For opinel i much prefer the carbon ones over the inox.
Unless you go to exotic powdered steels. Carbon is almost always superior in terms of sharpness/edge retention except for the corrosion resistance of course. So if you need corrosion resistance get inox. If you need performance but corrosion is of no concern get carbon.
it’s not on the picture. But i have 2 opinel #5 ground the same way. (the inox one 2e from the top. And a carbon #5 not on the picture)
The carbon one got sharper. And the inox one got dull fast and tended to warp. The inox steel is just much weaker.
Tested side by side you see/notice a real clear difference.
An inox opinel however will still do fine for grafting if sharpened at an less extreme edge and sharpened a little more often. So if you already have an inox there might not be a need for a replacement.
Certain cheap sharpening stones are known for not preforming well on higher hardness steels.
I’m a big fan of (japanese) water stones. A quality 1000 grit will get you really far. And should yield you superior sharpness to when the knife was new.
The sharpening systems work. But i don’t see the point of them. They cost a lot more. And usually have lower amount and or quality of abrasive material.
They “fix” an almost nonexistent problem. Keeping the angle a 100% the same every stroke. It’s just not needed. Slightly varying the angle gives you a convex edge. And that’s actually quite nice.
If your convinced you need to keep a perfectly consistant angle. You can also do that freehand on a stone with a piece of 3m dubble sided tape (gray stretchy tape with red liner) and a small piece of wood.
top knife was ground freehand with the piece of wood and sticky tape.
The secondary edge is perfectly flat and at a very steep angle.
If sharpened a carbon #5 the same way. But i actually prefer the freehand carbon #5 on the picture. (bottom)
ps: you tape the thin piece of softwood to the top of the knife. And than you get a consistent angle when the bevel of the knife and the piece of wood both touch the stone.
you can also tape a "handle (empty lighter) to the other side of the knife for easier moving up and down on the stone.
German Tina 685 is really great knife, I also like this Italian Due Buoi - its wide blade makes it comfortable to cut; also in the photo (top) one that I made years ago, but its steel is quite soft.
I make my living as timber framer and joiner, so I spend a lot of time sharpening tools. If your tool isn’t super sharp, you’re spending extra time for an inferior outcome. All the more so with slicing living wood!
I like (and recommend) diamond stones. They’re pretty reasonably priced, stay flat and true, and work much faster than oil or waterstones. Coarse cuts fast but leaves a pretty nice edge all on its own, and you go directly from coarse to fine w/o issue. The small folding ones are fine for touching up an edge, but the bigger ones are more versatile and give better results. I use DMT brand stones, and they cost around $30 each last I knew. I recommend a coarse (blue) and a fine (red) for a basic setup. To get the final razor edge, I use a strop, but a water stone or ultra fine diamond stone is a good option
I do any necessary grinding on a disc sander. My grafting knife is a nice folding Case pocketknife that I reground to a single bevel. The steel takes a nice edge. I like its stubbyish straight blade. It’s beefy enough for most tasks, but does fine work well too.
I often use my Case pocket knife with a spay blade. I left it as a double grind, however, and use an inexpensive grafting knife for cutting scions for clefts.
A simple splice graft just requires a couple of cuts with your nippers, no knife required at all. But a good knife is a pleasure to use and a joy to look at.
@TNHunter I love it! You are absolutely right on… Afterall, we’re ultimately slicing and dicing wood here.
I have shaved with my fairly inexpensive Fedco/Victorinox. Blade is as sharp as my Feather razors, no joke! I’ve been wearing my cut-resistant gloves while grafting. Even when carefully trying to clean the blade after grafting, I realized a few hours later that I had some long, superficial surgical-like incisions, which I probably got from the cleaning process. Those blades go through skin like a hot knife goes through butter. It’s all about keeping those blades sharp and honed!
I have this rather inexpensive lansky sharpener… 2 med grit diamond rods, 2 fine ceramic rods… and after that i put them on leather (my 15 year old amish leather belt).
i have a corona pruner sharpener i keep in my pruning kit. if im out grafting and my blade isnt cutting as good as id like i draw that sharpener lightly a few times at the correct angle and it corrects the edge. i use my jap stones to keep my knives true but that sharpener works great just to tune it quickly. they are cheap enough i have a few around. its great for a touch up on a big butcher job as well. even my brother uses it since i 1st gave him one. saves him time when he has multiple moose to cut in a short amount of time with his guides business.
I agree with you 100% about convex edge sharpening. Too much effort is spent on getting the perfect angle. I think too many people new to sharpening focus on this at the expense of learning how to manage the burr and other things. I intentionally maintain a convex edge and slightly rock up and down while sharpening.
Buy online can be a strange experience. Corona AC 8300 sharpener on Amazon ranged from $8.63 to $22 depending on the selection, which are all identical based on the ads. On Walmart priced ranged from $5.63 with free shipping to $22.33.
I ordered the one for $5.63. Let see if I actually get it.
Update. I went to work on my Tina today and it is now scary sharp. I can shave my arm with it and it cuts paper like butter. I just needed to spend more time on it. The Tina clearly has much harder steel than the opinels and the old bear.
