and assumed it was the thick stuff. We don't refer to lubricants as Vaseline oil in the U.S.
Putting Vaseline into the joint of an Opinel may be helpful, but I assure you that they don't do that in France. I'm guessing that people might have started doing that outside of France based on a bad translation: in France, they call any kind of light lubricating oil "Huile de Vaseline." It's a generic term for any light lubricating oil (for things like sewing machine parts). They could be talking about light grade mineral oil, any kind of sewing machine oil, Hoppes #9 lubricant, etc. But they are not talking about the thick, greasy stuff you buy in tubs.
This is "Vaseline" in France:
Now, far more often they don't do anything to the joint of their Opinels. They leave it "naked," as Skimo said. If you know how to open an Opinel, you will always be able to open it easily no matter how stuck the blade is, hence no need to oil it, grease it, etc. The technique is called the "coup de savoyard":
[youtube]73U1PhWMzEM[/youtube]
Well, I can assure you that Pascal speaks very excellent English, as does his father and brother who were visiting from France, and had joined us for lunch, and Vasoline jelly was what he said. He spoke of smearing the pivot area liberally, and folding the paper towel to wipe out the excess grease from the area. When I have three adult males, ranging in age from the early 30's to the mid 60's, speaking about Vasoline petrolium jelly, I am clear about what they mean.
Carl.
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- Feb 7, 2000
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- 6,667
Amen. I have two and use them hard and put 'em away wet.* No problems at all.
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Hi Carl,
Well I guess that just shows that, even in France, people do things their own way. I can tell you that I lived in France for five years and have been to Savoie. I have seen people put lubricant into the joint, and one name for that lubricant is "huile de Vaseline." In fact, if you go to the Opinel Museum website, they say exactly that, in French (here) and in and English (here), although "Vaseline Oil" doesn't mean anything in the U.S.
It was just a guess on my part that over time it got "lost in translation."