Opinel very sticky

[bikerector]

All mine were way too tight for my liking too. Here's what I did. It's heresy, but it worked for me.
1. Pop the lock ring off.
2. Take a large flat head screwdriver & gently pry apart the heavy steel ring around the end of the handle, where the pivot pin is; until it's to your liking.
3. Then pry open the lock ring a tad to make it easier to rotate.
4. Re install the lock ring.

I did this on one of mine as well with good results.

Also, putting a gob of a CLP paste in the pivot helped a lot too, to help reduce water's impact. I use a no. 12 at work for my food knife so it is wqshed regularly, and water kept being a challenge. The paste has stayed well and keeps the pivot's resistance more consistant.

 

[BJE]

50+ years & no fires or damaged/burnt out microwave ovens.
Metal pie plates and coffee cups, tea strainers/infusers, bowls, and a 6" cast iron skillet, all with food or beverage in it, have never given me a problem.
As long as no sharp corners/edges or sharp points = no sparks.

Balled/Crumpled aluminum foil will spark and is not recommended.

It’s refreshing to see someone else that understands this about microwaves, most if not everyone I have met just believes that NO metal is safe to put inside. The sharp edges in close proximity to one another is what causes the arcing, a spoon acts vastly different than a fork for example.
Like a stun gun, the metal prongs have to be close enough for the electrons to jump the air gap, move the electrodes far enough away and or increase their thickness and through the air will no longer be the path of least resistance.

 

[BJE]

I would also like to add that if your opinel is stiff due to the humidity, soaking the wood in mineral oil won’t help much and make it harder to loosen since it will take much longer to disperse the oil than it would the water, soaking wood in oil will swell the joint just as the water is doing now.

It’s fine to do if the action isn’t too tight already, but they vary a lot and therefore one persons success story can be another frustration if you aren’t cognizant of what is actually happening to the wood/joint interface.

Wax is a much safer bet as much less of it will be absorbed deep with in the wood and therefore will not swell the joint as much.

Mechanically alleviating the tension on the wood by spreading the inner metal collar can be effective if you don’t have a lot of change in humidity, however, on dry days, you might find it loosens too much.

My experience with opinels in varying humidity over the years would advise you to not over dry the wood, but instead let the humidity stabilize to a somewhat normal for your climate degree, then if it’s still too tight, you could spread the inner collar slightly or peen the pin for more tension if too loose, after you dial it in to where you are reasonably happy, melt some wax of nearly any sort into the joint liberally, until the wood absorbs no more, works best if the wood is warm enough to allow the wax to remain a liquid, wipe/scrape off any excess wax, and carry/use.

You will still notice some slight tension changes depending on temperature and humidity, but it should be much less drastic. Realize this is not a problem, but a side effect of wood being a natural material that expands and contracts in relation to the environment in which it’s exposed to.

Outside of wax, I would say petroleum jelly, or even lip balm is better suited for this than any oil, which will wick its way through the wood over time. Capillary action/osmosis is at work here, the thicker the substance, the slower the absorption and therefore the longer it will take to be effected by external influences.

 

[BJE]

Long story short, I prefer a product called sno-seal for this purpose, it’s applies easier than a hard wax, and waterproofs well, plus I keep it on hand for my boots and various other leather items.

 

[5K Qs]

Long story short, I prefer a product called sno-seal for this purpose, it’s applies easier than a hard wax, and waterproofs well, plus I keep it on hand for my boots and various other leather items.

I've also had good results using Sno-Seal, that contains beeswax, to minimize swelling of Opinel handles.

- GT

 

[afishhunter]

It’s refreshing to see someone else that understands this about microwaves, most if not everyone I have met just believes that NO metal is safe to put inside. The sharp edges in close proximity to one another is what causes the arcing, a spoon acts vastly different than a fork for example.
Like a stun gun, the metal prongs have to be close enough for the electrons to jump the air gap, move the electrodes far enough away and or increase their thickness and through the air will no longer be the path of least resistance.

So true.
The "NO METAL!!! " mentality makes it difficult at best to nuke loose leaf tea in a stainless tea infuser, equipped with a bunch of sub-mm holes. (it can't spark when submerged, any more than a raw fowl seed(s) (egg) will explode when in enough water to cover it/them.
Heck! even the round link recovery chain out of the water and the hook on the end of the chain over the cup lip don't spark!

I'm guessing she does nor realize the browning sleeve for 'HOT POCKETS'™ (etal) are lined with metal particals.

Rather than argue with the facility owner (who owns the microwave), I just put the tea in the water, nuke 3 minutes, then use the infuser to filter out the tea leaves when I transfer it to a cup or mug, out of sight in my room.
(pliers to hod the infuzer prevents burnt fingers.)

 

[jbib]

The only opinels that are consistently non-sticky are the plastic handled ones. They still feel like the wooden ones in action, but you do not have to worry about them swelling or sticking.

That would be fine with me but the only ones I know of are the ones with that stupid whistle.

 

[jackknife]

Long story short, I prefer a product called sno-seal for this purpose, it’s applies easier than a hard wax, and waterproofs well, plus I keep it on hand for my boots and various other leather items.

THIS!

I've found a heavy wax to be the best sealer for Opines. If no Snow Seal is around, then Johnsons paste floor wax will do. Smear in a good amount to the pivot area, and use the better half's blow drier to melt it right into the wood. Repeat a few times, then once a month for a few months. I've got my Opinel's to a point that they will stand pivot down in a full glass of water for 30 minutes, and still open and close just fine.

 

[davek14]

I would also like to add that if your opinel is stiff due to the humidity, soaking the wood in mineral oil won’t help much and make it harder to loosen since it will take much longer to disperse the oil than it would the water, soaking wood in oil will swell the joint just as the water is doing now.

It’s fine to do if the action isn’t too tight already, but they vary a lot and therefore one persons success story can be another frustration if you aren’t cognizant of what is actually happening to the wood/joint interface.

Wax is a much safer bet as much less of it will be absorbed deep with in the wood and therefore will not swell the joint as much.

Mechanically alleviating the tension on the wood by spreading the inner metal collar can be effective if you don’t have a lot of change in humidity, however, on dry days, you might find it loosens too much.

My experience with opinels in varying humidity over the years would advise you to not over dry the wood, but instead let the humidity stabilize to a somewhat normal for your climate degree, then if it’s still too tight, you could spread the inner collar slightly or peen the pin for more tension if too loose, after you dial it in to where you are reasonably happy, melt some wax of nearly any sort into the joint liberally, until the wood absorbs no more, works best if the wood is warm enough to allow the wax to remain a liquid, wipe/scrape off any excess wax, and carry/use.

You will still notice some slight tension changes depending on temperature and humidity, but it should be much less drastic. Realize this is not a problem, but a side effect of wood being a natural material that expands and contracts in relation to the environment in which it’s exposed to.

Outside of wax, I would say petroleum jelly, or even lip balm is better suited for this than any oil, which will wick its way through the wood over time. Capillary action/osmosis is at work here, the thicker the substance, the slower the absorption and therefore the longer it will take to be effected by external influences.

What I do is leave it in my car in the summer or near an AC vent (or any other drying method) until it is a little too loose. Then, I throw the whole knife into a jar with mineral oil until it tightens back up to where I like it.

Doing that, mineral oil on just the joint, wax or Vaseline heated into the pivot, they all work. I feel like my method might last longer and need to be redone less, but I'm not basing that on anything but personal opinion.

 

[calm]

That would be fine with me but the only ones I know of are the ones with that stupid whistle.

There is also one with screw bits, electrician model 9 and no whistle.

You can also just ignore the whistle on the 8 and 12.

 

[pandreas]

I've also had the problem on a copy with carbone blade. Finally I've put the knife head down into a small glass with sun flower oil for some days (According to Opinel best would be linseed oil but avoid olive oil). Then it was much better. From time to time it gets some additional sunflower oil onto its "front" and "back".

 

[pvicenzi]

Usually, you just need to dry the wood out a bit. Put the knife on the defroster vent of your car.

 

[tim777us]

Sorry I'm late to the party, but I agree with using mineral oil. I have had great lunch with it, and it's thicker than most common cooking oils.

I have used olive oil for rust prevention on a carbon steel blade that gets used for food. You don't want to leave it on for too long, because the possibility exists that it could go rancid. That doesn't happen with mineral oil, and it's good safe too. Mineral oil is also more vicious than olive oil and other common cooking oils.