[Gear Custom] Brocant Camp!? Customize Opinel to make it look like a French antique

Suddenly, I’ve been working at a Brocant camp recently.

What is Brocant Camp?

It is a camp that you can enjoy on the site-directed by tools with a taste of French antiques. I did not know? Of course, don’t worry, it’s my complete coined word. But this is nice and fun.

This time, we will deliver a play material that customizes outdoor knife, a custom material in the Brocant camp, like an old tool.

Brocant with bricolage (flatly)

Eh, bricolage? Do you use such a word even though the brocant doesn’t come out?

Those who think so are quite normal.

First of all, what is “brocant”? In French, which has recently begun to permeate the interior area, the meaning is “old tools” or “junk”.

France has a culture of using old furniture and miscellaneous goods for interiors, and the word “antique” roughly refers to high-end items or items that are more than 100 years old. On the other hand, the age is relatively new, and everyday grade old furniture and miscellaneous goods are “brocant”.

The interior is filled with old French tools that you can get at flea markets as familiar antiques. Actually, the world view of miscellaneous goods in that area is a good match for camping.

This brocant also includes furniture that is used while custom, repairing and repainting damaged furniture, and do-it-yourself is actually very familiar to French people. The French do-it-yourselfer is called Bricolage.

That’s why custom is officially bricolage, but we’ll define it as a genre of play, brocant camp.

Speaking of French gear? It’s Opinel, isn’t it?

I want to stick to the French national team for the first time, thinking that the base does not necessarily have to be from France.

Stainless Steel Folding Knife No.9 $27

The first thing I came up with was an Opinel knife with a typical French gear. It’s almost familiar to everyone, but it was selected as one of the “100 Most Beautiful Design Products in the World” and exhibited at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London along with Porsche 911 and Rolex. It is also a gem. I heard that Pablo Picasso was also a favorite. It is a product that can be used regularly and has a good design, and it seems that there is no other French restaurant that is so suitable for brocant.

“Customization French antique camp gear” Opinel is customized as an antique because it is a custom base that cannot be better than the first time of Brocant Camp.

Things to prepare for Opinel Bricolage

The main paint is milk paint, which is already known in the interior custom area. This is an easy-to-use one that will give you a nice color just by applying it. And white acrylic paint for enhancing the production. There are two types of paper, water sharpening and dry for the base and for damage. The rest is general equipment used for painting. It’s easy to work on the tray, and it’s OK with 100 averages.

Milk paint “Pistachio green”
Acrylic paint “white”
Masking tape
Brush
For groundwork, water sharpening paper No. 240
For damage, dry paper No. 120
Stainless steel tray
Adjustment cotton swab

Opinel knife, custom notes

If the Opinel knife is modified by an individual, Opinel will not be able to repair or guarantee it at all. First of all, please understand that all customs are at your own risk, and only those who want to do it should enjoy it.

Various custom and disassembled materials can be seen on the net, but all are not covered by the manufacturer’s warranty. Also, repair parts are not sold. This is also very important. Some people remove the pin that stops the blade by disassembling the Opinel, but this pin cannot be wholesaled as a part.

Moreover, since it is strongly joined, it is better to think that the original specifications will not come out when reusing the pin once pulled out. From this point, do not remove the pin, temporarily remove only the lock ring, and paint by masking the blade.

Figure with the lock ring removed with pliers

Insert the tip of the closed pliers into the slit of the lock ring and slowly apply force to open it, and the lock ring will come off easily. If you think that the original performance of Opinel will be maintained, this is the best way to disassemble it. When the lock ring comes off, open the blade and mask the blade and metal fittings.

Here is the masked state

Cover the blade with a piece of wood or cardboard so that your hand is not injured by the blade, and mask from above. The metal part at the base of the grip is also round and round so that the paint does not stick.

Shave the surface paint to expose the wood base

Opinel is a warm wood grip, but the surface is well coated with clear paint. This clear layer is scraped off to expose the wood base before painting. It is the customary paper scrubbing time. Here, I used No. 240 of water sharpening.

I will apply milk paint to the grip base

Brocant-style painting is called shabby paint or aging paint, and there are various methods. A popular method is to apply a dark color to the base, recoat it, and then scrape it to make it look dirty or change over time.

However, the Opinel with a bright wood grip, probably dark, seems to be uncomfortable. So the foundation will remain the same. Roughly apply the milk paint to the entire surface so that it is intentionally uneven.

Overcoat with white acrylic paint.

Milk paint is a good color by itself, but I will add white acrylic paint to enhance the brocant and shabby taste. Also intentionally apply it roughly, evenly and appropriately.

Damage with paper after recoating

The grip is painted with great care, but it will be scratched immediately after it dries. This is also one of the aging painting methods that intentionally creates aging. It will take time for the object to be applied in an instant.

It’s like a fairy tale “magic to age”. The grip ticks quickly. I can think of various things. One of the charms of custom play is that you can have time to think about such extra things.

If you are satisfied with the damage processing, use a sponge piece to finish it. Apply a small amount of milk paint and put it on the part where the wood is unnaturally exposed due to over-shaving or the part where you want to darken the color. This is a time to pursue self-satisfaction with nuances, rather than painting, to the level of women’s makeup. It is completed with your own sense and your own timing.

Summary-A new Opinel is magically transformed into an old French tool

Whether or not it has transformed is an individual judge, but I personally think that it was a vintage Opinel excavated in a flea market in France, such as “Actually, the one used by Van Gogh!”. Shieldon is a place where you can enjoy this kind of self-sufficiency. And it is Shieldon Camp to enjoy the site that collects them.

You can bring in the tools you actually got at the flea market, or you can line up custom gears for old tools in bricolage. Why don’t you enjoy the brocant camp?

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