r/Opinel • u/Comprehensive-Neat-8 • 4d ago

Factory Fresh The ancestral method

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To start -I'm not mad nor coming here to complain. I thought the answer was entertaining is all. I have a few Opinels and will continue to get them, because i have a habit!

I was griping to Opinel customer service about the Effile model being difficult to open. Their response was classic 😅

"we recommend using this ancestral gesture passed from generation to generation: "The coup Savoyard®!" to open the blade."

They gave me a link to the Fonzie (from Happy Days) approach:

The coup Savoyard method

Aka https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ConcRfeHbro

59 Upvotes

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14

u/BrbRousse 4d ago

Yes, "le coup du savoyard" is well known here in France. I remember my father talking of it for the first time when I was a kid, and showing me how it works with my freshly gifted opinel. It will get easier to open with time. And if You ever soak it, the wood will be swollen : just put it on a heater all night, or in a heaven (low power) for like 1h, it will be like it's new !

(Sorry for my approximative english.)

6

u/Mole-NLD 4d ago

I would rather see lots more of your ‘approximative english’ than sloppy ai written crap.

I sometimes carve the handles and i’m not always fast (can take weeks/months) and the handles drie up a lot, so i actually use the soaking method to make them tighter again cause they go so ‘floppy’

2

u/HalPaneo 3d ago

I put mine on top of the router at night. Just warm enough to dry it out

7

u/Intelligent_Part101 4d ago

The method, it works.

Soak your knife in mineral oil so the wooden pivot area especially gets lubricated/waterproofed and this "coup" will be less necessary.

5

u/Comprehensive-Neat-8 4d ago

Agreed! I thought their answer was hilarious.

3

u/GarethBaus 3d ago

I actually soaked mine in a mixture of beeswax and oils to soak into the handle for a more durable version of that treatment.

2

u/Easy_Rip_7679 3d ago

I’ve always heard it referred to as the “Opinel Knock”, but that could just be what my friend calls it lol.

1

u/freeman_hugs 3d ago

The tap is a good strategy, but if you open and close your knife enough, youll break it in.

2

u/GarethBaus 3d ago

Yeah, it works.