Opinel No.08 Raw / Ebauche Carbon Blade – Cherry Wood Handle (Blank for Carving)

I bought this blank to practice making my own knife. The cherry wood handle is smooth and comfortable, and the carbon steel blade is high quality and easy to sharpen. The process of finishing it was rewarding. Excellent value.

This is a good quality blank – the blade is sharp and the handle is well-formed. However, it comes without any instructions for finishing, so if you're a beginner, look up some videos. That said, it turned out great.

I'm an experienced carver and I bought this to customize a knife. The steel is top-notch and takes a razor edge. The handle is a bit rough, but that's expected – you finish it yourself. It's now my favorite carving knife.

The blank is as described, but the blade came with a somewhat dull edge out of the box. Since it's a blank, I expected to sharpen it anyway, but it needed more work than I anticipated. Good project knife, though.

I sanded the handle, applied some linseed oil, and now it looks like a boutique knife. The carbon steel is easy to maintain, and the size is perfect for my hand. I've made several projects with it. Very satisfied.

This is smaller than I thought. I have large hands, and the handle is too short for a comfortable grip. I'll have to reshape it significantly, which is more work than I wanted. Others with smaller hands might be fine.