How to get my Opinel locking ring unstuck?

[field day]

Hello folks,

Though this is my first post I have read many of your thoughts on Opinel knife care, and am grateful for all of the insight and experience that people have shared. However, I couldn't quite find the solution to my rather annoying quandary...

I purchased my No. 8 Opinel while in France last year. I was Fantastically pleased with my new acquisition and very excited to use it at the farm where I was working. Unfortunately, the first chance that I got was while harvesting very dirty produce - celeriac, or celery root - which requires you to put your knife in the soil to cut off the roots. And, this was done during a massive rainstorm. In retrospect this is all quite comic, now that I've read quite a lot about Opinels Not Doing Well in moist environments. Or, for that matter, with dirt jamming the pivot and knife slit.

Needless to say, the blade was stuck, I was quite worried, and in the end, of course, the wood reassuringly lost its swell. However, to this day the locking ring is very stiff and cantankerous and painful to budge. I am almost positive that this is due to a dishearteningly lot of dirt in the locking device.

My question is this - does anyone know of a handy trick that I can use to get that dirt (or...rust?) out without dissembling it? If it must be dissembled, I will do this. However, not being terribly brilliant with knives (ha, go figure), this would have to be a last and supervised resort. Is there some oil or solution that I can put in that will soften the dirt up? What could I then push it out with? Are my desires too silly? What I have done so far is use a pin to clean out some of the dirt, which hasn't seemed to make much of a difference.

Thanks for your help!! I really appreciate it.

Jenny

 

[Sword and Shield]

Pop the ring off- takes about 2 seconds with a flathead screwdriver to lever it off, and clean underneath. With some Opinels, you can also turn the locking ring closed and try opening the blade- the blade pops the ring off, and sends it flying across the room.

 

[chococrazy]

Pop the ring off- takes about 2 seconds with a flathead screwdriver to lever it off, and clean underneath. With some Opinels, you can also turn the locking ring closed and try opening the blade- the blade pops the ring off, and sends it flying across the room.

I can never get my opinel lock ring off. It's on their really good, and it just WON'T come off

 

[field day]

Thanks for the quick responses. Sword and Shield - what is your secret for getting your ring off so quickly? Do you oil it up quite a bit? And what position is the knife in when you take it off with the flathead? Is the knife fully open, with the lock engaged as if the blade was in its sheath?

 

[manowar669]

Hold closed knife in left hand. Put a large flat screwdriver in the blade slot of the locking ring, and twist the screwdriver to open it up a bit and hold it. With the left thumb, push against the screwdriver to push the lock ring off the knife. Harder to explain than to do.

 

[Trigcure]

If you cant pop the ring off, i find fast running water and dish soap to help, not great for the wood but it could get some of the crap out if you work the ring around in the soap and running water, good luck!

 

[field day]

Awesome - I really appreciate the detailed advice. I have a bit of stuff to work on this evening, but I'll get that sucker off somehow tomorrow and report back on what happens. Cheers!

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

If you haven't already tried this, it might be worth putting the knife in the oven at a relatively low heat (150F) for a while, maybe up to a couple or three hours if needed. It may be that your knife handle is still holding on to much of the moisture it absorbed in the rain. Putting the knife into the oven for a while may allow the handle to shrink enough for you to do what's necessary to loosen the lock and clean out whatever dirt may be in there. And, as long as the heat's relatively low, you aren't likely to harm your knife in the process.

 

[Sword and Shield]

Thanks for the quick responses. Sword and Shield - what is your secret for getting your ring off so quickly? Do you oil it up quite a bit? And what position is the knife in when you take it off with the flathead? Is the knife fully open, with the lock engaged as if the blade was in its sheath?

What size Opinel is it? Any of them above a #4 have the ring able to lock the knife closed now, so the rule is the same. Lock the knife closed, and pull the blade open against the ring. Pops the ring off, sends it flying.

 

[field day]

Hi, everybody!

So, after a busy yesterday I was finally able to sit down with my Number 8 and work at it with screwdriver, thumb, and boyfriend. Unfortunately both of us tried quite a bit to pop the ring off in one manner or another, and failed at our every effort. On Friday I also tried cleaning it out with soap and water and leaving it atop a towel on the radiator (about as good as a warm oven, Obsessed with Edges), and these things didn't work either. That ring was stuck. There's definitely a track that the ring goes 'round, and it seems that that was really foiling any effort to get the sucker off.

Finally I quit, very disheartened, and sulked for a minute. Then I figured I'd put some oil on the ring just to see and Lo And Behold that stiffer than stiff metal finally moved around a bit for me. So, I am going to see how it goes. For the time being it is working really well, and I'm left feeling a bit sheepish but certainly a lot smarter about the very real need for knife maintenance.

So, thanks for your help! I'm obviously a novice and so grateful for your willingness to give a kid some pointers.

Take care, and happy slicing, dicing, skinning and trimming,
Jenny

 

[dannyp]

It really is harder to explain than to do. My method is to take the knife while closed and unlocked and put a screwdriver under the locking ring in the opening slot. Then I turn the ring the opposite direction from which it locks closed. The only hard part is getting it past the end of the closed blade. Then you twist the ring until the pivot pin is visible in the opening slot. After that it should slide right off. I hope this helps.

 

[chococrazy]

It really is harder to explain than to do. My method is to take the knife while closed and unlocked and put a screwdriver under the locking ring in the opening slot. Then I turn the ring the opposite direction from which it locks closed. The only hard part is getting it past the end of the closed blade. Then you twist the ring until the pivot pin is visible in the opening slot. After that it should slide right off. I hope this helps.

I finally got it off, but now it's a bit loose on teh close. It holds just fine though.

 

[dannyp]

I finally got it off, but now it's a bit loose on teh close. It holds just fine though.

If you're talking about the ring being a little loose, that happened to me too. I just took it back off and squeezed the ring to make it tighter. Just be careful not to overdo it.

 

[davek14]

Get a pair of snap ring pliers and you get pop it on and off with ease. At least look at a pair, then you can jurry rig something for a use or two.

After you clean it out you can make it impervious to humidity by leaving it in a vehicle with the windows rolled up on a hot summer day or three till the joint is a bit too loose. Then put a bit of mineral oil in a cup and put the knife joint down into the cup having the mineral oil cover the joint. Leave for a week or more. The joint will soak up mineral oil and tighten up a bit and resist humidity much better.