First Opinel & sharpening question

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bennyG19

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I got my first Opinel today in the mail from Ragnar. I also got two of the Moras while I was at it. Ragnar is fantastic to deal with. I ordered the knives on Sunday night and got them today. For a total of less than $40 I got three good knives.

My only complaint is that the Opinel isn't as sharp as I was hoping for. I thought they were supposed to be shaving sharp out of the box, but it wasn't. The Moras were fairly sharp, and after a few minutes with the sharpmaker they are very very sharp. The Opinel seems sharper than it was, but still not shaving sharp by any means. I'll admit that I'm no expert at sharpening, and the sharpmaker is the only method I know. Is there a different technique I need to use for the Opinel to get it as sharp as my other blades?
 
Opinels are convexed ground, and ideally have no secondary bevel. Sharpmakers would probably not be the best way to go to sharpen them, free-hand would be the best. Best method people would recomend would be to use sandpaper with a mousepad, so as to keep the convex grind intact. I do that sometimes, but usually use a green DMT diamond stone, and just change my angle as I sharpen it.

I suppose that makes it not a true convex grind anymore, but gets them sharp nonetheless.

As for out of the box sharpness from them, I have several and some have been sharp and some have been dull as posts. Must depend on how much wine the cutler had with his lunch, perhaps? ;)
 
The one I bought came dull as shit, and actually I still haven't managed to smooth out the curve. I didn't realize they were convex, I'll have to get me some sandpaper.
 
Is it a stainless Opinel (it'll say INOX on the blade) or carbon? If it's carbon, freehand is the best way to sharpen. I use a fine ceramic to remove burrs and get a good edge, then strop it with 1000-grit sandpaper. It will cut paper clean in two and shave the hair off your arm. I use an edge angle of about 13 degrees per side for carbon Opinels
 
It's carbon, and most of that went right over my head. I'll need to read up more on sharpening. i bought a pocket sharpener from countycomm.com just for kicks, could i use that? could i use the rods from my sharpmaker but put them in the bottom of the handle so they are laying flat?
 
That's the kind of post that drives moderators nuts -- two different topics, both off-topic for this forum.... I'm moving this thread to TGB&U. You can find out about sharpening in Maintenance, Tinkering & Embellishment

Let’s see if we can find the right forum …
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