Opinel, stainless or tool steel?

I've used a No°6 in carbone and stainless quite a bit on cardboard and was surprised to find that I prefer the stainless. I can't say why, but I can get the stainless sharper and with greater ease than the carbon; perhaps it's a combination of my tools, skills, and properties of the steels, and perhaps others will have different results than I do. My sample size for each is only one as well. Regardless, I can get the stainless sharper, easier, and it holds an edge longer than the carbone.

But yeah, just get both and decide on your own. These aren't $200 Spydercos in ZDP-189 and Cruwear you're comparing, they're Opinels. They're essentially one step above disposable.
 
SKT said:
I don't have 7 in stainless and 8 in carbon. I have one number 7 in stainless and one number 8 in carbon. English is not my first language, sorry.
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He was just teasing, your English is fine. Unless you meant you have a 7 inch stainless and an 8 inch carbon. :)
 
EngrSorenson said:
Wow, really? Maybe I’m sharpening mine at too acute of an angle. I frequent the strop with either Opinel, so maybe “soft” isn’t the word for it, but the edge retention just isn’t the same as my Camillus 440C or GEC (or even ESEE) 1095. Perhaps I’m ignorantly misattributing hardness to edge retention deficiencies. Our resident steel nerd Larrin might remind me that geometry plays a bigger role than blade steel.
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There's two factors. Hardness and wear resistance. Hardness keeps the edge from bending and breaking under the pressure of cutting. Wear resistance from carbides slows down the wearing away of the steel. Both improve edge retention.

Steels get greatly improved wear resistance from carbides. Carbides are ceramics and are harder than steel. You can think of it as cement vs concrete. Cement is just binder. Concrete is cement plus aggregate. The aggregate gives concrete better wear resistance than cement.

12C27Mod has no carbide content. It's like cement. It can be hard, but it has limited wear resistance.

4400C is full of chromium carbides and has much better wear resistance because of it.
Even 1095 has areas of cementite, which can be considered as Iron Carbide. Iron carbide is softer than chromium carbide, but it's still a carbide.

Try comparing a stainless Opinel to something with a similar edge profile and 420HC blade steel or 1070 carbon steel. The Opinel will hold its own.
At least some of the Boker carbon steel bladed knives are 1070 carbon steel. Or compare a Case in Tru-sharp (which is 420HC) or a Victorinox Swiss Army.knife.
 
SKT said:
I don't have 7 in stainless and 8 in carbon. I have one number 7 in stainless and one number 8 in carbon. English is not my first language, sorry.
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Sorry! Your syntax was fine. The failure was on my part with poor reading comprehension!

But now you can work on getting six more in stainless and seven more in carbon!
 
I don't like the non existing edge retention of their carbon steel. The geometry is the only redeeming property of the blade. It cuts because it is thin, but... Well I am a super steel freak.
I actually like the inox a bit more, because it needs no care. The carbon rusts too readily for me.
 
I prefer the carbone but mine lives open in a knife block in my kitchen where it's easy to keep dry.

It's my favorite paring/general kitchen knife.
 
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