Almost forgot to post about this

[JAB]

I always try to get unique presents for my mom and I like to think that at least one of the gifts I got her this past Mother's Day was right in line with that.

 

Mom used to have a rather long-bladed knife (basically looked like a 'fruit sampling' folder) that she carried in her purse.  The blade on it was long enough that she worried it might not be strictly legal to carry so she put it up 'somewhere'.  I told her recently about TN having repealed any and all blade length limits but she couldn't remember where exactly the 'somewhere' she had put her knife was.  I figured she needed a good knife to carry in her purse for chores such as peeling an apple if she were out somewhere and wanted to do so and similar tasks.  I also figured it didn't need to be 'fancy' just a good, solid knife.  I decided to look at Opinel knives as they seem to have such a good reputation.  I decided that one of their knives might be just the thing and the wooden handle gave me an idea so I ordered her a No. 8 carbon bladed model from Amazon.  That might not be a great gift for every mom out there but my mom isn't necessarily typical.

 

When it arrived, it looked pretty much like I imagine every other Opinel No. 8 carbon on the planet looks when it leaves the factory:

 

 

 

As for the idea inspired by the wooden handle, I almost think that was the best part.  My mom likes to collect things with roses on them.  In the past, for her birthday, Mother's Day and so on I have bought her various pieces of costume jewelry featuring roses.  I thought it might be a neat personal touch if her knife had a rose on it, too, so I broke out some fine Sharpies and drew a stylized rose on it.  I then decided to try and 'set' the colors using a heat gun.  I liked how that worked but it kind of 'baked' the wood in that area a little darker than the rest.  At first I was disappointed but soon realized that it made kind of a 'background' which actually set the rose off a little more.  Of course, it also dried the wood a little so I rubbed it with a few coats of boiled linseed oil.  I think it came out looking pretty good.  I originally intended the rose to look a little more realistic but the challenges of drawing freehand on a smallish, rounded surface made the final results look more like tattoo art.  That's okay, though as, while mom doesn't have any tattoos and I can't imagine her having any, she does sometimes like t-shirts and the like with that type of art on them.

 

Anyhow, this is how it turned out:

 

 

 

Edited May 21, 2015 by JAB

[Grand Torino]

Sweet! Good job :up:

[hipower]

Very nice. You are a good and thoughtful son.

[Monkeyman2500]

I bet she will love it!

[BigK]

If you buy straight from Opinel, you can get the blade and/or handle engraved. They even do logos and artwork if you upload a jpeg file. Surprisingly affordable engraving too.

[sybo]

I like it and what a thoughtful Son!

[mikegideon]

Great choice. You should have got her one of the big 'uns too for parties :)

 

http://www.opinel-usa.com/products/no-13-opinel-stainless-steel-blade#.VV7p9dJViko

[peejman]

You're more thoughtful than I am.  Mom's birthday is Sunday.  She's repeatedly told me she doesn't want any more "stuff" and rarely has other suggestions.  This year I got her a gift card to the movies.  Maybe that will prompt Dad to take her on a dinner date.  Or maybe she can go with one of her friends. 

[JAB]

Thanks for the positive comments, folks!

[JAB]

If you buy straight from Opinel, you can get the blade and/or handle engraved. They even do logos and artwork if you upload a jpeg file. Surprisingly affordable engraving too.

 

Interesting.  I didn't know that.  Still, in mom's case, I think she liked it better because I did the drawing.

 

Mom collects music boxes (although she isn't really getting new ones anymore because she is pretty much out of places to put them) and I have bought her a couple of nice ones over the years which she liked.  When I was in college, I actually made her one.  My step-grandad had a pretty decent woodshop setup and he helped me.  We used 'raw' wood, used his planer to smooth and thin it, used his router to cut grooves to put it all together and so on.  I bought the part that plays music and installed it.  That was the one and only time I have ever seen my mom cry over a gift - it meant more to her because I had thought enough of her to put the effort into making it than the (honestly nicer) ones I had bought her over the years.

 

Opinel sells some of their knives in a 'raw' version.  These have wooden handles that aren't really shaped or finished.  People buy them in order to carve the handles.  There are lots of pics of cool, carved Opinels on the Internet.  One of my favorites has the butt end of the handle carved into a boar's head.  I am going to try and teach myself some wood carving/engraving techniques.  I will practice on wooden dowels, first, and if I get good enough I want to play around with a few of those.  If things come to fruition, I will probably eventually carve one for mom so that the butt end of the handle is a three dimensional rose and then carve a stem down the length of the handle.  That is if I ever get good enough - which is, admittedly, a big 'if'.

[Moped]

Opinels are an excellent choice for a general use knife!  Love the drawing you did on it!  Great gift idea!!!