Opinel Modifications #2, Checking Cheese Glue Experiment and Scraping w/Back of Blade 

That's great! It does look a little odd where they left wood, but certainly looks promising and about the same price. Very cool, thanks!

David Seipel

I just popped over here to say that an ebauche, or “raw” or “blank” handle No. 8 would have been a better place to start, but it was an excellent exercise in ingenuity and creativity. Personally I find the original blade shape useful, but I see here how ya made it to your liking, which is something akin to the CRK Sebenza blade.

Noted...

AND?!

Yes, I'd love to see a follow up too. I love how how the handle turned out. I would love to see the result after you finishing modifying it and oiling it. The finish they come with is not attractive. Smoothing down that hard edge, taking off the factory finish make it look (and probably feel) so much better. I really love the strips you glued on and that look.

@@SkillCult ???

knife stolen by racoons lol.

Yeah look,s cool. Noted on the sharpening.

Thanks for the experience. I'm impressed about the coconut for sure. more your skill than that it's possible. These can clearly only take so much abuse.

Thanks!

thinking about it

Yeah, for sure.

Alright, a fellow scraper! Me too on the handle scraping. Back of the opinel is great because you get a handle to hold on to.

I'm not crazy about mine so far, but it has it's good points. I agree on the blade width and have been through exactly the same thought process. I think the challenge with the opinel is really to come up with improvements that cost nothing to very little to implement. Because, lets face it, a lot of the appeal is the price,which largely responsible for some of it's shortcomings.

#10 is ridiculously big. I'm sure it has some use. #8 is the right carry size to me. I don't like big knives.

Pine tar is either sticky or weak. when you remove all the turpentine solvent out of it, it is very brittle and not very strong. If you leave it, it gets sticky when it gets warm, like a warm hand for instance. it's useful, but pretty sure it would suck for this application. Cheese glue is the main water resistant glue I know of from the old school arts. Hide glue can be made waterproof, but they used to use formaldehyde. toxic and not sure how to make it. There might be a way to use a smoke distillate. I've always wanted to try. too many projects tho ;)

They are okay. Certainly good for the price. I think some large heavy knife users might benefit from limiting themselves to a light weak knife like this for a time. Also good for kids to mess with, mess up or lose. Good value for sure, though I'm not super crazy about it it does the job for the most part.

Major reason I don't buy many knives, or expensive knives, lost too many lol.

It is possible that this won't work as well as it has the potential too as well. Some formal testing is needed to assess the possibilities.

I hope you decide to do more. I'd like to see how things turn out long term.

that is just an awful lot of work for a cheap knife. This mod has held up fine and it's quick. with a modern glue it would be super fast and easy.

I think if the glue is right, it should probably stick pretty well, but I'm not sure I have the mix right, or if I let it sit long enough to undergo whatever reaction the lime does with the casein protein. I need to spend a little time researching and experimenting with hide glue. I'm pretty sure I'd be happier with it if I took a little of the sharp belly out of the blade curve, but I may not get around to it. I'll keep a follow up in mind.

Interesting. I could see that. For almost everything I do, I find it annoying. No perfect knife for everything though.

That knife is MIA. Hopefully it's under my car seat or something. The glue was starting to loosen on one side, but still going strong. I'm not careful about washing it or anything, but I don't just get it wet and leave it either. I think the glue really needed to be a little bit thicker and better, but it held up surprisingly well considering how thin it was and how much I squished out.

A bunch of people mentioned not getting them wet too much.

If you get them wet you can chuck it in the oven for a couple of hours and they dry back out! I lent mine to a mate and found it immersed in the sink. I couldn't open it, but 2 hours at 80 celsius sorted it out.

No smell at all surprisingly, but I boiled the cheese three times...

I'm sure I had one before a long time ago, probably from a flea market. Probably lost it. I've lost a lot of knives . I know where there is a nice Boker pocket knife at the bottom of a pond in the Santa Cruz mountains for the last 31 years or so :)

SkillCult 😂

Makes sense. It was affected by moisture a few times.

I'm not sure about egg protein. There are a number of protein glues. Plywood used to be glued with blood glue, but using formaldehyde as the catalyst that made it water proof, or at least water resistant. Casein will react with both alkalis, usually lime or borax, or formaldehyde. there was an industry making plastics out of casein pickled in formaldehyde. Hide glue also reacts to formaldehyde, as does skin fiber to form aldehyde tannages. I don't know a lot about egg proteins as glue, but I have that information I'm sure in old formula and glue books. Maybe I'll look into it.

It rocks.

I can see how cleaning up after animal processing could be a pain. I'm sure mine will be bathed in gore sooner than later :) I"ll be carefull about the lock.. thanks.

Thanks for reminding me. I think I put mine into storage when I made the handle oily. The wood swelled and the blade became difficult to store. It seems quite usable now. I really appreciate the simplicity of this design even though I am afraid to use it hard. The blade is really nice steel.

You mean you hone it on the top edge of your roll down door window? I never got into serrated knives, but I can see where theyd be handy for some types of domestic uses.

SkillCult yes sir, it's a quick and dirty way to get a functional edge back. The top edge of a rolled down car window; I picked it up from a Ray Mears video a few years ago. Go feel the top edge of your car window, it has similar texture to a ceramic rod. I use the bottom ring of a coffee mug sometimes too.. Anything harder than steel will sharpen steel in a pinch 😁

SkillCult I deal with a lot of things like bailing twine, rope, zip ties, burlap, etc.. stuff that just needs cut without any finesse to it. Serrations just fit that use for me better than a full fine edge.

Google translation: "I done the same with the blade !! works much better !! Grandpa" Ja, het is zo veel beter! Ik zou het niet eerder gebruiken. De tip was vervelend. Niet goed voor veel van wat dan ook. Sonny.

I don't do anything with those actually. I'd like the handles to be a little bigger. do you convex the whole bevel slightly, or just the edge?

Thanks for the reply & my apologies for the delay in my response. I've been dealing with some health issues as of late. I have messed up several Moras. The first was unintentional but ultimately made it more useable. I was constantly stropping it on an old razor strop (kind of like a belt hooked to a post or wall) & the natural flex caused the Scandi blade to become a gentle convex. I then started putting a slight convex on some other Moras & also gave a couple others a secondary slightly convex bevel. I do have a couple that I am careful to maintain a true Scandi edge on (& only strop on leather glued to flat hardwood) which are great for carving but honestly the edges while crazy sharp, are very prone to chip & dull quickly. I think they are very high value knives & the only real problem I have is that because of the low cost/high value, I tend to have more than I need. I am biased towards the carbon steel Mora blades vs the stainless ones (I think the old school thinking that carbon steel holds a finer edge that stainless still applies to Mora knives) though most of the Moras I have are all fairly decent knives. Of course many of the newer stainless blades are just as good at taking & holding a fine edge as a high carbon steel knife. Admittedly, Moras are horrible slicers for food prep. The wedge shape just splits & breaks apart food. Try slicing an apple or some cheese with one. An overall convex on the blade does help a little in the slicing department. I'm quite certain however that my psychologist might think it unhealthy it she new the amount of sharp edged tools (axes, knives, chisels, etc) I have. ; ) Cheers from the "wet" coast of BC, Canada. I trust you have finally had some relief in the weather & salvation from those wicked infernos in California. We've also had more than our share of wildfires in the interior of BC this year as well. No doubt you heard about the Fort McMurray fire in northern Alberta last year.

That is a great tip. Good use for old bandsaw blades too I'll bet. I like it :)

Ha ha, nope, it's real. It wasn't really a preferred glue, because it's not as strong as hide glue, but the water resistant aspect and the fact that it was easy to whip up a quick batch with common ingredients probably kept it in use. Also, it was a very common paint base, which is enjoying a resurgence.

@@SkillCult You learn something new every day. Thank you

I think it would. Although that might be a way to retighten it if it gets loose.

It's just not big enough. There already isn't enough material to fill the hand, even if you could squish it into an oval, though it would be better. Removing any would just make it worse. even that little hump makes an obvious differnce. Add that same 3/32 inch or so on the bottom and it will be pretty good I think. doesn't sound like enough to make a difference, but it does.

It has been suggested a few times. I might pick one up to check out at some point just to compare. There was something I didn't think I'd like about it, but don't recall what.

thanks. It's so much better filed down.

Don't hold your breath on a follow up video. I won't do one unless I've used it enough to have enough to say about it or want to play with more mods. It's okay for what it is it seems, but it has significant limitations too. I'm generally against over consumption and buying stuff just because, but these are very handy and it's nice to have some extra knives around. It does seem like a pretty exceptional value. I got mine for 12.00 but prices on amazon vary constantly.

I might modify the tip further, but it seems okay. I don't get the belt clip thing. Sure, they're useful, but it's a great way to make a knife handle uncomfortable and bad for protracted use. At least any I've seen. I thought of the same ferro rod idea. I mean why not right? I think maybe a little bit larger, longer one embedded in the top of the handle and curved to shape could be cool. There are a handful of other mods that I think could make this a better general use knife. I may take that on as a project at some point. I might also order the number 9 and mess with it and try to bring it down closer to what I think the no. 8 should be. Do you happen to know if the handle of the 9 has a larger diameter?

Yeah I totally agree about the comfort thing, I've been trying to brainstorm a way to add a bearing dimple to one side and a clip to the other. I think if I get the geometry right I can probably improve the indexing and at the same time allow the real estate to add the dimple and the clip. At that point it does get a little gimmicky however so I might rethink it. Ive seen five or six opinel mods in my group so I want to be a good admin and set an example. I have some really nice spalted wood blanks laying around so I plan on rehandling an opinel #8 this week actually.

Oh also I'm not sure if the blade designer did it purposely but a continual curve in the blade belly aids considerably in the production of feather sticks. I use the front curve of my opinel at camp frequently when birch is unavailable to start fires. The humidity in vermont makes fires a bit harder sometimes.

I have one of those old scout pocket knives. Pretty neat.

Agreed mate. I wish the awl had a hole in it for sewing though. That's my one complaint. Tangent. I bought one of those King Water stones and am loving it for axe and knife sharpening.

The "hinge" or whatever it is, is obviously a weak point. We'll see. No doubt it can only be pushed so far before it either bends/breaks or loosens badly. I'm impatient and I feel like I have a pretty good feel for when I'm getting into the danger zone of breaking or messing up tools, I might just push it anyway. I actually haven't looked at it close, but I don't think it is flat. There seems to be some kind of long curve to it maybe. I'll have to put a straight edge on it.

I'm not sure how long you think this took, but using commercial glue, it would be extremely fast. making a new better handle with hand tools would take a lot longer. Cheese glue was just a cool fun addition, even so, probably faster than making a new handle. Not sure what your point is on the second part. There are scrapers and related tools with bevels that burrs are turned on. The rest I think I pretty much said or demonstrated.

Yeah, that handle sucks. I'm not a fan of that knife overall, though there are a few things I like about it. I used to have a similar western that I actually liked a lot. I'm not one to buy a lot of knives and I lose the ones I use, so I end up with an odd assortment of whatever I happen to pick up cheap. I already lost this opinel lol.

@@SkillCult yup yup .. i hear ya .and all the new knives i buy sit on a shelf looking pretty .and the friday night fondling flip fest lol

I really dislike finger guards, so that doesn't bother me. No doubt they feel like you can only push them so far. Seems like a good fruit and grafting knife. Price is definitely a major plus. If they were very much more, I'd probably not have gotten one.

The best grafting knife is sharpened on one side, not two. Whatever that is called.

single bevel usually. I agree, but any thin very sharp knife shouldn't be much of a hinderance to a skilled user for occasional grafting.

So true. Some people just us a box cutter for grafting. You know, that terrorist weapon.

I know a guy that has been grafting for 50 years and teaches it, and he uses a disposable razor knife, the kind you snap the old blades off of. I like my grafting knives and usually use them, but if I have to hunt for it or have something sharp in my pocket, I'll just use whatever.

I think if I were having that issue I would put the knife in the oven on 200 Deg. F for an hour and then submerge it in Flax oil...

I did wonder about that before. If you turn the ferrule while closed, it is supposed to keep the blad closed, but it's already pretty loose and in no way locks into the position. Also, if you pull on the blade, it can come out of the recess enough that you could catch yourself on the tip of the blade, even with the "lock" fully engaged.

What I did with my bosses knife (20+ years ago) was pretty much like what they do at the factory now, but shallower, and where the flat is I did deeper, so that you had to push the blade closed beyond its resting position and then it opened into the lock groove. I hope that is clear? You had to push the blade in to unlock it too...

I can't imagine you'd be unhappy with these simple mods. it's just better :) I'm sure you could use epoxy or wood glue to do the build up. That should be water resistant enough and easily shaped if you want something easy and and quick.

Hey Mike. I would switch to raw oil and forget it ever happened, but do it now and don't let the boiled oil cure first. I looked at that garden knife, but there was something that I didn't like about it. Dont remember what. I'd like to take not just that knife it hand, but go beyond into re-designed. I did outline a follow up video, but never shot it. It was mostly talking points. If I did another mod vid, it would probably be after some development, so it could be step by step, do this stuff.

Oh, and welcome to the channel.

SkillCult ok I'll go get some raw oil today or tomorrow. The handle is still very wet and will probably take some time for the oil to evaporate. Should I just wipe it off today and let it dry, or wipe it off and apply the raw oil right away, or put it in a raw oil bath for a few hours? Never really done this before from scratch. Some say to bathe the wood, some say doing that is counterproductive as full absorption is a really a misconception (? Dubious at that one), some say many many thin coats, some say slather it on... I know this is probably rudimentary stuff to you but with all the conflicting info by people who imagine themselves to be experts, it's hard to sift through. Like you said in one of your vids, a person with 80 years axe experience should probably be listened to. Thanks, I'm already enjoying your channel!

I would wrap it tightly in a plastic bag. The oil undergoes a curing process with oxygen exposure and could limit penetration. Not sure on total penetration or not. I wouldn't over think it. If it's a folder, you might have the joint swell up I'd think. Otherwise, soak it for a while and if it seems to soak up more, put more on or soak it longer.

SkillCult ok thanks will do with the new oil when I have it. It's a folder, but the handle is in two halves bolted together so if it swells its a non-issue. Yes I am Mr. Overthinker...

I own this knife, I still use it, I made the handle more oval and it is still more oval? Or maybe you mean something different by "more rounder". I didn't file the side, because I don't want to reduce the overall bulk of the handle any more. I'd rather add a little bulk, which is what I did.

That is basically what gelatin is, so yes, you can use unflavored gelatin. There may be a difference in types, but the pure gelatin in stores works.

I'm sure no 12 would be too large for me. I can't imagine wanting to use one much larger than this one. This has strong and weak points. Just trying to fix the weak points.

I've used pitch a lot. It is very limited in it's applications. For one, it's not strong. It is either soft or it's brittle. in between extremes it is more resilient, but only so much. It also changes with temperature, so it can be so cold it cracks, or so warm that it melts. It does have applications, but they are pretty limited and I don't think it would be good at all in this type of application.

That is the Mora #120. I like it for craftwork. Very short blade and a nice fat handle. amzn.to/2mAZXN1

SkillCult thanks for the quick reply :)

There is not enough bulk in the handle to start with, so taking any off would make it fill the hand even less. I'm solving two problems, too little material and the round shape. Even with your delicate, fairy-like, waif hands I wouldn't make the handle any smaller. Someone posted a link in the comments bellow to a version that you can get with a rough handle blank so you can carve it to suit you. I like that option. it's about the same price too.

SkillCult haha. That's funny, I'm actually uptight about my wimpy wrists, they do look overly girly to me haha.

I think you should make a set of spiked leather wrist braces :)

SkillCult hot!

This is a thin and relatively soft knife so with a vice a good file and reasonable filing skills it shouldn't take too long. That and fast cutting sharpening stones to finish it. It might be a little challenging on this to match the subtle curve of the faces that comes from the factory, but as far as removing steel, good tools and some skill and it should be pretty fast. If you watch the first vid in this series it was only less than 3 minutes of filing to modify the tip, though that is more straightforward.

I don't know much about waterglass, but it seems really cool. There are old formula's books, like Henley's Book of Formulas and others that will often have recipes making and using that old stuff. I own quite a few of those old books. but so many things I've never tried yet. Stone tools are usually just flakes. I think most people think of them as more like the tools we use, and some were, but the average stone cutting tool, through out human history, has been fairly crude but more or less functional. It rarely pays to make a "knife" out of stone,. You just bust off some flakes, use them, modify as necessary and make more when you need them. more refined tools, resembling knives, possibly even with a handle, kwould typically have been small. that's a whole other bag of worms there, stone tools. But most areas there is some type of rock that can be busted up for cutting edges even if it's not great.

looks like it doesn't it. that is a mora small carving knife that I carved the handle on. I have video planned showing how to do that as an excuse to talk about knife use and handling. I'll get to it someday. It is very saturated with linseed oil tho.

SkillCult I sent a bunch of my friends a link on heavy metals in BLO after reading up on it because of your video. I'm really getting a lot of your channel. I'm a dad of two youngsters and don't get a lot of free time to make noise building so watching you keeps me learning. Thank you for all of your efforts! By the way you mentioned you blacksmith. I'm a member of a club on Vancouver island. I'd love to get your take on the craft. I'll search your old videos in case there's some blacksmithing content there.

Oh good, spread the word, that stuff is nasty. I'm not much of a blacksmith, just basic skills. I consider myself something like a farm blacksmith. I always want to do more though. I love it. If I do any on this channel it will probably be just related to my projects, not so much instructional, but who knows.

SkillCult I gave up Paragliding for safety and family and was miserable until I started blacksmithing. I ran across a quote; "Blacksmithing is the most fun a man can have without repenting." Not a religious guy but I thought it was accurate.

The first time I pounded hot iron I turned to my wife at the time and was like "I want to do this all the time, everyday for the rest of my life!" lol. My forge isn't even set up now, but someday. If I want to do something that is small I just whip up a ground forge.

It's not that much work really. Got any recommendations? I like the light weight of these.

For about $18 I like the Nagao Higonokami friction folder or for $15 the Svord Peasant Knife friction folder. I have carried for a few years now a custom friction folder from Michael Morris made from an old file. Great knife, but not for those on a budget.

I own one of those japanese folders. It' s neat, but it never gets used. The handles are terrible and it doesn't lock. Good for some domestic uses I guess. I think part of the appeal of opinel is that it is similar in many ways to a sheath knife, but it's a light inexpensive folder.

What's wrong with it?

Thats cool, but this knife is very cheap and kind of cool in some ways. It can be made a lot more functional with only a little sweat equity. If I used regular carpenters glue these mods would be pretty damn fast.

That wouldnt be as fun though, good to know you can use other things to make your own glue! Never know when you'll have to do it out of necessity

I think your logic may be faulty here, but you can correct me if I'm wrong. Are you saying that because I held the knife by the blade once to make a point, I never use the knife tip while holding the handle? or that because I held the blade once, I don't use the handle at all and it doesn't need modification? No matter what angle I take here this comment makes no sense and I have to think there is some kind emotional impetus or ego issue at work here. Using the knife tip while holding the blade is an important function of the knife, but using or showing it doesn't mean that is the only way I use it, or that it doesn't also make the tip better for stuff that I do when held by the handle. I had this knife for a while and didn't really use it because the tip didn't work for me. I tried cutting leather with it, yes, held by the handle, and didn't like it. I do that and have done that a lot. Cutting the divet in a fireboard, (yep, held by the handle), done that thousands of times, classic knife tip work, didn't like it. I remember even trying to clean my fingernails with it and not liking it for that lol. This type of tip also doesn't work well for the unique way I use a knife in skinning, even though some would say the long belly and upsweep should be better. I have used knives enough and for long enough, that I knew I wouldn't like it when I first looked at it. I tried to carry it a little just to say I did and "test" the stock knife, but it was bad enough that I gave up on keeping it on my person in preference to whatever else was around, probably a swiss army knife. No problem, was it 2 or 3 minutes of filing? Now I've used it a lot and have no real complaints about the tip shape and placement. Apparently you know better for me though, so feel free to elaborate on how much I should like the tip for what I use a knife for, and how the stock tip should have serve me now and would have served me better all those years with other knives. Working with the tip is crucial, and tip configuration is a way many knife designs go wrong. The tip is better for me, the handle it better for me, I don't see the problem.

​@@SkillCult No, I just mean your timing was great fun.

​@@19Edurne Right, so buy an extaco, mod for mod's sake is some kind of joke. Smells like B.S.

@@SkillCult Yeah, well, I don't quite see the point between the time spent vs the gain. I've never had an opinel turn in my hand while cutting something and if you need to "feel" the orientation of the blade by the shape of the handle, you use your knife in the dark or don't look at what you're doing. Either way, I'm just saying it's not very safe. Not more than holding it by the blade to use it as an exacto by the way. So, yeah, it seems a lot of trouble for very little gain. But it's your hands after all. Thanks for the bit on caseine glue however; I knew about it but had never took the time to learn how to do make some. So thanks for that part.

Typical negative comment, all attitude, no substance. Don't argue with me, you'll lose lol.

thought too that maybe some plastic shims jammed either side of the handle, like old credit cards maybe, and oil those. But there is an issue being able to wrap. I'll have to think about it some more.

The only drawback of the lamination process is different rate of shrinking and expansion of wood handle and wood shavings: soaking afterwards in linseed oil might mitigate that problem (might be enough to actually weaken the wood/glue bond.... I guess experiment, experiment. and again experiment) This lamination process gives another option for dealing with slightly cracked old draw knife handle (Want to keep original and prevent further damage. In my case the ship has already sailed: I already soaked it in linseed oil and glue will not stick)