Do the painted opinel swell up less?

[ElvisThePelvis]

I have had a few of these over the years and the wood always swells and the knife sticks at the worst possible time, I wondered whether anyone had any experience of the painted ones and whether they are less susceptible to swelling? Thanks

[dob]

Try coating it in Thomson waterseal

[wisdom]

Varnished mine 75% varnish 25% white spirit soaks in at first coat then builds up leaving a varnish shine after several coats no problems since.

Edited April 10, 2016 by wisdom

[dob]

It's always the timber around the hinge point that swells , great blades but that is a down side to them.

[figgy]

Tip some oil down the hinge and work the blade back and forth untill it's worked into the wood. I also stress the hinge slightly to loosen it a bit by trying to bend the blade out sideways. It's worked a treat on mine for last seven years.

 

One other thing I done was to file a concave in the wood to allow a better grip on the nail groove.

[ElvisThePelvis]

Tip some oil down the hinge and work the blade back and forth untill it's worked into the wood. I also stress the hinge slightly to loosen it a bit by trying to bend the blade out sideways. It's worked a treat on mine for last seven years.

One other thing I done was to file a concave in the wood to allow a better grip on the nail groove.

Thanks, that's a really good idea.

[ZG47]

Tip some oil down the hinge and work the blade back and forth untill it's worked into the wood. I also stress the hinge slightly to loosen it a bit by trying to bend the blade out sideways. It's worked a treat on mine for last seven years.

One other thing I done was to file a concave in the wood to allow a better grip on the nail groove.

I would go with that advice. Timber can absorb moisture up to 100x faster through the end grain than the face so ... better just to increase the clearance than fight a potentially losing battle. Only way to stop the moisture getting in is to dip the timber in glycol, as on the old Parker Hale stocks made by Sile. Not worth the trouble when figgy presents such a simple solution.

[malkiserow]

It also helps if you keep them in your pocket rather than a bag then your body heat keeps them try.

[hambone]

If your opiniel gets stuck hold the collar end with the blade down, a sharp downwards tap onto a hard surface will usually open it enough for the blade to be gripped.

[Bewsher500]

just keep em dry!

the rust like old nails if wet

 

they won't soak up enough to stick if from dry

 

oil makes them sticky too IMO

[Bazooka Joe]

Put metal shims in like I've done on a recent project, drop of oil now & then it'll never seize up.

 

[ElvisThePelvis]

I would go with that advice. Timber can absorb moisture up to 100x faster through the end grain than the face so ... better just to increase the clearance than fight a potentially losing battle. Only way to stop the moisture getting in is to dip the timber in glycol, as on the old Parker Hale stocks made by Sile. Not worth the trouble when figgy presents such a simple solution.

Excellent, thanks, yes this is what I have done and it works perfectly, sorry should have updated the thread.