Meet Emeline Ducrocq, the team leader for wood craftsmanship in the Opinel artisan wood workshop. She leads a team of fine woodworkers in the design and manufacture of our luxury handles that feature rare and exotic wood varieties and intricate marquetry. The artisanal wood shop is currently staffed entirely by women who use their knowledge of woodworking, their eye for design, and their creativity to make the most special Opinel pocket knives of all.

Could you introduce yourself in a few words?

My name is Emeline Ducrocq, and I lead the team of artisan woodworkers. After training as a tiler, I joined the Opinel team by way of my sister, who already worked for the company, and who had told me a lot about this position. After beginning in assembly and then working for a brief time in the woodshop, I moved to the artisan wood workshop, where I am best able to use my creativity and precision skills.

Can you explain the different stages of manufacturing a knife handle in the artisan wood workshop?

First of all, we begin by selecting the exotic woods which we will cut, using a bandsaw, into wave shapes or angles of 30° or 40° depending on the model of the handle to be made. Then we use a traditional process of gluing and clamping under pressure, using an impact wrench. After waiting six hours for the glue to set, the blocks are finished on a bandsaw to remove the excess glue and clean up the wood, so that they can then be shaped. The last step in making the handle is buffing, in which we hand-apply wax to the handle to give it a shiny and smooth appearance This takes the place of a more traditional varnish.