Sharpining my opinel

dgebler

dgebler

Joined
Feb 12, 2012
Messages
265
I have decided to start carrying my no 9 while i wait for my caplifter to arrive and while it is in great shape its horribly dull. I dont have much experience with the convex edge. I have a sharpmaker and edge pro plus an old cheap three side ark stone. Can i use any of this or am i gonna need to get some sandpaper and try the mousepad technique? Any advice would be great!
 
Those should be fine. I'd recommend trying the sandpaper and mousepad just so you have another way of sharpening under your belt.
 
Honestly, you can use any method you are comfortable with.

I have some of mine I maintain on the strop (and sandpaper if necessary), and some I just use my diamond stone and ceramic sticks on.
 
jbass said:
What grit sandpaper would be best for this kind of sharpening? Thanks.
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For something that's very dull where re profiling is in order I would normally start on around 320 grit. I then work thru 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1500 and finally 2000. Maintaining the edge just takes the last few. It doesn't take as long as you might think. I'm not an expert in the method so I could be doing something unnecessary.
 
I used to go through the grits of sandpaper, up to the higher grits like 3000, but I don't any more.


Honestly, I can go from 600 grit to a loaded strop.

As long as you get a nice clean apex, you should be able to shave from the 600 grit.

My loaded strops use Chromium Oxide.

I don't really use mousepads anymore. Too soft.

I use a much firmer rubber strike plate backing. (from Tandy Leather).

The firmer rubber removes the metal better, and less chance of wrapping the edge (more pressure on a soft backing will actually just dull and round over your edge).
 
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I use a double sided 400/600 grit padded emery board from the local beauty supply shop to sharpen my Opinels, with a strop afterward. This board does about 90% of my sharpening lately. It's firm enough to allow an almost flat surface, but with the smallest amount of give for some convexing. And it's cheap. This has worked way better than my mousepad/sandpaper experiments.
 
IMO, Taking an opinel to 1500 grit is a lot of work, 6-800 grit and a leather strop should do it. I use a 1x30 leather belt, ( loaded) for the hone.
 
Bigfattyt said:
Honestly, you can use any method you are comfortable with.

I have some of mine I maintain on the strop (and sandpaper if necessary), and some I just use my diamond stone and ceramic sticks on.
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^^ THIS ^^

I think it is useful to distinguish between a convex GRIND (describes the shape of the blade from the spine to just above the cutting edge) and a convex EDGE (describes the shape of the blade, well, at the cutting edge.

The Opinel has a convex grind. You may or may not decide to put a convex edge on it. Nothing wrong with putting a conventional 'V' shaped edge on it either.

If I have the time, I use a Lansky system and put a 17-dps back bevel followed by 20-dps primary bevel (aka micro bevel). This is a crude but easy and replicable approximation of a convex edge. Very often, I'll touch up the knife on a diamond pocket stone which will somewhat guarantee a bit of convexity to the edge just by my hand motion.

The only bit advice I can give on sharpening an Opinel is that I find the edge holds up better at around 20-dps. I wouldn't push the carbone any thinner than that and the Inox only if you are willing to maintain it.

Beyond this, don't worry about it. Just sharpen it the way you normally sharpen. The convex grind is very subtle and honestly, I don't think it affects what's going on at the cutting edge much at all. I does affect how the blade goes through material like potatoes but that is happening well north of the cutting edge.
 
Moving to Maintenance, Tinkering & Embellishment.
 
I just use the Sharpmaker on my Opinel and put a double bevel on it. It gets extremely sharp, very easily. Dangerously so, in fact, if you are not used to sharp knives. And its so easy to do, no need for anythign else, IMO.
 
Hello,

I sharpen all my Opinel's on my Lansky.

I put on a 30 degree per side edge and finish to 600 grit and finish on an unloaded plain leather strop.

I find that this gives me a very good practical and durable edge that stands up to hard use very well, this edge also shaves hair and cuts newspaper with aplomb.

Cheers.
 
This video is hosted by BF's own 'jackknife' (Carl), and may best illustrate how easy it is to sharpen most knives, using simple methods and tools (and he demos with an Opinel):

[video=youtube;SEMLu8e34ck]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEMLu8e34ck[/video]

Point being, Opinels are very straightforward to sharpen. Any of the methods mentioned in the thread can work; that's part of the beauty of owning an Opinel, in that they're very easy to live with. :thumbup:


David
 
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