My First Opinel

Sorry for the double post btw.

I got it monday, so 2 days of use, miles of cardboard, a steak dinner and banana later it is starting to build character much quicker than I anticipated.

 
Opinels are great. They will bring you over to the dark side of thin geometry pretty quickly as well. Opinels are pretty cheap so there are more variance in the grind. It is supposed to be slight convex, but a knowledgeable friend has stated that they can at times be nearly flat ground.

They are very thin behind the edge, thinner than any other production model blade I have had. I have also heard reports that since they come with such a slight convex grind, and so thin behind the edge, (which makes reprofiling easier) they will leave the edge un sharpened so that you can choose either a convex edge or a V edge.
 
Swoop03 said:
Ha you're the first to ever comment on that. My desk is the background of many of my pictures. It doubles as a workbench and I use it from time to time as a burr block :D The desk cost $20 bucks new and I've had it for 10 years so I couldn't care less anymore lol. I picked up a number 6. The blade is perfect but the handle needs to be a hair longer so I think I'm going to pick up a 9 maybe and wharncliffe it and round the back of the handle when my belt sander comes in.
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Ah, good deal. You should see my work bench, it looks like Bob Vila got drunk one night and had his way with it. A wharncliffe Opinel would be awesome.
 
Steel130 said:
Opinels are great. They will bring you over to the dark side of thin geometry pretty quickly as well. Opinels are pretty cheap so there are more variance in the grind. It is supposed to be slight convex, but a knowledgeable friend has stated that they can at times be nearly flat ground.

They are very thin behind the edge, thinner than any other production model blade I have had. I have also heard reports that since they come with such a slight convex grind, and so thin behind the edge, (which makes reprofiling easier) they will leave the edge un sharpened so that you can choose either a convex edge or a V edge.
Click to expand...

I already loved thin geometry lol, I'm always reprofiling knives past their limit and end up having to thicken them up so I can practically use it. My para 2 is a good example, I had it down to 7 per side and s30 doesn't like that apparently I have it back up to 17 per side from my lansky so that number is just an estimate and that is the thinnest i can use it without a microbevel.

Yea my opinel here is just barely a convex, it is darn near close to flat grind, when I held it up to one of my 6 inch machinist scales it has maybe .010 of a difference. It is a very shallow convex, but it works perfect with my thinner mousepad and sandpaper. Almost like it was made for it. Hmm that makes sense too with leaving the edge unsharpened for user choice. I haven't read that anywhere though. Whatever happened it works great now and I'm loving it more every time I use it.

matt1987 said:
Ah, good deal. You should see my work bench, it looks like Bob Vila got drunk one night and had his way with it. A wharncliffe Opinel would be awesome.
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Ha that's funny :D I have seen many a people wharncliffe their opinels, someone actually posted pictures of some wharnie ones on the first page of this very thread. I'd make it more of a gradual change though then they have it.
 
Gotta love how you can spot the difference between the banana patina and the steak. The banana is the very sudden, dark black marks correct? Where the steak was more subtle staining in the background?
 
goodeyesniper said:
Gotta love how you can spot the difference between the banana patina and the steak. The banana is the very sudden, dark black marks correct? Where the steak was more subtle staining in the background?
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Yes, the dark spots are from a banana. I was really surprised with the banana patina, I didn't think it would happen that fast or at all with a banana. I assume it has something to do with the potassium? I don't really know though. I just felt like cutting my banana cause I had a new knife lol. The steak/steak sauce was towards the tip, the camera didn't really pick it up, the tip had just a slight stain. It is all off now and back to a shiny finish from cutting plenty of cardboard and sandpaper sharpening.
 
I like collecting folders with larger blades(like, 4.5 inches plus), I really need to pick up a number 12...
 
DShiflet said:
I like collecting folders with larger blades(like, 4.5 inches plus), I really need to pick up a number 12...
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I'm more of a small bladed guy, I don't need to compensate for anything ;) lol.
No but really I just find the larger blades uncomfortable and heavy. I carry a decent bit of stuff on my person and every little bit adds up quick and I don't feel the need for larger ones. I like to have a 3-3.5 for edc and something smaller to drop in the pocket. This 6 is a touch to small, it needs like a 1/4 inch more to it so i'm gonna pick up a 7 as well and I want to get a 9 maybe and wharncliff if and round the handle out.
 
Swoop03 said:
I'm more of a small bladed guy, I don't need to compensate for anything ;) lol.
No but really I just find the larger blades uncomfortable and heavy.
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Oh, I don't plan on carrying it. Just wanna put it next to all my other (mostly Cold Steel) large folders that I don't carry...get something in there that doesn't have black plastic handle for a change.
 
I love them, I have several from size 7 to 12. 12 is a great bbq knife ! And I very often eat with the 10 (corkscrew variant). The not so cheap 8 with horn tip handle is as elegant as a laguiole. 7 is a perfect little pocket knife, that women kike as well when on holiday.

Next to the risk of a swelling handle, there is one specific issue with sizes 8 and below: the tip is weak, I managed to slightly bend several of my Opinel blade tips, and I still don't know how I did it ! Otherwise, you will quickly find out that a thin blade is for normal cutting usually better than a thicker blade.
 
DShiflet said:
Oh, I don't plan on carrying it. Just wanna put it next to all my other (mostly Cold Steel) large folders that I don't carry...get something in there that doesn't have black plastic handle for a change.
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Oh I see, I know how you feel, there is just so much black out there. I like to have color and be different.

Dagon said:
I love them, I have several from size 7 to 12. 12 is a great bbq knife ! And I very often eat with the 10 (corkscrew variant). The not so cheap 8 with horn tip handle is as elegant as a laguiole. 7 is a perfect little pocket knife, that women kike as well when on holiday.

Next to the risk of a swelling handle, there is one specific issue with sizes 8 and below: the tip is weak, I managed to slightly bend several of my Opinel blade tips, and I still don't know how I did it ! Otherwise, you will quickly find out that a thin blade is for normal cutting usually better than a thicker blade.
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I've only bent one knife tip, on my kershaw leek. I forsee myself snapping the tip on my opinel or the blade or even the handle as it is very thin and I'm used to these high tech synthetic and steel handles, but I've always been a fan of the thinner blades. For typical edc you really don't need a beefy folder and they make cutting easier. I have a belt sander on the way, I just got the belts in today so I see some blades getting thinner lol.
 
unlike harder stainless steels these blades do seem prone to bending out of shape before snapping. That's how my dad's looked when he abused it, bent quite a bit then snapped.

Still took a ton of abuse from him before that, very impressive.
 
You're in for a treat. They're great blades for the price, and just great blades overall. You're in for some lean & mean cutting ;-)
 
Great thread! Had to get my first one, found a No.8 at a store around town...

qZQgMLR.jpg
 
I have a skinny handled #6, and it slices great. Not much edge when new, but for a $12 knife, not a big deal.

Literally a few passes per side on a diamond stone, and a few licks per side on ceramic, and it was shaving.
 
Swoop03 said:
I already loved thin geometry lol, I'm always reprofiling knives past their limit and end up having to thicken them up so I can practically use it. My para 2 is a good example, I had it down to 7 per side and s30 doesn't like that apparently I have it back up to 17 per side from my lansky so that number is just an estimate and that is the thinnest i can use it without a microbevel.

Yea my opinel here is just barely a convex, it is darn near close to flat grind, when I held it up to one of my 6 inch machinist scales it has maybe .010 of a difference. It is a very shallow convex, but it works perfect with my thinner mousepad and sandpaper. Almost like it was made for it. Hmm that makes sense too with leaving the edge unsharpened for user choice. I haven't read that anywhere though. Whatever happened it works great now and I'm loving it more every time I use it.



Ha that's funny :D I have seen many a people wharncliffe their opinels, someone actually posted pictures of some wharnie ones on the first page of this very thread. I'd make it more of a gradual change though then they have it.
Click to expand...
Nice, the M390 Para 2 I used to have I had down to 12* per side with a 30* micro bevel. The way it performed it could have gone lower I am sure. I know of several makers who are using what they describe as a lean convex grind. Lean enough that it is near a flat grind but offers some of the advantages of the convex grind. I have one such blade coming in the mail that I am excited for.
 
416isToronto said:
LoL!!! I was a little surprised to see this packaging...i guess easier for big stores...
Since it is my first Opinel, i ended up using the little blade on one of my SAKs..
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Ouch. Big mistake. Opinels in packages like that can only be legally and morally opened with another Opinel. I know, it's sort of a chicken-or-egg sort of conundrum, but those ARE the rules. I'll PM you my shipping address and you can send it to me for proper disposal. :D:p
 
I too, like most other enthusiast here, have a thing for Opinels. They represent a product that isn't overpriced in the least bit. As much as it pains me to say it, I have developed a proneness for their wonderful Inox, 12C27 Sandvik instead of the carbon, and it has been a favorite of mine for sometime, and I'm getting to were I can't feel any difference in edge retention between the two, but that's not saying much coming from me. As to sharpening, some may cringe, but I don't convex mine, and most I've seen from the factory, have a visible bevel, I just clamp them in the Lansky, and drop the edge to 20-25 degrees per side. Not rocket science, but it works for me.
 
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