Opinel Knives

[Notredame11211]

Well, I am interested in purchasing an Opinel #8. I have a few questions about the knives though; Is the carbon or the stainless steel version better, and how do you guys sharpen your Opinels. Thanks For The Help

[Matt]

Hey bud, I personally would vote for the carbon blade, I have always sharpened mine using a Japanese wetstone but there are many other methods, Opinels' are reasonably easy to get a keen edge on.

I would add that I no longer carry one because I discovered the Svord Peasant http://www.heinnie.com/Knives/Svord-Knives/c-1-92-695/ and after a bit of work with some sandpaper and teak oil I ended up with an EDC that's hard to match.

Regards, Matt.

[Notredame11211]

Thanks for the reply. The Svord looks nice, but how easy is it to sharpen?

[Ashley Cawley]

Thanks for the reply. The Svord looks nice, but how easy is it to sharpen?
I would say it's easy to sharpen (much like an Opinel) it has a convex bevel to it's edge, so you can use something simple like wet'n'dry paper on a mouse-mat/board or work the very edge like Matt said with a wetstone. You could also use a ceramic-rod or the top of your car window etc.

If you don't abuse it, it won't take much maintaining; I strop mine regularly and barely ever need to sharpen it.

[Bambii]

I own an opinel no.8 highly recommend it.

Easy to sharpen, fine wet and dry paper and a piece of roll mat or a mouse pad. Easy peasy.

[Ashley Cawley]

Well, I am interested in purchasing an Opinel #8. I have a few questions about the knives though; Is the carbon or the stainless steel version better, and how do you guys sharpen your Opinels. Thanks For The Help
Just incase your interested I forced a patina on my Opinel No.8 and wrote an article about it here: http://www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/kit/reviews/forcing-a-patina-on-bushcraft-knives.html

[Notredame11211]

How fine should the wet and dry paper be?

[Shawn]

I've had an Opinel for years and it has cut great.

[Martin]

How fine should the wet and dry paper be?

Depends on how dull the edge is. To be honest, I've not used this method on my Opinel, I prefer to use a wet stone and get a great result.

Martin

[leon-1]

You don't really need to go much finer than 1000 grit on wet n dry. It'll put a serviceable working edge on the knife. I have over the years had a number of opinels and I rate them highly. They're simple and reasonably priced and aesthetically they're quite a pleasant knife to look at if you're into that kind of thing.

[Aaron Rushton]

hi all, what angle do you hold your opinel at as it seems to have no obvious bevel.

[leon-1]

hi all, what angle do you hold your opinel at as it seems to have no obvious bevel.

Aaron, most opinels that I have come across are convex ground. Many of us use them on a mouse mat to sharpen them and maintain the grind line. If you don't use a mouse mat then hold a small pocket stone with the flat of the blade to the stone, but so that the edge is just touching the stone. Then carefully draw the stone along the edge.

[CanadianMike]

Just an update, noticed a couple weeks ago one of my favourite stores had started selling the Opinel carbon knives (#6, #8, and #10) for a really good price, so the other day I went there to pick some up. #6 and #8 were listed as $13.95 each (around here, the stainless #8 goes for between $20 and $24), or as a set for $25.95, so obviously I went with the set, and can say I very much like these ones, compared to my stainless one anyways. Much easier to sharpen as expected, came sharp already (unlike my stainless one) and a quick hone brought out the razor in them. Even used my #8 for slicing 5 chicken breasts last night, washed and found a patina starting. Plan is to oxidise them in hot vinegar today to se about stopping further corrosion. The #6 is small enough to keep in my pocket beside my Swiss army soldier knife.

Well recommended!

[Fletching]

Hey Mike,

I soaked my No.9 carbon's blade in (room temp.) malt vinegar for an hour. It came out a flawless almost black. No streaks or bubble marks at all.

Steve

[CanadianMike]

Hey Steve,

That's good, I'm using white vinegar, so far it's worked great on my O1 steel knives I've made (dark grey finish), but am unsure the type of carbon steel used in these, so we'll see what comes out. I find 10mins in hot vinegar brings out the dark grey, but previously saw room temp vinegar really didn't make much of a difference in the same time slot.

Since you treated it, have you found it to be much better at resisting corrosion?

[Fletching]

Since you treated it, have you found it to be much better at resisting corrosion?

Haven't had it long enough to test that aspect yet Mike. Here's how the No.9 turned out after the malt vinegar (shown with the Svord that I'm working on at the mo.).

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5180/5422097748_b0ca8a34f9_b.jpg

Steve