Opinel question.

O

Omega Leather Works

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Jun 13, 2007
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Hey guys. I have an Opinel No.9 that I've sharpened to about 25(ish)° inclusive. It's my sharpest knife, and I love it, however I sometimes have trouble because there is a slight... how to explain...? Recurve? in the very middle of the length of the cutting edge. A recurve is not the best descriptor because it conjures up a certain idea. It's really a slight curvature, I guess. Anyway, my question is if this is normal for an Opinel. If so, I wonder why they'd make it this way. If not it sucks for me. I'd take a pic but I'm not sure it would help. It's almost like the blade is thinner behind the edge in that area as well so I can't really sharpen it out. If I tried it would continue to push back since it's thinner stock.

Is this making any sense? I feel like I'm not explaining it very well, but I'm doing the best I can...

Thanks for any insight.
 
Is this a new or older blade? I'm not 100% clear but I am guessing you mean the edge is a little worn from sharpening or use? IF this is the case, and IF you are using a flat stone, you will have trouble sharpening. You would have to use the edge of the stone to follow the contour of the blade to allow the entire edge to hit the stone.

I have I think 6 opinels, and the only # that had any imperfection was one of the #9's It has a slight bend to the blade sideways.

whatever the issue is I'd just keep using it untill it fails, or wears down to a fraction of the original size...then get another. Or, maybe mod it to something and grab a new one?
 
Yeah, just mod it.

Here a few Model12s.

Opi4.jpg
 
Several of mine have a bit of recurve, including the #9 on my desk at the moment. I think in my case it comes from my sharpening technique.
 
A very slight recurve is actually normal. Opinel refers to the blade style as a "yatagan" which is a Turkish sword typically featuring a prominent recurvature.
 
Yeah, my 6 has it too. Most wouldn't notice just by looking but as soon as you start sharpening it becomes evident.
 
No problem! For reference, here's an example of a yatagan sword.

yatagan+with+scabbard.jpg
 
Strigamort said:
Yeah, I'd call that prominent. ;)

Kind of ugly really, but I'm sure it was quite a stunner in its day.

Edit- retraction~ the handle that is. The blade is lovely now that I look at it again.
Click to expand...

You get used to the handle appearance over time. They're still not my favorite but I don't consider them ugly anymore after looking at them for years. :)
 
The more I think about it (for some reason I keep thinking about it) the more I think I may have been a bit rash. I mean it is a bit ugly, but not heinous. I think my gut reaction was really based on the apparent total lack of ergonomics. Am I seeing it wrong though? Have you held this, or something similar? What is it like to wield?

I hate to jump to conclusions! :o
 
We'll put it this way--no way in hell is your hand going to slide off of that handle! :D
 
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