Opinel #8 Inox

miso2

miso2

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Nov 19, 2014
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I’ve just got my first Opinel, #8 in stainless steel. This knife has been praised as a great slicer despite its price and outperform any modern knives in slicing. I wanted to experience it myself.

I got one with a blue colored handle and leather lanyard.

Opinel_1.JPG




I was a bit surprised that the blade is actually convex but not full flat ground. Also I was pleasantly surprised that the blade stock and the thickness behind the edge is very very thin. Below is my measurements and comparison to other knives I own.

Opinel_blade.JPG

*Note that the blade stock measurement of PM2 was not done at the thickest point.


The edge came little damaged, so I could not test it before sharpening it.
I am very much looking forward to testing it against Boker Exskelibur I on light slicing tasks.



Miso
 
Nice, they are great slicers, here's one I use to own that I opted to have it engraved before they shipped it out, they did a nice job and they did it in a day and shipped the same day!

Handle on this one is Ebony, very solid feeling folder.

IMG_1858.jpg~original


closeup of the celtic cross

IMG_1859.jpg~original


G2
 
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miso2 said:
I’ve just got my first Opinel,...
The edge came little damaged, so I could not test it before sharpenig...o
Click to expand...
Yeah, it's a hit or miss affair with those factory edges.
But that hasn't stopped its popularity over the centuries ;-)
Nice knives btw.
 
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Thank you, guys, for the comments!


I managed to sharpen the knife, although it was bit difficult to sharpen on Edge Pro because of the convex grind. After sharpening the knife, I sought to test whether the blade shape of Opinel makes it a superior slicer to other knives I recently purchased, Boker Exskelibur I and PM2.

Specs
Opinel #8: 0.062” blade stock, 0.006” behind the edge
Exskelibur: 0.103” blade stock, 0.011” behind the edge
PM2: 0.12” blade stock, 0.023” behind the edge


My thought was that a good slicer would require a small force to cut through a dense material like cardboard with good edge sharpness and minimum binding. So, my plan was to set the edge sharpness somewhat similar across the knives tested and to investigate how much binding would occur in cutting cardboard by measuring the force required to cut cardboard with a certain cutting angle. I averaged values from three measurements.

I first tested the edge sharpness by cutting printer paper and measured the force required to cut it.

Cutting_test1.JPG



I tried to cut the paper with a certain horizontal angle to the paper and with about 30 degree vertical angle. Hope that the image convey what I was trying to do.

Cutting_test3.JPG



This way, the blade geometry and binding of the medium would minimally affect the force required to cut the paper, and therefore it would mainly indicate the edge sharpness. The force each knife required was:

Opinel: 0.7 oz (20 g)
Exskelibur: 0.6 oz (17 g)
PM2: 0.6 oz (18 g)​

These results suggests that the edge sharpness was similar across the three knives tested despite their different edge and blade geometries.


Then, I cut a piece of cardboard folded to a triangle pole. When cutting, the blade was placed perpendicular to the cardboard, and I held the knife with about 30 degree vertical angle. The force was measured when the blade sunk into the cardboard about 0.5 inch.

Cutting_test2.JPG



Measured values (averages):

Opinel: 28 oz (the entire blade was in the cardboard)
Exskelibur: 25 oz (27 oz when the whole blade was sunk)
PM2: 34 oz (42 oz when the whole blade was sunk)​


These results indicate that Exskelibur I is the best slicer among three with Opinel as a close second. As expected, the thick blade stock makes PM2 a less efficient slicer than the rest.



Miso
 
Last edited:
The edge bevel after sharpening at 20 dps. It is still very narrow as compared to PM2 sharpened at 15 dps.

Opinel_edge.JPG



I used #120 (Edge Pro silicone carbide), #240, #400 (Congress Tools Moldmaster), and #600 (Edge Pro aluminum oxide). I feel it would be better with higher grits and will try next time.


Miso
 
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This French knife is really suitable for cutting hard Parmigiano Reggiano.

Opinel_cheeze.JPG




Miso
 
Rolf,

No. It's a shame that I have never handled a Higonokami, even though I live in Japan. I have to try it at some point.
And thank you for the info for Mercator. I did not know it. The knife looks like a hybrid of Higonomami and Douk Douk. Looks like a good slicer.


Miso
 
miso2 said:
The edge bevel after sharpening at 20 dps. It is still very narrow as compared to PM2 sharpened at 15 dps.

Opinel_edge.JPG



I used #120 (Edge Pro silicone carbide), #240, #400 (Congress Tools Moldmaster), and #600 (Edge Pro aluminum oxide). I feel it would be better with higher grits and will try next time.


Miso
Click to expand...

This is a great photo to illustrate the difference in geometry between Opinel and most production folders on the market, thank you very much for presenting it :thumbup:
 
Great knives! I bought a Carbon #8 in Paris when we visited there last year. I melted some floor wax into the blade groove to seal the wood and keep it from swelling and binding the blade. That thin blade is an awesome slicer.
 
chiral.grolim said:
This is a great photo to illustrate the difference in geometry between Opinel and most production folders on the market, thank you very much for presenting it :thumbup:
Click to expand...

Thanks, chiral.golim!
The blade is really thinly ground.
I wish other main stream production knives also have this much deep grind......


Miso
 
Alberta Ed said:
Great knives! I bought a Carbon #8 in Paris when we visited there last year. I melted some floor wax into the blade groove to seal the wood and keep it from swelling and binding the blade. That thin blade is an awesome slicer.
Click to expand...

That is a good idea. I do not have floor wax handy. Can anything else be used instead?


Miso
 
Miso- You are welcome!
You will love the K55K and the Snap-lock! Pick your blade steel too.
rolf
 
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