Ahh! I've made my Opinel completely useless!

O

Omega Leather Works

Joined
Jun 13, 2007
Messages
7,743
When I got my Opi it was dull dull dull. Due to the grind, steel and cost the knife became a test bed for how sharp I could get a knife. Before this knife it was my native but the s30v was a bit of a nightmare to work with in comparison to the (I'm assuming soft-ish) carbon steel of my Opinel no.8

So now that I'm getting to where I consider the knife rediculously sharp I've realized that the edge is basically too fragile to do anything but cut hairs and slice tissue.

It's no great loss, of course, I've got other knives for whatever I need done, but it occurred to me that I've relagated this knifes life to nothing more than being looked at under a lens, endless stropping and the quest for an ever more acute edge.

Am I alone in this, or has anyone else "engineered" their knife into a single purpose tool?
 
I have an old knife from the $5 knife bucket at my local hardware store. I hand filed serrations into it with a diamond rod, and as a test I ground both sides of the serrations instead of just one side. The serrations are interesting...completely worthless for pretty much everything, but I love examining them :rolleyes:
 
Couldn't you "salvage" the Opinel by grinding the edge slightly thicker? If you wanted to, I mean. I'm guessing you didn't thin the whole blade out.
 
Lots of people become more fixated on the edge than on the usage of a knife. Be thankful it was something cheaper. Every edge thickness that can cut has a use.
 
Just microbevel it. Each time it needs a little sharpening, just keep microbevelling at a more realistic angle (30°+). Over time, the steel behind the working edge will thicken up a bit, as you sharpen away the thinner steel and the edge works it's way up the blade grind into thicker steel. As that happens, the edge will become more durable than it is now.

BTW, I've done essentially the same to mine. Thinned the blade quite a bit near the edge, and it's pretty much a dedicated 'fine slicer' now. But it's OK, because it's a good lesson in finding the limits of the steel. So long as a valuable lesson was learned, I'm OK with that. :)


David
 
Last edited:
Obsessed with Edges said:
Just microbevel it. Each time it needs a little sharpening, just keep microbevelling at a more realistic angle (30°+). Over time, the steel behind the working edge will thicken up a bit, as you sharpen away the thinner steel and the edge works it's way up the blade grind into thicker steel. As that happens, the edge will become more durable than it is now.


David
Click to expand...

David you have been endlessly helpful in this process over on the tinkering sub, and I thank you for that. ;)

No, I know I can "re-purpose" the Opi into a knife that actually DOES stuff, but I haven't yet reached my ultimate goal of drop cutting a hair. Nowhere near it in fact. If I ever do get to that point I'll probably retire it from that function and cut the grind back some.
 
Uh uh! When you get to that point, you will want to mirror polish it where when you get it near a hair, it just gives up and separates on its own. :D Know where you are coming from, because I am right on your heels, doing the same thing. If we just got to a point (:confused:) and just quit, think of how DULL that would be.

Blessings,

Omar
 
Seems to be a common theme here, in that many of us like to use our Opi's as a test bed for ultimate edge pursuits. This is why I don't see any harm at all, in seemingly 'ruining' the edge on them (by non-knifenut standards, anyway), just to see how far we can go. It's an intellectual pursuit, so it's a noble thing, and therefore unassailable. :D

Carry on, Gents. :thumbup:


David
 
I completely stuffed a RAT 3 removing the serrations. :(

I will make a usable knife out of it when my new grinder arrives but it was a bad-bad idea...
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
Just microbevel it. Each time it needs a little sharpening, just keep microbevelling at a more realistic angle (30°+). Over time, the steel behind the working edge will thicken up a bit, as you sharpen away the thinner steel and the edge works it's way up the blade grind into thicker steel. As that happens, the edge will become more durable than it is now.

BTW, I've done essentially the same to mine. Thinned the blade quite a bit near the edge, and it's pretty much a dedicated 'fine slicer' now. But it's OK, because it's a good lesson in finding the limits of the steel. So long as a valuable lesson was learned, I'm OK with that. :)


David
Click to expand...

David here and I are generally of like minds on the microbevel. Thin is a very good place to start for micro beveling. If she's really thin, use a Sharpmaker on 30. Or really toughen 'er up with the 40 setting. I think you will be surprised how tough and yet how sharp a 40 degree microbevel will be on a knife that has a very acute bevel. And remember, micro means micro. You should have to magnify or at least hold it up to the light just right to see it. I am talking like .1mm here...that .1 of a mm or so...maybe .25 tops. That's going to be 20 strokes on each of the 4 "sides" of the Sharpmaker rods (with some careful burr control in there) and some careful stopping afterward.

Quentin
 
There's a sticky thread in this forum on microbevels, you might want to read it, lots of info from lots of forumites.
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
Seems to be a common theme here, in that many of us like to use our Opi's as a test bed for ultimate edge pursuits. This is why I don't see any harm at all, in seemingly 'ruining' the edge on them (by non-knifenut standards, anyway), just to see how far we can go. It's an intellectual pursuit, so it's a noble thing, and therefore unassailable. :D

Carry on, Gents. :thumbup:

David
Click to expand...

I have a couple of knives that I take to the most refined level that I can. I think most of us here resemble David's user name. :)

Of course it's all in the pursuit of knowledge. Some blades will have to be sacrificed ;)

I keep a well sharpened, but not so refined knife available for actural use.

Allen
 
Wow I thought this thread died. Didn't realize it was moved. :)

Awesome guys. I'm tempted to get another Opi just to play around with other sharpening techniques. This one is pretty dedicated.
 
pap11y said:
I completely stuffed a RAT 3 removing the serrations. :(

I will make a usable knife out of it when my new grinder arrives but it was a bad-bad idea...
Click to expand...

Don't feel bad. I did the same with a Kershaw Blur. New knife plus powered grinder plus booze equals bad! :o

Btw, I don't drink anymore! :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top