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Custom Opinels & Firesteels
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To see photos of various type of knives I made to date click on respective link below... |
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I have a soft spot for Opinel knives as they are very useful general purpose cutting tools. Moreover, when customised, they become quite unique and personal to their owners.
Similarly, Firesteels lend themselves to customising and thus become more than just a simple fire starting tool. Whether on their own or combined with Opinels or any other knives, a customised Firesteel is as practical as it is aesthetically pleasing.
Below are some examples of Opinels and Firesteels that I've customised to date. If you fancy a Papoose Firesteel, a Custom Opinel or Combo get in touch. Where materials, practicality and imagination converge, then the end result can be anything that you wish it to be. I'm game to try anything if it's do-able...
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My own Opinel
Mother of Pearl on left side
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Coloured Mosaic on right side
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FIRESTEEL & SHARPENING STEEL POUCH
This pouch forms part of a Damascus Talisman knife set as can be seen opposite.
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Once I finished making it I felt that I overdid it a bit bearing in mind its end use! Still, it's going to be unique in the extreme... |
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Here is my set of three 'Number 13' size Opinels
The photo above left shows the two Inox #13. Above right are the two Inox ones and a Carbon one with a #8 Inox one for size comparison. I acquired the two Inox ones whilst Holidaying in Malta from a farmers' Co-operative shop. I was reliably informed that the #13 is a well used tool in Malta and not just a gimmicky showpiece folder.
As can be seen from the photos I couldn't help myself customising one of the Inox ones and as it turned out, I was fairly satisfied with the result. Once the sides where trimmed down - always the trickiest part - I proceeded to rebuild the sides with stacked Acrylic blanks that are commonly used for turning pen bodies. I wish I took some photos of when the whole thing looked a right mess before I started the stock removal process. Anyway, I can assure you that there's next to no room for error and it took me a while getting it looking as shown in the photos.
I'm sure that this sort of thing will not appeal to many knife enthusiast. For some, however, seeing a nice customised Opinel makes them drool and covetous even!
I was fortunate to come across two new Inox #13's and straight away I decided that one of them will be customised and turned into something unique. I'm now happy to share my pleasure with those of you who like Opinels in general and customised ones specifically.
In my view I've succeeded because I achieved what I set out to do. To fellow Opinel enthusiasts, I let you be the judge as to whether I did OK or not...
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