Opinel issue

treefarmer · Post by **treefarmer** » Sun Apr 09, 2017 3:42 am

r.redden gifted me with an Opinel #7 in carbon last year and I have used it some and really enjoy it. Opinels are not new to me but I've never had one get tight on me, that is the blade is stiff, both opening and closing and the lock ring is very hard to twist. I read several articles on line about Opinels absorbing moisture and becoming difficult to open. Even learned about the "Opinel tap" to open a stuck blade.

Seems like my son used one to dress a deer back when he was a kid and it got tight on him after he used it, cleaning blood from it with hot water, etc..,really don't remember that outcome.

I've been peeling oranges with it for a week or so and haven't submerged it in water, but the great little knife has become way too tight to be comfortable.
Some remedies were to bake it in the oven at 150 degrees for an hour, some said store it in an air tight container with the cheap dehumidifier/silica gel packs an the moisture will be removed and the knife would again function properly.
Has anyone experienced this before?
Treefarmer

FRJ · Post by **FRJ** » Sun Apr 09, 2017 4:17 am

Phillip, I carried an Opinel for a few years working as a carpenter and in the summer it would collect moisture just from perspiration and
the blade would get tight. I think I set it aside at night and it dried out. Yours sounds a little more severe, but I would give it some dry time and get back to it. I still have a few Opinels and I think they are a good knife. Don't give up on it. Get two and rotate.

treefarmer · Post by **treefarmer** » Sun Apr 09, 2017 12:05 pm

Thanks, Joe. About a 1/2 a day on the dash of the truck, in the sun might help to remove moisture

.
I won't give up on it, I wish all my knives would sharpen as easily as this Opinel.
Treefarmer

FRJ · Post by **FRJ** » Sun Apr 09, 2017 12:39 pm

KnifeSlinger#81 · Post by **KnifeSlinger#81** » Sun Apr 09, 2017 3:18 pm

I have a no 7 that is the same way, it's been like that since the day I got it. Not even quick release oil helped.

They're so dang cheap you could just toss it and buy a couple more.

SteelMyHeart85420 · Post by **SteelMyHeart85420** » Sun Apr 09, 2017 4:23 pm

Maybe a SS model for food, use the carbon for anything else....likely irrelevant for the problem you're having, though

tongueriver · Post by **tongueriver** » Sun Apr 09, 2017 4:59 pm

Sounds like you folk just need to move to The Great American Desert (with mountains). We don't worry about moisture out here; I have firearms that haven't seen rust nor oil for... ever.

montemojo · Post by **montemojo** » Sun Apr 09, 2017 5:54 pm

I read somewhere that you can sand the handles and soak in linseed oil to keep them from swelling. Does this sound right?

Monte

cody6268 · Post by **cody6268** » Wed Apr 12, 2017 2:29 am

What I don't understand is why they don't offer carbon steel knives with the plastic handles. You can get a plastic handled No. 7, which has a screwdriver in the butt of the handle (1/4 bit driver), and a lot of the space of the blade is taken up by two different wire strippers. But, it's got an Inox (stainless) blade.

I carry a No. 6 quite regularly, and don't think I ever got the blade wet. In humid weather, it's slightly harder to open, but nothing too bad.

treefarmer · Post by **treefarmer** » Wed Apr 12, 2017 4:15 am

Thanks for the helpful comments!
Yesterday I should have taken a couple of pictures but I didn't, y'all know how some folks say "if there ain't pictures, it didn't happen", be assured it did happen.

Well I pulled my old truck into the side yard, into the sun around 10 am, laid the Opinel on the dash in the sun, around 2pm, the truck was in the shade so I checked the knife, it was not as tight, so I moved it to the west shelf of Miss Joy's greenhouse that was in full sun, thermometer showed 120 degrees. There it sat till the sun got below the trees. By then the knife was almost as free as when I received it from r.redden last year. The locking collar turned easily, the blade was very easy to open and I'm pleased.

Treefarmer

jerryd6818 · Post by **jerryd6818** » Wed Apr 12, 2017 10:50 am

treefarmer wrote:Thanks for the helpful comments!
Yesterday I should have taken a couple of pictures but I didn't, y'all know how some folks say "if there ain't pictures, it didn't happen", be assured it did happen.
Well I pulled my old truck into the side yard, into the sun around 10 am, laid the Opinel on the dash in the sun, around 2pm, the truck was in the shade so I checked the knife, it was not as tight, so I moved it to the west shelf of Miss Joy's greenhouse that was in full sun, thermometer showed 120 degrees. There it sat till the sun got below the trees. By then the knife was almost as free as when I received it from r.redden last year. The locking collar turned easily, the blade was very easy to open and I'm pleased.
Treefarmer

Same-same sticking the knife in the oven. Anything to dry it out. Sounds to me like a step in the right direction would be to "stabilize" the handle (however that's done). Opinel is most likely not going to do that because it would raise production costs and as all of you know, "it's always all about the money".

Edit: BTW, someone mentioned a plastic handle. They do make an Opinel with a synthetic handle. ---> https://www.opinel-usa.com/pocket-knive ... ore-orange AND https://www.opinel-usa.com/pocket-knive ... r-survival

Handle

Fiberglass-reinforced polyamide withstands shocks, humidity, and extreme temperatures(-40°F à +176°F). Pealess survival whistle functions in all weathers (110 decibels).

montemojo · Post by **montemojo** » Wed Apr 12, 2017 11:03 am

I believe I read about the linseed oil trick in thebook Knives 2012. I let a freind borrow the book and have not got it back yet. When I do I will see if I am right.

Monte

treefarmer · Post by **treefarmer** » Wed Apr 12, 2017 12:29 pm

One of the comments I saw, stated in France they have learned a treatment of petroleum jelly applied to the hinge area and the end would help that condition from occuring. That makes sense as there is open grain at that end of the knife. My problem with that is it would become a sand and grit trap for sure.
Treefarmer

jerryd6818 · Post by **jerryd6818** » Wed Apr 12, 2017 12:36 pm

Philip, how about dabbing some clear lacquer on the end grain (when the handle is nice and dry)?

treefarmer · Post by **treefarmer** » Wed Apr 12, 2017 1:08 pm

Jerry, that might work.

Treefarmer

FRJ · Post by **FRJ** » Thu Apr 13, 2017 2:49 am

Wax in the end grain would help.

treefarmer · Post by **treefarmer** » Wed Apr 19, 2017 3:13 am

After all the good advice y'all shared with me, this just happened. Miss Joy was draggin' the clothes from the washer and she informed me, "Just washed another knife!" So I asked which one? She says the wooden handles one you were messin' with a week or so back.

So I tried to open the Opinel and I just thought it was tight before

. Used a pair of my dad's Mitchell fishing pliers to pull the blade out. In that short time the carbon steel blade had started to react to the swollen wood handles, a little discoloration, rust or patina

.
I know none of y'all ever washed your jeans with a knife left in a pocket

, so I'll report back on the progress in a day or two. I'll either pull my truck out from under the shed and park it in the sun or if Miss Joy uses her oven I'll try that suggestion to get the extreme moisture from the Opinel.
It just came to me that maybe I'll stick it back in the pocket of a pair of jeans and run it through the drier, what about that bright idea?

Treefarmer

jerryd6818 · Post by **jerryd6818** » Wed Apr 19, 2017 3:16 am

Philip, stick it in a sandwich bag with a handful of rice for a couple of days.

Paladin · Post by **Paladin** » Wed Apr 19, 2017 10:56 am

jerryd6818 wrote:Philip, stick it in a sandwich bag with a handful of rice for a couple of days.

What he says!

Ray

Berryb · Post by **Berryb** » Wed Apr 19, 2017 5:10 pm

Philip: You could just leave it open and carry it in a sheath.
Bruce

jmh58 · Post by **jmh58** » Wed Apr 19, 2017 6:19 pm

Paladin wrote:
jerryd6818 wrote:Philip, stick it in a sandwich bag with a handful of rice for a couple of days.
What he says!

Ray

Good idea jerry...

John

treefarmer · Post by **treefarmer** » Fri Apr 21, 2017 4:34 pm

I took Jerry's advice, Tuesday evening and put the wet Opinel in a ziplock with a cup of uncooked rice. This morning, Friday, the moisture in the swollen wooden handle has been removed enough to easily open the knife and also twist the collar lock! Thank's for that suggestion, when I told Miss Joy what I was doin', she said she had heard of folks doin' that with cell phones that had gotten wet.

Treefarmer

: After about 60 hours in the rice the knife freed up!

: Got to clean the blade and keep it out of the washin' machine.

jerryd6818 · Post by **jerryd6818** » Fri Apr 21, 2017 5:41 pm

treefarmer wrote: when I told Miss Joy what I was doin', she said she had heard of folks doin' that with cell phones that had gotten wet.
Treefarmer

That's where I got the idea. Figured if it would work for cell phones, it'd work for some rasty ole pocket knife.

Wonder if that would work for a Cell handle knife that has started to out-gas.

KnifeSlinger#81 · Post by **KnifeSlinger#81** » Fri Apr 21, 2017 8:49 pm

jerryd6818 wrote:Wonder if that would work for a Cell handle knife that has started to out-gas.

I reckon you won't have anything to lose for trying.

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