You get to choose the handle material

D

druid189

Joined
Apr 27, 2008
Messages
1,130
OKAY....

Preface: I've had Opinel before, though smaller in length. Also, it was lost in the woods some time ago.

I ordered an Opinel No12 in carbon steel and received it a FULL WEEK EARLY [subdued WOOHOO!!...lol] but I'm just not "feeling" the handle.

So, I got to "doodling" and came up with this shape and profile for the new handle. This is doodled with the idea of keeping the locking collar intact.
The top pic is hand drawn and represents looking at it from below / the blade slot 'angle.' That's the 'general' vertical profile I want.
The second picture down has a pencil shaded area and is the new/proposed handle profile.
The third pic down is the natural design:



Being that it's carbon steel, I plan on gun bluing the blade [which I still have to get]. I plan on getting it as dark blue as humanly possible.

Also, I could design it minus the locking collar and adding a "liner lock" of brass. I'm totally not against this and am 50/50 keeping/ditching the collar lock - but regardless, I want a 'blade-open' lock of some sort. Either one, doesn't matter to me...I'll decide that later. I'm also going to purchase a "deep carry" pocket clip for it.

You get to choose the handle material. Sorry my phone takes crappy pics, I couldn't find the digital camera:





Your wood choices are:

1. Natural Tigerwood
2. Brushed Sandalwood
3. Patagonian Rosewood
4. Brazillian Cherry

I'm not in any kind of rush so take your time deciding.

Which do you prefer? Thanks! :)
 
ok,... I like where you are going with this BUT

1. Heating that blade to dark gun blue is possible if you are using it for decoration, heat treat is not as easy as taking a torch to it and by doing that you will definitely alter the strength of the steel and it either warp while being heated or it become too bristle etc,... so read up on that before you go nuts with the torch.

2. I like Wood #2 and I would stain it with light gray to go with your intended gun blue;... that being said, I hope they are treated/stabilized/sealed for making knife handles because if not, they will warp / shrink / swell and do all kinds of funning stuff within weeks if you get it wet and then dried. so read up on that as well before you destroy that new knife of yours.
 
wiredbeans said:
ok,... I like where you are going with this BUT

1. Heating that blade to dark gun blue is possible if you are using it for decoration, heat treat is not as easy as taking a torch to it and by doing that you will definitely alter the strength of the steel and it either warp while being heated or it become too bristle etc,... so read up on that before you go nuts with the torch.

Are you talking about heating the blade to change its color? If so, I don't intend to do that. I'm talking about liquid gun bluing [often called "cold bluing"] like this here:

[video=youtube;L0eMj_r_jgU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0eMj_r_jgU[/video]

And while it does use heat to activate the chemicals, it doesn't need the extreme heat of a torch that will ruin a temper.


2. I like Wood #2 and I would stain it with light gray to go with your intended gun blue;... that being said, I hope they are treated/stabilized/sealed for making knife handles because if not, they will warp / shrink / swell and do all kinds of funning stuff within weeks if you get it wet and then dried. so read up on that as well before you destroy that new knife of yours.
Click to expand...

All the wood pieces you see are hardwood flooring samples. The woods are very hard, some even treated with "25 year warranty" topical treatments that will probably get sanded off when I do that. I will, however, waterproof them with my beeswax/BLO/turpentine waterproofing agent to prevent water from ruining the handle.
 
Thanks for that info! I'm not into guns so I had no idea that kind of metal treatment existed. Gotta get me some to play with. Does it only work on carbon steel? It looks clear like some find if acid?

As for the wood part, I've seen plenty of solid hardwood floor warp, it's better to get them stabilized, the process is infusing resin into the grains via pressure chamber or vaccine chamber, the end result is you get the same wood in close to twice the weight and it will never deform
 
wiredbeans said:
Thanks for that info! I'm not into guns so I had no idea that kind of metal treatment existed. Gotta get me some to play with. Does it only work on carbon steel? It looks clear like some find if acid?

As for the wood part, I've seen plenty of solid hardwood floor warp, it's better to get them stabilized, the process is infusing resin into the grains via pressure chamber or vaccine chamber, the end result is you get the same wood in close to twice the weight and it will never deform
Click to expand...

yes, there are several 'grades' that will blue different grade/harder carbon steels but there is nothing in their line that will blue any Stainless steels.

Yes it is a caustic material that is corrosive. Wear gloves, eye shields and a mask/respirator.

I can build a vacuum chamber using a pickle jar and a brake bleeder and use wood hardener if needed.

[video=youtube;sx5BW-aAR1I]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx5BW-aAR1I[/video]

479f34ca-1e7b-48fc-bfdb-d1b0bd422bfb_400.jpg
 
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Just from a glance, ANY of those four woods shown would look fantastic!! I'd probably be tempted by #2, but I don't see how any of those would be bad.
 
wiredbeans said:
Very nice, please do update your progress, I'd love to see it
Click to expand...

Thanks...I will.

Ecchi-Spud said:
Just from a glance, ANY of those four woods shown would look fantastic!! I'd probably be tempted by #2, but I don't see how any of those would be bad.
Click to expand...

I know...which is why I posed the "YOU" pick the handle material statement. I'm having a Helluva time deciding myself... LOL!
 
PiercedBill said:
Personally..I've always thought rosewood is just so pretty. So :thumbup: for rosewood.
Click to expand...

I agree but all 4 samples are "pretty" woods. I wish I could find the better camera, my phone camera sucks and doesn't give enough credit.

EDIT: and 250+ views but only 11 posts, 5 of them being mine ??

Please viewers....pick a plank for me :(. Majority wins. I'd have put a poll up but the forum doesn't have polls....
 
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I have a knife handled with Patagonian rosewood, lovely colour to it, go for that and polish it up!
 
ok so as far as votes we have 7 votes total >:0 :

#1 - Natural Tigerwood - 1 vote
#2 - Brushed Sandalwood - 5 votes
#3 - Patagonian Rosewood - 3 votes
#4 - Brazilian Cherry - 0 votes
 
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No. 2

Many woods that are oil laden don't stabilize well. I'm not sure if any of those qualify, but if they do I'd go that route.

I'm getting a package together for vilePossum, let me see if I have any wood that might work. If I have anything good I'll get it out to you, but it'll be a couple of weeks from now.

I say keep the collar lock design. It works well. If the knife was a one handed opener, maybe I'd consider going with a liner lock, but I think it's a pretty involved/complex process to get to work right. Might use removable hardware and phosphor bronze washers though. That would be pretty cool.

Cold bluing will look great.
 
Rosewood for me. However doesn't wood stabiliser rule out an oiled finish? I would have thought it would stop the oil soaking in.
 
Omega Leather Works said:
No. 2

Many woods that are oil laden don't stabilize well. I'm not sure if any of those qualify, but if they do I'd go that route.

I'm getting a package together for vilePossum, let me see if I have any wood that might work. If I have anything good I'll get it out to you, but it'll be a couple of weeks from now.

I say keep the collar lock design. It works well. If the knife was a one handed opener, maybe I'd consider going with a liner lock, but I think it's a pretty involved/complex process to get to work right. Might use removable hardware and phosphor bronze washers though. That would be pretty cool.

Cold bluing will look great.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this but I'm happy with any of these woods I pictured. Even if they won't stabilize [properly] I still have many more pieces to select from. I ordered more...perhaps they will be here Monday. I do appreciate the offer though.

I can't be absolutely sure they aren't oil laden...but upon looking at the flooring samples under my 5X lighted magnifying glass, I'd say they are all pretty dry specimens. I know that's not a scientific method of detecting oils but it's the best I got LOL.

As to the lock...I had been toying with the idea of putting a thumb-stud on the blade. Not the normal "round" one, [like this]:

$_12.JPG


.....I really like the flat brass one seen here:

$_12.JPG




My only reservation is blade thickness differences between the Buck and the Opinel. I'm fairly positive the Opinel is thinner and will leave a "gap" in the channel and that's not going to be aesthetically pleasing in my opinion.

As to the liner lock, I'm fairly certain I can make one that will work. If using brass flat stock as the lock, I can heat/torch bend it for the "spring" that creates the curve of the lock and sandwich that between the handle plates...pinned and epoxied in place.

Basically my idea is a 2-piece handle...a "Driver's and passenger's side" set of scales, if you will. I have some brass mosaic pin left over from my Scottish Dirk build I can use. Since the lock would only need to be pinned in place near the pommel end, the only thing I'd really need to concentrate on is the geometry where the lock meets the blade "tang" area. Until I take the knife apart, I have no idea what the "inside" looks like. For now, all I have is this to view:

opinel1.jpg




...and in that respect, I'd have to file the "rounded tang" into a flat spot to accept the mating of the lock. I'm not certain I want to do that LOL.

The more I think about it, the more I just want to keep the collar lock lmfao!!

...but I do want a thumb-stud of some sort.



I'll add one for #2 for your vote and a rosewood for the following vote. Thanks for the input guys!
 
I'd say #3 rosewood, or #2 only if you plan on staining it. I have no experience with this, but I know there is something called cold bluing that shouldn't mess up the heat treat. You might want to look into that if you haven't already.
 
treval96 said:
I'd say #3 rosewood, or #2 only if you plan on staining it. I have no experience with this, but I know there is something called cold bluing that shouldn't mess up the heat treat. You might want to look into that if you haven't already.
Click to expand...

Not sure if I'm going to stain it. If anything, after I stabilize it, it will get a beeswax/BLO/turpentine coating [waterproofing] that will probably not stain it. If I waterproof it before hand, it won;t stabilize because the pores will be filled with wax n stuff.

...although....I know for a fact the waterproofing agent will prevent any kind of water absorption...so stabilizing would be a moot point in that respect...

And yes...cold bluing is mentioned in post numbers 1 and 3 :)

I'll add one each for 2 and 3 since you picked both
 
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