Knife porn thread

Patina on my mum’s opinel.

1 Attachment

Slightly beyond patina I think!? Clearly sharpened many times over the years...

Perfectly serviceable, but I have chosen not to offer to refurbish it for her.
Must be at least a decade since it was last closed.

My father in law has a couple in that kind of state, now they get used for things like opening paint tins rather than slicing saucisson.

Was deliberating over the best bread knife to get, ended up getting a utilitarian Mercer from Amazon on the strength of web reviews, with it also being cheap enough that I can replace with a snazzier one in future.

I was given a used Opinel No10 45 years ago for fishing. I'm sure it had a printed logo under the varnish - Choix Opinel but that went when I rubbed it down, stained it dark oak and varnished it in 1981. Am I right about the Choix prefix or has my brain been addled over the years?

1 Attachment

My father in law has a couple in that kind of state, now they get used for things like opening paint tins rather than slicing saucisson.

This is mainly used to unroot dandelions and ground elder, I think.

I have chosen not to offer to refurbish it for her.

There's a YouTube video like this waiting to happen though

https://youtu.be/U2jNeObHnZY

Have an ex friend that does that, electrolysis rust removal is his thing to clean them up.

Been using my 1000/3000 whetstone and noticed that I'm managing to get knives consistently sharper than the sharpener I was using before. However they're not getting really, really sharp. I'm a total novice using it so I'm not sure if the limit on sharpness is the fineness of the stone or my ability to use the thing. Is there any need for a stone finer than 3000 or should I be able to get things properly sharp with that?

I find that it always pays to finish blades on a strop.

How are you testing the sharpness? Cutting paper?

Stayed in the town with the Opinel museum on a touring trip a few years back. Was an interesting visit! Cycling around there's not bad either

1 Attachment

Should be able to get scary sharp with that. Tried permanent marker on the cutting surface to make sure your removing material where you think you are?

You can use a leather belt or denim as a strop, as has been mentioned before.

I strop my de shaving blades on a piece of old denim, makes the shave easier and less cuts.

Yep, testing by cutting paper.
Ah ok, sounds like I just need to practice then. Will try a marker, never thought of that.

I use this strop with this stropping compound for all my edge tools at work as well as for all my knives I've yet to find better.

You can get a knife so sharp it hardly cuts paper. To cut it it needs micro serrations, the finer the stone the smaller the serrations.
On some of my woodcarving knives I use a translucent arkansas stone.
The sharpened blade will hardly cut paper and definitely won’t cut rope but if you cut yourself with it you won’t feel it. It leaves a shiny finish on the wood it cuts though.
The best edge for paper if that’s your thing is around 1000 grit, but use the stone very gently as you sharpen.

I don’t suppose you know how that compares to Solvol Autosolv do you?

Have used the stropping compound you mention as a polish on metal parts.

Sorry can't say I've used it. The stuff I've linked to is mainly intended for sharpening plane irons and chisels but works great on knives. Goes on the strop easily and soaks in well leaving good residue behind so the bottle I've linked to there lasts me about 3 years.

Solvol isn't as fine for polishing plastics and fine metals. But I find tin foil or copper scourer works as well on cleaning chrome.

I got drunk the other night and ordered a Blenheim Forge santoku.

Sorry not sorry.

Lovely!
I want one of these:

https://blenheimforge.co.uk/editions/chinesecleaver

That thing is beyond epic.