Thread: Best way to sharpen Mercator Stainless?

Just wondering what the best way to sharpen my Mercator Stainless is? Preferably an easy/cheap option as I am no knife guru. Just want a blade sharp enough to get the job done in the hills.

Best way I have found (but not the only way) is to replace it with a carbon steel blade!

I have an Opinel #8, only downside is it can be a bastard to open if not used for a while. I cut some of the handle away to allow more grip on the blade when opening. Also a carrrying it daily and using it often helps keep it opening easily.

I have a couple stainless kitchen knives and dislike em, not to say that they are rubbish or un sharpenable though.
I am bias towards carbon steel.


It also sounds way cooler.

Originally Posted by 40mm

Best way I have found (but not the only way) is to replace it with a carbon steel blade!

I have an Opinel #8, only downside is it can be a bastard to open if not used for a while. I cut some of the handle away to allow more grip on the blade when opening. Also a carrrying it daily and using it often helps keep it opening easily.

I have a couple stainless kitchen knives and dislike em, not to say that they are rubbish or un sharpenable though.
I am bias towards carbon steel.


It also sounds way cooler.

Opinel carbon steel is awesome in terms of being easy to sharpen and edge retention, but it'll rust before your eyes if you get it wet. Agree about stainless blades. I've found them hard to sharpen.

Back to the OP, everyone has their preferred method of sharpening. It gets like a religious argument at times. There's quite a few threads on the subject. Having tried most methods, I like the Warthog sharpeners. Good results, easy to use and reasonable price.

Originally Posted by 40mm

Best way I have found (but not the only way) is to replace it with a carbon steel blade!

I have an Opinel #8, only downside is it can be a bastard to open if not used for a while. I cut some of the handle away to allow more grip on the blade when opening. Also a carrrying it daily and using it often helps keep it opening easily.

I have a couple stainless kitchen knives and dislike em, not to say that they are rubbish or un sharpenable though.
I am bias towards carbon steel.


It also sounds way cooler.

@40mm to solve your issue with the Opinel being difficult to open, remove the blade from the handle, and using some sand paper or a fine tooth hand saw, relieve (open up) the cut in the handle where the blade hinge is. You only need to remove a very small amount. Reassemble, and the knife will be a dream to use from there on in.
They become difficult to open because the factory uses kiln dried timber for the handle. Once they get into our humid environment and get washed a couple of times, the wood swells making the blade hinge too tight.

Didn't think they made a stainless, never asked and if you don't loose them they last quite a long time. Those opinel carbon steel blades take an edge like a razor

I have a bunnings mercator in ss, $12 if I remember correctly. Never really used it though.

If it's like any other hardened stainless blade, don't use a steel after sharpening on a carbide. You'll rip chunks out of it... Found that out the hard way with a 440hc blade

Originally Posted by Hahn

If it's like any other hardened stainless blade, don't use a steel after sharpening on a carbide. You'll rip chunks out of it... Found that out the hard way with a 440hc blade

90% of times you need to sharpen it it just needs its edge straightened, does not need a stone that removes metal.

Just use a smooth steel nail as a sharpening steel. It does not need to take anything off the blade, all it does is straighten the microscopic bends of the edge / ridge.

Stainless blades have the general advantage that they get work-hardened by the strokes, which helps retain the edge. Not sure if carbon steel work-hardens much, someone please chip in.

Yeah it was fairly dull so put it on the kitchen sharpener then on my hunting steel. Ripped out quite a few chunks. I took it into work and had one of the machinists have a look. He showed me under a microscope what a carbide sharpener does to hardened steel. It had microscopic cracks all the way from the heel to the point. So now use the steel and diamond file every now and then if it needs it.

Originally Posted by Cordite

90% of times you need to sharpen it it just needs its edge straightened, does not need a stone that removes metal.

Just use a smooth steel nail as a sharpening steel. It does not need to take anything off the blade, all it does is straighten the microscopic bends of the edge / ridge.

Stainless blades have the general advantage that they get work-hardened by the strokes, which helps retain the edge. Not sure if carbon steel work-hardens much, someone please chip in.

Manganese is typically the element responsible for work hardening tendencies in carbon steels, the percentage of manganese in steel is sometimes increased in the manufacturing process for such things as cutting teeth or blades on earthmoving equipment, with a knife its not really desirable to have the blade work harden as it will become increasingly difficult to sharpen and increase in brittleness with a tendency for breakage as usage occurs, so the manganese content is moderated to produce the desirable hardness qualities (Rockwell Hardness) obtained by hardening and tempering but limit the tendency for work hardening. @Von Gruff Knives on here could probably write you a thesis on this subject, I'm 40 years out of engineering but this is how I recall it.

All of my carbon kitchen knives get washed pretty soon after using and a spray can of canola oil sits in the pantry just for knives.

My Opinel gets used too often to rust, and I oil it sometimes too.

Originally Posted by 40mm

All of my carbon kitchen knives get washed pretty soon after using and a spray can of canola oil sits in the pantry just for knives.

My Opinel gets used too often to rust, and I oil it sometimes too.

Walnut oil is the only food based oil that does not go rancid.

Best way is to send it to @Shelley with a prepaid return envelope and $10

In the days when I trapped possums for a living in the mid seventies, early eighties a faithful Mercator with it's Solingen steel blade was the only knife in the game, to sharpen them we used a round "Carborundum" axe stone, just the fine side. The edge was ground at a very flat angle to an edge like a razor that held up well, the knives were retired when the blade became to short to be of use. Those knives were $7 or $8 each IIRC, I can't see any stainless steel version replicating those legendary knives, let alone for $12 in 2021.

Originally Posted by 38 South

In the days when I trapped possums for a living in the mid seventies, early eighties a faithful Mercator with it's Solingen steel blade was the only knife in the game, to sharpen them we used a round "Carborundum" axe stone, just the fine side. The edge was ground at a very flat angle to an edge like a razor that held up well, the knives were retired when the blade became to short to be of use. Those knives were $7 or $8 each IIRC, I can't see any stainless steel version replicating those legendary knives, let alone for $12 in 2021.

Yeah, mine is a bunnings one, was $12 maybe 5-10 years ago?