Just finished my first modded Opinel - show us yours!

[Humppa]

Hi guys!

Some time ago, I decided to make my fist modded Opinel. I found a couple of them in local weapon store, which doors are now closed forever.

These three brandnew I got there

I always liked the blades on Opinels. But their handles were terrible to carry in pocket. I´ve seen already some modifications on Opis. I chose one the #8 for the mod.

First I took off the end of the handle and removed the varnish. I rounded all the edges and polished the wood with sandpaper (320 - 600 - steelwhool - polishing at the Dremel)

So it had the same size of the #7 but without that "butt".

I was inspired by the easier opening, so I removed a little of the handle material at that point. Took on a new varnish in a darker colour. And did the varnish treatment about three times.

The I wanted to do somekind of polishing the blade - the same setup like I did with the handle. But it didn´t really work - so here´s the failure of the bladepolishing-try It seems, I don´t have the right tools for doing that job.

Size comparison to the #7

Here´s the finished Opinel #8 modification.

What do you guys think? Please give me some feedback (positive or negative opinions are wellcome, for sure)

Feel free to post your own Opinel modification here.

I´m looking forward seeing more of yours.

Kind regards
Andi

 

[pertinux]

Andi,

That looks great! I especially like how you made the "easy-open" cutout just on one side of the handle-- I think the knife looks much better that way.

Did you narrow or flatten the handle at all, side to side (so that the knife would be slimmer in-pocket)? I can't tell from the pictures.

I've shown mine before, but am still pleased with how it turned out:

~ P.

 

[smiling-knife]

Well done guys. The dark wood looks great. Humppa, I like what you did with the end of the handle.

 

[Finedges]

Looks great to me! Will pocket carry better and doesn't look like you lose any usable grip. Fine job.

 

[Knife Crazied]

Andi it takes a lot of time but the end results are so worth it. If I was you I'd start the blade polish with 220 then when you can start to see a slight reflection go to 400 then after the reflection gets clearer go 600 same process wait for reflection to be clearer then before, then I move to 1500 and finish it off with a wax. BTW the opie looks great with the cut out and vanish. :thumbup:

 

[Humppa]

Thank you guys (and gals)! Nice feedback from you

All in all it took roundabout six hours.

I removed the varnish by hand and cut off the end. The whole profile was made a little slimmer. But not much, so I didn´t do much work on the handle itself. The most work was rounding all the corners that came by cutting and carving. I thought the paint would be a little lighter and not that dark, but I think it looks nice and pretty traditional.

@ash: Thank you for the info on how you do it with polishing the blade.

I think I gonna make another one in some times... I have that #7 lying around. Maybe I gonna make the blade another shape (wharncliffe).

Kind regards
Andi

 

[pinnah]

Hummpa, looks great. I like the color you got and really like the shape you put on the end. Very interesting. Two things... First, I prefer more of a drop point and put the knife in a vice and work the tip down with a file. Taking off the flip at the end of the clip point also allows me to take the butt end of the handle down further. Second, regarding the polishing, I start with 220 grit paper going from hinge to tip. Keep applying water to keep the blade cool, change paper when it loads up with steel and keep working until the original grind marks (oriented spine to edge) are COMPLETELY gone.

Once this is done, work your way up through progressively higher grits working at alternating right angles. First spine to edge. Then hinge to tip. Don't change directions until the sanding marks from the previous direction are entirely gone. Work your way to 2000 grit and then rubbing compound and then polishing cream and finally a strop. It's a labor of love, but it's also functional. The blade slices better with the grind marks gone.

Here is a #9 (natural) and a #10 (dyed black). One thing I found (idiot with wood) is that if the hard beech is sanded with anything greater than 220 or 320 grit, it will close off the wood making dye/stain penetration impossible.


Here's my #9.

Opinel #9 Drop Point by Pinnah, on Flickr

Somebody asked about thinning the handles. I use a sanding block and angle it back from the lock ring. Here's the #9 compared to a Buck 500 and a Buck 110.

locker-handles by Pinnah, on Flickr

And here is the #10.

opinel #10 quarter view by Pinnah, on Flickr

Let's keep em coming. Nothing more traditional than Opie mods.

 

[Humppa]

Hi pinnah!

Thank you for the explanation. I gonna give a try with polishing the blade with my next mod. I´ve decided, that will come very soon. I think I need more sandpaper and much more grits

Please guys and gals... show off more of your own mods on Opis

Kind regards
Andi

 

[Humppa]

BTW: Pinnah - your mods look really great! Congratz on the black one. I like the look of the handle and the polished blades look outstanding.

(I gonna give a try for the polished blade on a stainless Opi, so that no patina will be on there... just for showing )

Kind regards
Andi

 

[sitflyer]

Humpa, very well done :thumbup: I really like your EO notch and the dark color is very pleasing
I know you have seen my Opie before but here is a older pic of it in brighter light...

 

[Humppa]

Hi sitflyer!

I really like the color of that handle. The bladeshape is also pretty nice

Kind regards
Andi

 

[pertinux]

Humpa, very well done :thumbup: I really like your EO notch and the dark color is very pleasing
I know you have seen my Opie before but here is a older pic of it in brighter light...

Better lighting on blue is always good.

Do you (or anyone else) have an explanation for the small, often vertical areas of wood that refuse to take varnish or stain? I have a couple spots very much like those more clearly seen in sitflyer's handle above.

Pinnah, thanks for the note regarding not sanding with higher grits. I wouldn't have thought of that, and in fact didn't. I used 0000 steel wool in between (failed) stain attempts before going with the Polyshades all-in-one.

~ P.

 

[pinnah]

@Pertinoux: that dark handle looks stunning!!! What kind of wood is that and what did you use to stain/finish it?

Also, I'm not smaat (as we say here) enough either, which is why I had to go to wood finishing shop where the guy snickered a bit and then hit me with a noob stick. Good for the spirit to be corrected every once in a while! Finished with 220, the beech drank up with water based dye but it does raise/emphasize the grain quite a bit. I hope to try another one soon with oil based stain, which I totally gave up on with earlier attempts. My understanding (noob, remember) is that super hard woods like beech do better with water based dyes but oil based stains raise the grain less. Still learning, which is better than coasting, I guess...

 

[pertinux]

@Pertinoux: that dark handle looks stunning!!! What kind of wood is that and what did you use to stain/finish it?

Thanks! I had to search to find where I'd posted about this knife before, and found my message in the "What Traditional Knife Are You Totin' Today?" thread. Go figure. I've reposted it below.

This is a standard Opinel No.7 in carbon, so -- is that beech?

I'm now wondering if I sanded the handle too much, instead of too little? But my impression at the time, which the in-progress pictures seem to still support, is that the original finish goes deep into the wood along some of the grain lines.

Unlike the orange-y finish on the carbon Opinels, I actually like the natural look of the stainless steel versions. So, despite what I wrote previously (below), I'm now leaning towards leaving the No.8 (Gardener's) as is, and let it rustic-ize over time and use.

~ P.

Short answer: MinWax PolyShades, Bombay Mahogany Satin-- "Stain and Polyurethane in 1 Step."

Long answer: for my first pretend attempt, I lightly sanded the handle and colored it with a brown sharpie (bottom knife below):

Which of course rubbed off (not a bad thing-- heh):

Next, I sanded the handle again, removed the locking ring, and applied MinWax Wood Finish (yellow can), Red Mahogany. However, the finish used on the handles of the Opinel Carbon knives goes deep-- altogether a good thing, given that most people will leave them as-is. It's nice to know the original finish is good and deep. I thought I'd sanded it sufficiently for the stain to take, and the handle color looked nice and dark, but after allowing the handle to dry and buffing it with 0000 steel wool, I had this:

I then sanded the handle more deeply. I didn't go any deeeper than this because, while I wanted to remove the orangey-finished parts I did not want to alter the shape of the handle. You can see the original finish, plus the places the new stain actually soaked in(!). I intended to apply two more coats of Red Mahogany stain then finish up with Helmsman's Spar Urethane:

After the two coats of stain, buffed with 0000 steel wool, I had this:

At the store to purchase the Spar Urethane, I discovered three things:
1) The Spar Urethane didn't come in the small(est) can, and I didn't want to buy more than 8oz
2) The label on the Red Mahogany Stain sported a recommendation for the above urethane, but warned against using Polycrylic, leaving me with "regular" PolyUrethane
3) I spied the PolyShades on the shelf, stain plus PolyUrethane all in one. Ta da!

The PolyShades went on well enough that I'm confident it would have worked from the get-go, saving me many steps and frustration. The resulting finish is smooth and non-tacky. It feels a little more plastic-y than I would prefer, and I can see how/where I would apply the finish more consistently if I had a do-over, but I intend to simply Use the knife from here on out, and anticipate the finish breaking in well.

The handles on the stainless Opinels seem to have less of a coating, which I suppose I will confirm if and when I decide to PolyShade my No.8 Gardener's knife, seen above. I'm thinking of doing that one in a slightly lighter shade, perhaps American Chestnut or one of the Maples.

Hope this helps!

~ P.

 

[pinnah]

Thanks! What grit did you use prior to staining

 

[pertinux]

Thanks! What grit did you use prior to staining

I'm pretty sure it wasn't higher than 320 before the MinWax (first attempt), but then I sanded it down (off, mostly!) with 0000 steel wool between coats of that, and if I can recall correctly then also used the steel wool between the final MinWax and the PolyShades that did the (lasting) trick.

What that means for anyone starting from scratch with an untouched knife and wanting to successfully apply PolyShades, I have no idea!

I be very n00b at this, too.

~ P.

 

[Humppa]

Hi guys!

None of us is a noob in this kind... or everyone! Thank you for showing off your works on these nice knives.

Yesterday I modded the #7. I gonna give you guys some pics tomorrow...

Kind regards
Andi

 

[pertinux]

Well, I spoke too soon about my Gardener's Knife. Inspired, foolishly or no, by someone else's attempt, I decided to do a light "burnt" finish on mine, created by repeatedly holding sections briefly over a candle flame, buffing off the soot, then sanding lightly with steel wool to see what remained.

I figured the worst that could happen was that I would have an excuse, er, a rational, understandable reason to obtain another Opinel.

Off we go:

Buffing off the soot on a readily available surface:

Further progress:

Several passes and buffs later, good and dark:

But, it was mostly soot-- it rubbed down well, but 0000 steel wool revealed less "evenness" than was previously apparent, leaving us with this:

At this point, I was... bored, so I decided to call it "tortoise shell" and be done for now. Its appearance is more muted in "real life lighting," as per the above pictures, but here you can see its underlying Turtleness more clearly:

I may decide to try to even it a little bit, especially when we have some evenings by an outdoor fire.

But for now, I have once again made one my knives decidedly mine.

~ P.

 

[pertinux]

Update, already:

Fortified by a late lunch, I brought this project to a more satisfying conclusion:

Whew.

If I were to do this again, I'd stay further away from the flame, and try for a lighter over-all color.

But for now? Decent.

~ P.

 

[Humppa]

Hi ~P!

You made a really great job on that Opinel. Very nice looking

Kind regards
Andi