Opinel Impressed me a lot...

C

chococrazy

Joined
Jul 1, 2009
Messages
506
If you guys saw my cheap carbon steel blade thread you know I got an Opinel N7. I got it in the mail today from Opiknife. I opened the manila envelope and grabbed my knife I intermediately gave it a cut test... Dull, and very dull tearing paper. I wasn't to dissapointed cause it gave me a reason to sharpen it. Got it to hair whittling and get it a cut test. I was doing a push cut and accidently nicked my thumb. The cut was the cleanest cut I have ever seen it literally took a layer of skin off so thin I couldn't even see where I was cut (it wasn't even close to deep enough to bleed), so I didn't no i was cut till I cut another sliver of paper and saw this little curled strip of something on the blade I pulled it off and it turned out to be that piece of my thumb! I can't even feel anything on my thumb. I'm extremely impressed how sharp carbon steel gets!
Any of you guys have this happen to you? The cut is almost non existent.
 
yeah after the first time i sharpened my grandfathers old carbon steel hammer brand stockman, i was holding something in my left hand and cutting with my right, felt the blade brush by finger, looked and could see the shiny spot on my finger where i shaved off a layer of skin.
 
my kitchen opinel took off a pretty meaty disc off the tip of my father-in-laws' thumb. it's that very thin, high flat grind - no need for a secondary bevel, you get razor-sharpness almost instantly.
 
Between the carbon steel (holds a nice edge) and the grind used by Opinel you get one hell of a good slicer that can sharpen up to scary sharp very easily. I too have sliced off a little skin thin enough to not cause bleeding. It is a good idea to give a little fear and respect to the edge of a well sharpened Opinel - they can cut deep if you don't handle them carefully enough.

Try slicing a tomato - I used to like cutting tomatoes with my serrated steak knives, but now I would much rather use an Opinel, so much better with a plain blade that is SHARP!
 
That is actually my favorite way to judge sharpness. I am not satisfied with my sharpening until the entire length of the edge can shear thin layers of finger/ thumb skin -that and cut paper:D:thumbup:

And I love those Opinels too
 
I have an ancient Opinel #8 in carbon that I can get literally sharp enough to shave with (just once, Oh! the burn!). Carved the handle with weird tribal engravings one night thanks to a bottle of Shiraz and an hour of boredom. Tested the edge on my thumb about a week ago-skinned myself slightly, so sharp there was no pain, just kept looking around trying to find out where the blood was coming from.:rolleyes:
 
damn, I should have bought some shiraz or merlot or something, instead of the 6 pack of beer for tonite
 
I have a couple of Opinels I got from Smoky Mountain Knife Works years ago. They're great knives -- cost-effective, take a very sharp edge, and very durable.
 
my christmas opinels just came in from Ragweed's Forge and I am impressed as well. Very nice little knives. Sharpen up easily and get scary sharp, not sure on edge retention yet, have to put it to work on my day off tomorrow.

Might have to order some big ones, as someone mentioned they'd make great food prep knives for camping, and I can definitely see that. Only have a #6 right now, and two that I'll have to maintain for ma and pa :P
 
goodeyesniper said:
my christmas opinels just came in from Ragweed's Forge and I am impressed as well. Very nice little knives. Sharpen up easily and get scary sharp, not sure on edge retention yet, have to put it to work on my day off tomorrow.

Might have to order some big ones, as someone mentioned they'd make great food prep knives for camping, and I can definitely see that. Only have a #6 right now, and two that I'll have to maintain for ma and pa :P
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You won't regret it. After I reshaped the handle, the #9 quickly became a favorite.
 
I don't understand why you did a paper test when it was already hair whittling sharp? Obviously any hair whittling sharp knife is capable of passing any normal paper cutting test.
 
saw45 said:
I don't understand why you did a paper test when it was already hair whittling sharp? Obviously any hair whittling sharp knife is capable of passing any normal paper cutting test.
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I always have a piece of paper by me. I did this right after I took my knife off the strop ( I do the paper cut to test constantly to tell how sharp I'm at and to gauge how many more strokes I need per side).
 
Hey Chococrazy - I see now that when you said it was hair whittling sharp you didn't mean that literally, but it was just a turn of phrase. You see when I get my knife literally hair whittling sharp, I no longer have to test with paper.
 
saw45 said:
Hey Chococrazy - I see now that when you said it was hair whittling sharp you didn't mean that literally, but it was just a turn of phrase. You see when I get my knife literally hair whittling sharp, I no longer have to test with paper.
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??? You don't see what I mean I don't have a sliver of long enough ahir with me when i'm sharpening, although I do have some printer paper. I assure you the edge could easily whittle some hair. The knife out of the box was dull so as I sharpen (more specifically after each time I progress a grit) I cut a slice of paper to see the current edge sharpness. I finished off with my strop cut a sliver and sliced my thumb. I then went down stairs and checked it by whittling hair too.
 
Not trying to cause you any upset. Basically what I am saying is that you can't determine if a knife will whittle hair by testing it with paper. Since you now say that you test it on hair after testing with paper, that is when you determine it is hair whittling sharp. Glad you are getting your blade nice and sharp.
 
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