Lets see opinels - Pic Thread

Yep, I really like it, seems about the right size, the wood has a smoother overall finish, much like the ebony ones do, it'll be seeing some work out this week for sure!

I had the #12 into work this week, I showed one guy the carbone #6 I had in my shirt pocket, he thought that was cool and light, then I dragged out the #12, his eyes widen'd a bit more and there was a sheet of paper hanging on the machine he was working on, I casually flicked the blade towards that and the whole right corner fell to the ground, narry a sound, and as cleanly slit as you would want, I just smiled and he was like WOW those ARE sharp! ;)
G2
 
An OPI 12 fresh off your edgepro, hmmm, sounds scary to me :)

I am still EDC'ing the cherry wood 1890. I have spent a lot of time with danish oil and buffing. Finally I put a final renwax coating. Its still 1.22 ounces. I love this knife and use it everyday. It cuts green wood like butter too out working around the fields/woods and even works as a tiny machete. I have wanted to carry nicer knives but the function is hard to let go of :)

I hope to see what you come up with next. If I had the cash I would be feeding my OPI sickness just as bad as you!
 
That sounds pretty nice, well I've sold in order to buy, otherwise I'd be Opinel less as well, and I may be putting my EdgePro up forsale, as I've gone back to free hand sharpening, kinda missed it and it's amazing how sharp you can get these knives!

On these, well most any knife now, I've been sharpening a little differently than I use to. Kinda like what Murray Carter does, it's where I was inspired to try it that way, instead of slicing into the stone, I basically strop it backwards, tip to guard at about a 45 degree angle to the stone so the scratch pattern that ends up on there is also at a 45 degree, this I feel makes a more agressive cutting edge as the scratch pattern will cut/grab a little better.

I'm talking the angle the blade is toward the stone, if you laid the blade flat across the stone, it would be perpendicular to the edge of the stone, I turn/angle the blade to a 45 degree position and push against the stone at that angle, the edge bevel is pretty shallow and the way this is working I end up with a slight convex kind of edge too.

G2
 
Very cool Gary!! I hold my 8" surgical Arkansas stone in my left hand and slice into the stone with my right. The weight of my 1.22 ounce knife is about the force and I also angle the grit marks. Although I prefer cutting into the stone vs edge trailing. I have done it both ways, I prefer the way edge leading cuts the microserrations and the feedback I get off the natural stones. I am able to match the sharpness I get off my Kalamazoo now and that was no easy challenge :)

I love free handing and I gave away my edgepro here on the forums to a gent struggling to learn a few years back.

Kevin
 
Gary W. Graley said:
That sounds pretty nice, well I've sold in order to buy, otherwise I'd be Opinel less as well, and I may be putting my EdgePro up forsale, as I've gone back to free hand sharpening, kinda missed it and it's amazing how sharp you can get these knives!

On these, well most any knife now, I've been sharpening a little differently than I use to. Kinda like what Murray Carter does, it's where I was inspired to try it that way, instead of slicing into the stone, I basically strop it backwards, tip to guard at about a 45 degree angle to the stone so the scratch pattern that ends up on there is also at a 45 degree, this I feel makes a more agressive cutting edge as the scratch pattern will cut/grab a little better.

I'm talking the angle the blade is toward the stone, if you laid the blade flat across the stone, it would be perpendicular to the edge of the stone, I turn/angle the blade to a 45 degree position and push against the stone at that angle, the edge bevel is pretty shallow and the way this is working I end up with a slight convex kind of edge too.

G2
Click to expand...

:thumbup:
That's almost exactly how I've been sharpening. In particular, I do that when sharpening with wet/dry paper on glass (which I'm doing most of the time). The tip-to-heel edge-trailing stroke, away from my body, has become very comfortable for me, and I've liked the results as well. In particular, I've found it much easier to get the tip of the blade extra sharp & pointy this way (and no chance of dragging the tip off the edge of the hone, either). Angling the blade sort of diagonally across the stone also straightens the wrist for me, and I've found it much easier to maintain a steady sharpening angle this way. I'd previously tried (for a very long time) to keep the blade essentially perpendicular across the width of the stone, but it always seemed to pitch to-and-fro (spine height above the stone was up & down) a little too much.

I've also started to adapt my stropping stroke in the same manner. :)


David
 
I bought a couple of nr 9s. One is an inox model. How much harder is the inox than the carbon model, can the back of the blade be filed to customize it?

The color of this inox handle is almost white, so it is perfect to experiment staining. I have thought of light grey or tan, then varnish to a translucent finish. Lets see how it turns out. The other one is a carbone model and this I will make to a slightly shorter wharncliffe. Both will be dedicated friction folders, no need for the lock.
 
IIRC, their Inox is hardened in the 58Rc range, similar to Bucks 420HC Heat treat. Carbon steels generally max out around 56Rc as I understand it.

In terms of staining, I get best results from sticking with 80 grit paper to keep the grain on the hard beech open. Otherwise stain doesn't get in the wood well.
 
pinnah said:
IIRC, their Inox is hardened in the 58Rc range, similar to Bucks 420HC Heat treat. Carbon steels generally max out around 56Rc as I understand it.
Click to expand...

"Carbon steel" is a very general term but many common non-stainless knife steels can get into the 60's or more if desired. 58 is not a problem. It depends mostly on their carbon content.
 
Not a great pic but it shows the Danish oil finish. Out in the rain it beads right up. The danish oil seals to water but NOT water vapor. The microcrystalline Renwax should handle a bit of the vapor.



Kevin
 
My favorite opinel of four. I drop pointed this one with a hand file.
p1030005n.jpg
 
Kevin - your checkered handle with the Danish oil looks great!
I picked up a cheap file at the hardware store and I've been practicing checkering when I get the chance on scrap wood, but I'm not happy with my results yet. I've gotta say, my hats off to you, Sir! This is slow and difficult work, and now I can see how much time and effort goes into this! Let's just say that for now, I'll be sticking to the scrap wood ;)
 
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Thank you jwren, but I do hope you get the result you were hoping for. If I can do it you can do it :)

Kevin
 
Well I've taken my nice Olive burl #6 blade to some sand paper, first on some 40 micro and then onto some very fine 9 micron paper, wanted to smooth out the grind lines from the grinders on the forming of the blade. I figured this will provide a smoother cut through material. While the high polished blades on the ebony ones are cool, I find the drag marks from the polishing compound to be somewhat not as cool, those around the embossed Opinel logo.
Doing it this way there are no extending marks from those embossings, just a nice smooth finish, I'll try to photograph it when I'm finally done but wanted to pass along that bit of work on the knife.

I'll be staying away from any motorized form of polishing/sanding as that can generate too much heat too quickly in such a thin blade!

I lay the sand paper on the table and lay the knife flat onto the paper and drag it down in one direction for a while and then flip the knife and do the other side.
G2

well it's not a super clean job but it certainly feels smoother ;) I was going to try and photo the difference but that wouldn't show as well as I'd hoped, so suffice to say, it's smoother cutting through material, probably not a measureable type of thing, more of a fuzzy warm feeling that you did something that should make a difference :)
 
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richstag said:
The Opinel 12 saw I own weighs in at 3.67 ounces on the 200g Scout Pro scale. Pete asked me to let him know what I think of this saw and I figured I would share some initial thoughts with all.

Here is a first run test
(snip...)
I have used the saw on my Leatherman supertool for so many years. My grandfather gave me this one when I was a kid. This saw has cut so much wood, stag and anything else I needed when I just didn't feel like getting something bigger or better out. For me, the supertool on my belt will probably keep the opinel out of my pocket. The leatherman will quickly out cut the opinel.
Click to expand...

Kevin,

Thanks for posting this. I got a Silky hand saw, that cuts like a laser through butter btw, but was curious about the Opinel as a possible lighter alternative. You've saved me an experiment I shouldn't afford.

Thanks,
 
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