Opinel 6... or..?

S

Shawn7656

Joined
Feb 15, 2012
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370
I was extremely interested in getting an Opinel 6 as I want a cheap carbon steel blade that is less than 3". However, I've uncovered the fact that it has a problem I cannot stand - the blade hits the handle upon closing and it dulls the tip of the knife! I want to carry the knife for food prep (read: fruit and snacks) and I plan to keep it razor sharp, but this will not work out too well if the knife dulls itself :(

I'd love to be able to get a knife that's similar in quality, style (simple and efficient), and price range as the Opinel; but I don't want to have to worry about the blade dulling itself.



Or, if you guys could offer a solution to this problem, I'd be even happier... I've fallen in love with the #6, and normally I end up owning stuff when I feel that way... lol
I'll be searching around the dark corners of the web in hopes of finding something similar, and I'll update this post with an edit if I get some more ideas.
 
I don't own an opi, but I wouldn't worry about the knife hitting the handle unless you are slamming it closed. I think the wood swelling due to moisture is a bigger problem, because the knife becomes hard to open/close.

People have enjoyed this knife for hundreds of years, so I wouldn't worry about it and just go get one. I like the #6 size. It seems very pocket friendly.
 
Yeah I've heard about the swelling as well, and with the humidity we've been having around here I'm wondering if it could be a problem.

I found Garrett Wade's website which has a lot of interestingly designed knives, but they give me the impression that they're all replica-wannabe type of knives, and not actually made for quality and usage. I then started looking at the Peasant Knife by Svord, which seems kind of cool but I'm finding they have QC problems, and a lot of the blades have super-uneven bevels and the scales are unmatched in size (on the wooden models).
 
Howdy,
I have a Opi #8 and like it very much! The swelling issue is not so much of problem until you wash it. Then you will know about it for sure. But hey, it's part of the culture of the piece. Get to like it for what it is! I mean for $10 bucks or so they really are a fun knife.
Cheers...
 
Well I just got done reading the Wiki page for Opinel.... Apparently Picasso used one to carve sculptures... I think I need one of these bad boys!!

So I guess the question now is does anyone know of a way to stop the blade-hitting-the-handle issue? If the swelling becomes a problem maybe I could put a sealant on it to keep moisture out...


Well... It's 3am and I'm still looking at knives.. I think it's time to call it a night hahahaha :cool:
 
I've used Opi's for a long time about 20 years and keep razor sharp and dulling of the blade with the handle has never been a problem, swelling is only a problem for a short time when new, I have found that if you put mineral oil in the pivot and work it open and closing it when you have nothing to do for 20 minutes, smoothed out the wood and I guess it must seal out some moisture ( just guessing at that ) and swelling goes away. I actually have one that I can simply flick open faster then an modern one handed knife, it spent some time in Jamaica, went up Dunns river and ziplined with me, it had swelled pretty bad and I worked then and when the moisture went away it must have shrunk just enough.
 
I've been using Opinel's since 1982, and I've found that in real life the blade tip laying agains the wood or the wood swelling is not a real problem. There's no strong spring snapping the blade closed, and the blade is harder than the wood. Just push the knife closed and you're not going to damage the tip. As for the wood swelling, you can treat the knife a couple different ways to cut that down greatly. I've got my Opinel to the point that it can be submerged in a glass of water for 20 minutes and still function with only a little stiffening of the action. When it dries out, it goes back to being loose enough that it can be flipped out if you know how to do the 'Parisian wave.'

When you get a new Opinel, take some fine sandpaper and get rid of the factory finish on the handle. Especially down inside the blade slot around the pivot area. Then treat with Helmsman spar uruathane or Minwax sealer. Us two light coats. After it sets up in a few days, it's time for the next step. Take a pipe cleaner or paper match from a matchbook, and smear Vasoline jelly in the joint. Really smear it into the wood. Then fold a paper towel up into fours and wipe out the excess Vasoline. You will now have a very water resistant Opinel that you can wash off in the sink. The Vasoline can be redone once a month with no harm.

I used to fool around soaking the handle in Linseed oil and rubbing the linseed into the wood, and it worked okay, but not great. Only after I became friends with a guy who was born and raised in Paris, and had become a member of our Vespa motor scooter club, did I learn how to deal with Opinels. He and his father didn't even do the sanding of the handle and urethane treatment, jus the Vasoline in the pivot area. They both thought it funny that someone would take the time to work on an Opinel. To them, it was a hard use knife that was considered disposable, so they just lubed the joint with the petroleum jelly and that was it. I tried it on a small number 6, and it did work well for water resistance. Even on the unsanded factory fresh Opinel, the Vasoline made it possible to be washed in the sink with very little swelling of the wood.

It took me 25 years to learn from a real French guy named Pascal, to learn that Vasoline petroleum jelly is an Opinel's best friend. Grease the joint, don't oil it.

Carl.
 
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Shawn,
Considering that that the handle is wooden I would look into filling, sanding or cutting the groove inside the handle where the blade rests while closed a little deeper. That may be a greater effort than you'd like to undertake on a $10 dollar knife, though. Just a simple suggestion.
Matt
 
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The wood is rather soft and won't dent or dull the blade, so a non-issue in my experience. The blade only hits the wood as hard as you push it after all; the knife has no spring.
The swelling wood I would classify as an "occasional inconvenience." I've had them get a bit sticky, but never impossible to open. And that was working in the Arkansas forests.

The #6 is a great size for pocket carry. Hope you give it a chance.
 
Lovin' them Opinels. Pretty much always have my #10 close at hand and my #8 is in my EDC pocket rotation.

As others have noted, edge dulling from hitting the wood is a non-issue. Being willing to tune an Opinel to suit your tastes is pretty much a requirement. Best advice I got on Opinels was on this forum. Treat them as a starting point, not a final destination.

For me, the#1 most important tune up required out of the box is to buff out the blade. As shipped, the blades have decided grind marks. I sand these out by hand starting with 200 grit paper and working my way up to 2000. I start by going end to end and next pass is spine to edge. Don't change directions until marks from the previous pass are entirely gone. Finish with rubbing compound and then a strop and you have a reasonably polished blade. I find this enhances the slicing capability with vegetables and fruit and such.

As much as I love Opinels (among my favorite), I find the #6 to be small enough that the knife becomes comparable to most slip joints. At that point, different blade shapes become an option. In that size range, I find the wider belly of the spear point (as you would find on scout knives) to be better for general food prep. This is especially true for spreading.

IME, the Opinel starts to outshine slip joints for food prep when you move up in size, particularly the #9 and #10 sizes. They both have enough belly to spread stuff easily and are long enough to reach into jars. The longer length of the #10 makes cutting veggies very easy and is my preferred food prep knife (among folders). The #9 is nearly as good and still small enough that I can tolerate pocket carrying it.

One of the great things about the Opinels is the cost, which invites having several and experimenting. I've ended up with the #10 (generally in my pack, or in my pocket if hard work is expected) and the #8 (the best blade/size ratio for pocket carry for me).

Last note, I prefer a drop point profile. Here is a #9 drop point, #8 drop point and more or less stock #6 side by each.

opinel easy opens by Pinnah, on Flickr
 
Opinel004.jpg

This is my number 10, my choice for cutting fruit, it will slice an apple so thin you can see through it. This patina comes from 2 apples a day over a few months. All I did for sharpening this knife from day one was strop a micro-bevel on it, and keep stropping it a little every chance you get, the scalples they do eye surgery with are not as sharp as this thing. Between the scary edge on it and the occasional tight hinge this knife has cost me somewhere around 7 or 8 finger tips, thank god for super glue. I have played with a friends 6 and 8, the 8 was a little on the small side, like a small slip joint or SAK, the 6 would have made a handy key chain, its tiny.
 
Another #10, this one modified to drop point, with easy open handle which has been thinned and dyed black. It's very comparable in size to a Buck 110 but the thinner, fuller bellied blade makes is a far superior knife for food (imo).


opinel #10 by Pinnah, on Flickr
 
Wow thanks for all the info guys! I'm definitely thinking I'll have to try out the Vaseline thing, as well as refinishing the knife's handles.

The reason I was thinking about going with the 6 as opposed to anything larger was because I was thinking I'd carry a roughly 4" blade like my Griptilian or Tenacious, and use the Opi as a back up for smaller, lighter things. Apparently, though, you guys use these things pretty hard sometimes! Maybe I'll just get a bigger one and throw it into the large rotation and pair it up with my CRKT Apache III (2.7" IIRC).

Is it possible to get the carbon blades with the nicer wood? It seems they only offer the olive, oak, and walnut with the INOX blades, which is pretty lame if you ask me ;). I guess maybe I could order one with the nice wood and then a carbon one, and switch out the blades? How does beachwood perform when compared to the other options they have?
 
Shawn7656 said:
Wow thanks for all the info guys! I'm definitely thinking I'll have to try out the Vaseline thing, as well as refinishing the knife's handles.

The reason I was thinking about going with the 6 as opposed to anything larger was because I was thinking I'd carry a roughly 4" blade like my Griptilian or Tenacious, and use the Opi as a back up for smaller, lighter things. Apparently, though, you guys use these things pretty hard sometimes! Maybe I'll just get a bigger one and throw it into the large rotation and pair it up with my CRKT Apache III (2.7" IIRC).

Is it possible to get the carbon blades with the nicer wood? It seems they only offer the olive, oak, and walnut with the INOX blades, which is pretty lame if you ask me ;). I guess maybe I could order one with the nice wood and then a carbon one, and switch out the blades? How does beachwood perform when compared to the other options they have?
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The Sandvik stainless (12C27Mod) used in the Opinels is excellent. I think Opinel took advantage of Sandvik's recommended hardness spec for it, which allows up to 59 RC. This is likely harder than the 'carbone' bladed models, and edge-holding bears that out, based on what I've seen. I bought one each of a carbone and stainless No. 08s, and the stainless holds it's edge a bit longer. The carbone is always a bit easier to put a fine edge on (in terms of time spent; both seem to get equally sharp), but it seems a bit softer by comparison. I've noticed it's much easier to dent/ding the edge on my Carbone model, so I'm constantly being a little more careful with it.

In terms of size, nice thing about Opinels is, the handles can be carved/sanded/pared down to something more pocket-friendly. I'd imagine a No. 08 could be whittled down to carry more like a standard No. 06, or at least close.

The beech handle on the Carbone model is varnished from the factory, so it resists moisture pretty well (though not perfectly). Moisture in the pivot can still make it swell. My Walnut-handled stainless version wasn't factory-varnished (nor are the other 'exotic' wood handles). Walnut, in particular, doesn't seem to be too vulnerable to swelling/shrinking issues anyway. I've since treated mine with Watco Danish Oil, but didn't really have any problems with it prior to that.
 
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Yeah I've seen good things about their stainless, but I just really want a carbon blade. I like the thought of the patina, and I think the extra care involved in carbon blades makes you closer to the knife (I think that would be a really weird thing to say anywhere but here).

I'm thinking I'll do a bit more thinking on size and then grab a beachwood model. If I'm not a fan of the grain maybe I'll pick up an olive wood one as I think those look pretty awesome.
 
Shawn7656 said:
Yeah I've seen good things about their stainless, but I just really want a carbon blade. I like the thought of the patina, and I think the extra care involved in carbon blades makes you closer to the knife (I think that would be a really weird thing to say anywhere but here).

I'm thinking I'll do a bit more thinking on size and then grab a beachwood model. If I'm not a fan of the grain maybe I'll pick up an olive wood one as I think those look pretty awesome.
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Completely understand what you mean. :) I like my Carbone model, but tend to reserve it for more delicate tasks. I thinned the blades on both of mine after buying them, so the differences at the edge are more apparent now.

The olive handles do look very good. :thumbup:
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
I like my Carbone model, but tend to reserve it for more delicate tasks.
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This is why I was thinking about using it as more of a secondary knife than my primary carry. I figure my Tenacious or Griptilian can take care of the tough stuff and I can leave the light duty to the Opinel!

EDIT - Went with the number 6. I figure if I crave something bigger I can always get more

Now here's a crazy video of a guy beating up wood with a no 13!!
[video=youtube;Mz6KHl5HbNk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mz6KHl5HbNk[/video]
 
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Shawn, I just hot my first Opinel for Fathers Day, and I love. I love small knives, so I went with the #6, and was surprised by both the size and weight. It weighs nothing!! Extremely light. It is a good size for a pocket knife, about the size of a Soddie Jr. Yet, it carries alot better then the soddie, and I always thought the soddie was pretty comfortable in the pocket. I thought the Opi, with its round handle, woild be noticeable in my pocket, poking me in the leg. However, it is so light, this is not the case. It is great. Mine does not touch the handle, so the tip doesn't dull. Not saying all are like mine, but they don't all rub either. As for swelling? Like some said, its not as bad as it is made out to be on the interweb. I live in Florida, and work outdoors alot, and the crazy humirity has not affected it at all. I am guessing it has to be soaked to swell. Go ahead and get the 6. You won't regret it.
 
I recently got a 6. I've had an 8 for a number of years.
Thinking about Nontron, now.
 
I don't know why (don't think it's a British v French thing!;)), but just can't get on with Opi's, I like the (German) Mercators, come in stainless and carbon, locking and non-locking go back over 1 hundred years. Very different design, but might be worth a look for an alternative...
 
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