Thread: Best way to sharpen Mercator Stainless?

Originally Posted by thatguy

Sorry if I’ve missed it in here but @Tui4Me or @flock or anyone else using a Lansky, what degree do you use for a Mercator? 17 or 20?

Sharpen to whatever angle you like man, a lower angle will cut longer but deform quicker against hard surfaces like bone. The lansky systems the angle is only approximate anyway as its deferent depending on size of the blade etc.

Trick to work out any edge angle:

Colour the cutting bevel in sharpie (just the sharpenened bit not the whole blade. Run a pass on your sharpened at the angle you think it is. If it takes off all the sharpie in one or 2 passes you are on the right angle.

If the sharpie is still on the edge and it has taken it of the back end of the bevel raise you sharpening angle. If it has taken it off the edge and is still on the back of the bevel lower your sharpening angle.

If all this is to hard just set your angle at 20 and don't worry about it. As long as you raise a burr the thing will be sharper by the end

Originally Posted by Nick-D

Sharpen to whatever angle you like man, a lower angle will cut longer but deform quicker against hard surfaces like bone. The lansky systems the angle is only approximate anyway as its deferent depending on size of the blade etc.

Trick to work out any edge angle:

Colour the cutting bevel in sharpie (just the sharpenened bit not the whole blade. Run a pass on your sharpened at the angle you think it is. If it takes off all the sharpie in one or 2 passes you are on the right angle.

If the sharpie is still on the edge and it has taken it of the back end of the bevel raise you sharpening angle. If it has taken it off the edge and is still on the back of the bevel lower your sharpening angle.

If all this is to hard just set your angle at 20 and don't worry about it. As long as you raise a burr the thing will be sharper by the end

Thank you @Nick-D I had it on 20 this morning, looked okay.

I got one of those Sheffield knock offs as a backup and to see how they are. It also has a stainless blade. With the lansky on 20 degrees, starting with extra course I worked it up to a raiser sharp edge. Honestly I’m pretty impressed

Further interesting results: my Mercator with a carbon blade came out less sharp than the cheap knock off sheffield with a stainless blade. Followed the same method. Interesting also that the carbon blade really needs to be finished off on a strop, more so than the stainless. Sorry if this is common sense to a lot of you.

I had blunt knives for years until the attached photo of sika show purchase a couple of years ago, now every knife in the house that needs to be sharp is sharp. 20 deg set, coarse and fine stones. Problem solved, one of my more useful purchases.

Sako 75’s come with the ideal barrel finish to get Mercators spot on

Originally Posted by thatguy

Further interesting results: my Mercator with a carbon blade came out less sharp than the cheap knock off sheffield with a stainless blade. Followed the same method. Interesting also that the carbon blade really needs to be finished off on a strop, more so than the stainless. Sorry if this is common sense to a lot of you.

The knockoff stainless blade will be softer, so you will need to do more work on the Mercator to get the same result.

Being XC75(1075) the carbon blade will have a much higher ultimate sharpness potential than the cheap stainless will due to the large chromium carbides in the stainless. You will have to be a pretty good sharpener to get to a point you notice that.

Did you form a burr on the Mercator?

Tried a few Okapi but never owned one, - have always preferred the folders.

Originally Posted by Nick-D

The knockoff stainless blade will be softer, so you will need to do more work on the Mercator to get the same result.

Being XC75(1075) the carbon blade will have a much higher ultimate sharpness potential than the cheap stainless will due to the large chromium carbides in the stainless. You will have to be a pretty good sharpener to get to a point you notice that.

Did you form a burr on the Mercator?

@Nick-D okay that explains it. In my nativity, I thought it was the other way around (the carbon steel would work up an edge faster as it’s softer or something)
This makes sense because I probably spent a bit more time on the stainless blade, mainly because there were still two angles visible on the edge. I’ll go back and spend more time on the Carbon blade. Thanks for the advise

Originally Posted by tamamutu

I had blunt knives for years until the attached photo of sika show purchase a couple of years ago, now every knife in the house that needs to be sharp is sharp. 20 deg set, coarse and fine stones. Problem solved, one of my more useful purchases.

Attachment 186598

Originally Posted by 7mmsaum

Sako 75’s come with the ideal barrel finish to get Mercators spot on



Attachment 186602

Maybe that should be a development of ceramic firearms coatings.
Make a rifle into a knife sharpener

Jeez, this thread goes on. Have used Mercators for 45 years roughly, only 1x stainless steel I think. the only thing wrong with them is they wear holes in your pocket and you lose the feckers. You sharpen them with what's handy. A flat stone,a fence wire or yes a s.s. barelled Sako 75,usefull for something I s'pose. Seriously, you sharpen them then hock and gut or leg 17+ goats or dress and break down a deer or two, then you sharpen it again. It's not feckin rocket science, some of you way over-think a non-existant problem. Get out there and use the knife and get a bit of experience on how to sharpen it in the field. Who carries a Lanskey sharpener in the field with them ffs. Sorry, just come back from an overnight hunt and had a few beers, had to get this of my chest.

Originally Posted by woods223

Jeez, this thread goes on. Have used Mercators for 45 years roughly, only 1x stainless steel I think. the only thing wrong with them is they wear holes in your pocket and you lose the feckers. You sharpen them with what's handy. A flat stone,a fence wire or yes a s.s. barelled Sako 75,usefull for something I s'pose. Seriously, you sharpen them then hock and gut or leg 17+ goats or dress and break down a deer or two, then you sharpen it again. It's not feckin rocket science, some of you way over-think a non-existant problem. Get out there and use the knife and get a bit of experience on how to sharpen it in the field. Who carries a Lanskey sharpener in the field with them ffs. Sorry, just come back from an overnight hunt and had a few beers, had to get this of my chest.

That overreaction must be the beers? No one’s suggesting to carry a lansky in the field, but everyone I know sharpen their knives before they head out.. though it’s the sensible thing to do rather than trying to get an edge with fence wire or whatever.. enjoy your beers

Woods is on the money - they must be the easiest knife to sharpen in existence.

I don’t even bother carrying a steel in the field anymore. A couple of licks down the side of a bead blasted rifle barrel and shes all gold.

Originally Posted by thatguy

@Nick-D okay that explains it. In my nativity, I thought it was the other way around (the carbon steel would work up an edge faster as it’s softer or something)
This makes sense because I probably spent a bit more time on the stainless blade, mainly because there were still two angles visible on the edge. I’ll go back and spend more time on the Carbon blade. Thanks for the advise

It usually is the case in equivelent stainless vs carbon as chromium carbides are larger and hard than iron carbides, but given the stainless is a knockoff its a good bet its got a shit heat treat and bugger all carbides in solution.
The thickness of the primary bevel has a big part to play in this as well. I can raise a burr on one of my very hard (62 RC) stainless kitchen knives in about 15 strokes on each side from dead blunt because they are super thin behid the edge.

Just focus on sharpening with your course stone until you can feel a burr. If you do this you will always end up with a sharp knife.