Puzzling new Opinel.

J

jackknife

Joined
Oct 2, 2004
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So, the stepson of my daughter, my son in law John the giant Swedish guy's son from a former marriage, was lusting over the way my Opinel cuts. So, I went out and bought a brand new one to give him, took it home to "tune it up" like most new Opinels need. On taking off the locking collar I found a slot milled into the inner bolster that I had never seen before on an Opinel. Granted, it's been a very long time since I bought an Opinel, but none of the other Opinels ever had this slot.

I'm stumped! I can see no use for the slot, or any reason for it. Sooooo, anyone else find this on their Opinels?

I know we have a bunch of Opinel fans here, so I seek your opinions. The new one is the one on the left.

28748752355_1f1d18913e_c.jpg
[/url]https://flic.kr/p/KNqSu4[/IMG
 
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It seems the slot is present in the No.8's and above. With it being on the newer versions I wonder if it has to do with ease of manufacturing?
 
metricmat said:
It seems the slot is present in the No.8's and above. With it being on the newer versions I wonder if it has to do with ease of manufacturing?
Click to expand...

I've stared at it trying to figure it. I can't see how it would be ease of manufacture. I spent the last half of my working life as a machinist, and in the manufacture end of production. All I can see is that it adds a step in the production of a low cost knife. For a hundred and twenty six years of making, they never needed a slot in the bolster before. It either has to be stamped or milled in the part before being formed in a circular part. Seems like a extra useless step.:confused:
 
Maybe it's similar in function to grooves inside some firearms - collect grit so it doesn't interfere with movement.
 
If one was to completely dismantle an Opinel, after removing the pivot pin one could use the slot for leverage to remove the ferrule.
A theory.
 
I design formed metal parts and approve the tooling as a part of my job and can't figure out how that slot would aid production either...

The only thing I can think of is if they have automated their assembly process and need the slot to to correctly orient the parts for proper presentation. In a past job I designed automation equipment that used vibratory bowl feeders in which you pour many pounds of small parts into a large vibrating bin and the vibration causes the parts to separate and move up a circular track and eventually line up for assembly. If the part is circular but requires orientation you can tune the part by changing its CG so it always orients one way...

A bowl feeder:
DSC06581.jpg


PS: the guys who tune bowl feeders are absolute magicians. They're like brain surgeons that get paid 40k a year.
 
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I've seen some like this that have a tab on the lock collar that corresponds to this new slot. I thought it was probably to limit rotation of the lock collar. If jackknife's lock collar doesn't have the tab, it might be a transitional version with an older, tabless collar and newer style inner collar.

Paul
 
Paul Davidson said:
I've seen some like this that have a tab on the lock collar that corresponds to this new slot. I thought it was probably to limit rotation of the lock collar. If jackknife's lock collar doesn't have the tab, it might be a transitional version with an older, tabless collar and newer style inner collar.

Paul
Click to expand...

I think we have a winner!
 
Interesting. Seems sort of unnecessary but it's a nice attention to detail. Anyone have a photo of the tab?
 
My older opinels don't have the slot but I did recently receive a new opinel set as a result of Mr. Redden's very generous gaw. I will dismantle one or two tomorrow and report my findings. I'll post some pics of the tab if it's present.
 
Wow Paul, you must have done some digging!

If this is going to be the "new" Opinel style of build, I'm going to go buy some spares that don't have the tab. I mean, why go and muck up a time proven design with an un-need modification? I'll had to file the tab off, as I like to have my Opinels able to rotate the locking collar 180 degrees with easy motion.

Good work, Paul!:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
 
That Paul is a clever one ;) and all along I figured it was just a means of making the knife lighter, as everyone knows they are a bit on the heavy side :)
G2
 
I don't see the need for the new "feature" either. Maybe there's more to it than we know. I wonder if the synthetic handled models also have it.

Howdy Gary! :cool: I think about you all the time when I put my small Sebenza on my belt in the sheath you made. The leather has darkened to a very rich brown.
 
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