Opinel modding

[nick ootes]

Hi guys, I want to share my experience modding an Opinel.
I carried an Opinel for some time and I loved it, really light, simple yet solid lock and sheep friendly
The main reason I stop carrying it was the humidity sensitive and bulky handle.
But now I have decided that I'm gonna fix that.
I'm modding a NO7 trekking model I got for my birthday from a friend.

I started with sketching how I want the kinfe to look.


I wanted to turn the blade into a drop point so I gave it a few passes on a grinding wheel and polished it back to normal with some sanding paper



Now for the handle want to make a slim plastic handle with some traditional looking checkering and make it with a 3dprinter.
So I started by 3d modeling the knife.




I really like how it looks now
Next up is to print the handle to check the ergonomics and strength, I'll give you guys and update once it is made.
Right now I'm considering miror polishing all the metal parts, do some of you have experience with that?
Also considering laser engraving the blade, but I need to think of somting nice to put on there.

[zoidberg]

Interesting project. 

My two cents would be halve (or more)  the amount of handle drop and round off the corner behind the lanyard hole.

[irona]

Very interesting project, I've never seen a mod like this before.
My suggestion would be to thin out the bolster area to the same thickness as the rest of the handle, then fold a sheet of spring steel around that area, thus making a new bolster, so that knife is actually effectively thin (in your pocket, the handle is only as thin as its thickest part), and that while the knife is in your pocket, you don't get any bolster shaped bruises if something hits the knife against your thigh.

[Fortytwo]

Very interesting project, I've never seen a mod like this before.
My suggestion would be to thin out the bolster area to the same thickness as the rest of the handle, then fold a sheet of spring steel around that area, thus making a new bolster, so that knife is actually effectively thin (in your pocket, the handle is only as thin as its thickest part), and that while the knife is in your pocket, you don't get any bolster shaped bruises if something hits the knife against your thigh.

Wouldn't that require removing material from the pivot area?

[irona]

Very interesting project, I've never seen a mod like this before.
My suggestion would be to thin out the bolster area to the same thickness as the rest of the handle, then fold a sheet of spring steel around that area, thus making a new bolster, so that knife is actually effectively thin (in your pocket, the handle is only as thin as its thickest part), and that while the knife is in your pocket, you don't get any bolster shaped bruises if something hits the knife against your thigh.

Wouldn't that require removing material from the pivot area?

If by pivot area (i'm assuming) you mean the cylinder of plastic that the stock bolster would wrap around, then yes. Now that I think about it, instead of creating an entirely new bolster, you would probably be able to get away with (if you cut the bolster area flat) just using a washer on either side of the pivot hole, then putting the pivot rod through  those washers and peening the pivot tight. The washers would prevent the pivot rod from ripping through the soft 3d-printed plastic. Again, just an idea. I hope any of this made sense!

[nick ootes]

Interesting project. 

My two cents would be halve (or more)  the amount of handle drop and round off the corner behind the lanyard hole.

thanks for the feedback, I wanted to try making the handle more ergonomic that is why it has the drop.
Rounding the back corner is something I had not thought of, once the first prototype is printed I'll check.

[nick ootes]

Very interesting project, I've never seen a mod like this before.
My suggestion would be to thin out the bolster area to the same thickness as the rest of the handle, then fold a sheet of spring steel around that area, thus making a new bolster, so that knife is actually effectively thin (in your pocket, the handle is only as thin as its thickest part), and that while the knife is in your pocket, you don't get any bolster shaped bruises if something hits the knife against your thigh.

Wouldn't that require removing material from the pivot area?

If by pivot area (i'm assuming) you mean the cylinder of plastic that the stock bolster would wrap around, then yes. Now that I think about it, instead of creating an entirely new bolster, you would probably be able to get away with (if you cut the bolster area flat) just using a washer on either side of the pivot hole, then putting the pivot rod through  those washers and peening the pivot tight. The washers would prevent the pivot rod from ripping through the soft 3d-printed plastic. Again, just an idea. I hope any of this made sense!

I think I get what you are saying, but I still want to use the original locking collar.

[Sparky415]

 

[zoidberg]

Interesting project. 

My two cents would be halve (or more)  the amount of handle drop and round off the corner behind the lanyard hole.

thanks for the feedback, I wanted to try making the handle more ergonomic that is why it has the drop.
Rounding the back corner is something I had not thought of, once the first prototype is printed I'll check.

It comes down to how you hold and use the knife.
For me, introducing a bend to the 7 creates an awkward blade angle for push cuts and reduces the amount of edge clear of my hand for draw cuts.
That is the joy of modding though isn't it, making what works for you.

[nick ootes]

Printed the first prototype at school.
Some of the dimensions were a bit of so it didn't fit together, but it was good enough to take some pictures.


It came out a quite rough, but it is nice to check the ergonomics.


Overall I'm really happy for now, I like how it feels in the hand/pocket and the plastic feels is strong enough.

[WWW]

Looking great, can't wait to see the final version! Fantastic work!

[irona]

Looks solid!