How hard is an OPINEL???

L

Lavan

Joined
Nov 8, 2000
Messages
2,301
Good grief! Over the weekend I bought a #12 Opinel just because it was so honkin BIG!!

But it is defying every attempt to sharpen it that I have tried.

From: Sharpmaker, diamond stone, old coarse whetstone, E-Z lap, and a few other things.

It resisted reprofiling like a banshee. Took a LOT of work to get it to even a semblance of sharp. (oh, it was cheese-cutter sharp from the gitgo)

The closest I have found (so far) to something that will take it down is one of those carbide V shaped strippers for cheap kitchen knives.

It's a slick looking huge thing. You could use the handle for a billy. Course it also resembles a baseball bat, too.

Anyone else ever have a problem getting a #12 sharp?

It is carbon.

SACRE BLEU! What I say? Eet ees "Au Carbone."

:confused: :D
 
Mine is also a carbon steel and I never had any problem in sharpening them.

"T'es poche tabarnak!" :p (you suck)

Or maybe someone screwed with it, dulled it and made it even harder than it is supposed to be.
 
One of mine was an abused TSA confiscation. I got it and it was still wickidly sharp- better than many knives come from the factory.

The other was NIB, and it is wicked.

No product is perfect. Maybe you got a bad one, or Cybrok is speakin' the truth.
 
I have several Opinels of various sized and blade shapes, all in Carbon. For the most part they came from the factory with an unsatisfactory edge.
However, they are the easiest knives to sharpen, up there with SAK, and they can get damn sharp.
 
That was always my experience with the smaller Opinels.

This one was not messed with. It came out of the nearly impossible to open plastic tube that they ship in. The clerk had to get a ...knife... to open the dern thing.

I am getting it sharp.. Just not.... SHARP!

If I could get it to SAK sharp, I wud be a happy camper.
 
I've never had trouble sharpening an Opinel, but I've never carried a #12 either.

Who would carry an Opinel that large anyway? Maybe a Rambo-wannabe Frenchman? :D

-Bob
 
Lavan said:
From: Sharpmaker, diamond stone, old coarse whetstone, E-Z lap, and a few other things.

...

The closest I have found (so far) to something that will take it down is one of those carbide V shaped strippers for cheap kitchen knives.
Click to expand...

No matter how hard it is, there's no way something that'll respond to tungsten carbide won't respond to diamond. Tungsten carbide is about as hard the Sharpmaker ceramic, and both are softer than diamond. Did someone screw with the entire blade profile?
 
moving-van.jpg
 
Every Opinel I've ever bought came sharp as **** already. (That means very sharp!) Maybe you got the Peoples Republic of California edition, though. :D
 
Dr. Mudd said:
Every Opinel I've ever bought came sharp as **** already. (That means very sharp!) Maybe you got the Peoples Republic of California edition, though. :D
Click to expand...

That's what I had always heard too, but I had three of them come in the mail yesterday and they all needed some touching up on the Sharpmaker.

I have to say though, in just 10 minutes they were all very sharp :eek: (with no credit to my sharpening skills)
 
Opinels usually need a new edge put on if they're straight from the factory. My #12 was actually defective with no real heat treat, it's possible your knife is too but I'd imagine my instance to be a rare problem.
 
UH-OH! I bought it while driving through Carmel at the knife shop at 6th and Dolores. And I ain't drivin 150 miles fer no 17 dollar knife.

I'm gonna try again.... RAT NOW !!!!

:)
 
I've bought 4 new Opinels and all came dull. They are very easy to sharpen using sandpaper on top of a mouse pad. Opinels are ground convex, and this preserves a full convex grind. Start with 320 grit, then go to 600, then 1500, then 2000 if you can find it. Finish by stropping.

I don't know the exact hardness of Opinel blades, but it seems softer than most of the other blades I have, except for my Old Hickory kitchen knives, which seem about the same. If I had to guess I'd say low 50s. This does not reduce their usefulness -- it just makes them very easy to sharpen.
 
All of mine seemed pretty soft. I thinned the edge out (yes, I did), and sharpened them, and they didn't hold it very long, and sustained damage in soft woods very easily.

There's a reason why they're cheap, IMO.
 
Bob W said:
Who would carry an Opinel that large anyway? Maybe a Rambo-wannabe Frenchman? :D-Bob
Click to expand...

In France, the only people i've seen using #12 Opinel were Breton deep-sea fishermen. To take off fish guts, not for edc.

dantzk.
 
I only bought it BECAUSE it was so freaking honkin BIG. A "coffee table" knife. It ...IS... ridiculous looking and no pocket I've ever seen outside of cargo pants would hold it.
It doesn't appear to be convex. POSSIBLY a ....l i t t l e.... bit.
However, it does resist abrasion which is why I inquired on the hardness. Very stiff and seemingly hard.
Yesterday, after posting, I got SORT OF an edge on it.
Nuttin like my smaller Opinel.
It cuts. Not laser like or shaving sharp, but it will cut.

I...think.... it's as good as it will get.

So I guess I won't retire the Spydie for edc.

:D
 
Hold a straight edge like a credit card to the side of the blade. Then you'll see it is a convex grind. I'm doing it right now to 1 of my # 8s -- it's readily apparent. It's not a huge amount -- it's easier to see on my Bbark Rivers -- but then thhe blade on te Opinel is pretty thin to begin with.
 
Where do ya'll (yes, I'm in South Carolina) buy all these Opinels? Somehow, in my recent loss of knife spending money, (the kids get it now) I've overlooked these highly praised, CHEAP knives. I also need a Douk Douk too, but I'll save that for a new thread.
 
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