Probably the last evolution of the Opinel No. 8 Carbone. Lessons learned:
1) Teenage critics are harsh.
Stepson: What are you carving?
Me: A betta.
Stepson: THAT looks NOTHING like Spike*. THAT is a SARDINE.
*Spike being his beloved, student desk perched, betta the last couple of years.
2) When all you have is a Swiss Army Knife, everything looks like a Swiss Army Knife project!
Or not. I used the SAK to carve with since I don’t really have any small woodworking tools. If I work on any more of these I really should get a set of small wood carving tools: tiny blades, tiny files, tiny chisels. The SAK worked but was not ideal and did not allow any really fine detail work. Lack of tools and skills made the results a bit crude but I kind of like it anyways though...
Secondary note: the small blade on the SAK is currently VERY sharp. A small slip working around the handle curve left a nice gash in my pinkie. If it scars, I’m going to allude to a mysterious connection with the Gurkhas and a blade needing to draw blood before being sheathed…
3) The forced patina is low durability. Cutting weed roots in a couple tight spaces in the yard rapidly degraded the patina. It also dulled the knife quicker than the Opinel No. 8 Garden, with a stainless blade, I usually use for these tasks. The 12C27 stainless takes as sharp an edge and definitely retains the edge better cutting through dirt. May not bother with the carbon blades again. Though then again, there’s an article I read recently on rust bluing carbon steel, using hydrogen peroxide and salt, that might be interesting to try…