Mercer Culinary 1000/3000 Grit Sharpening Stone

The Mercer 12" model M14512 is a very well made medium grit steel that is 1/2" in diameter by 17 3/8" total length and is a tad more than 12 oz. in weight. The steel will do aggressive honing with moderate pressure and finish honing with very light pressure. That being said it will leave an edge that is sharp but also one that could use a polishing. I have a seperate smooth polishing hone to finish the bevel.. After sharpening knives for work and recreation for 50 plus yrs i have lots of tools for sharpening. Knife sharpening has to do with the right equipment that works for you and the right technique to do the task. Most often my sharpening is all done by free hand and the feel is just as important as the technique. This mercer hone is a great tool if you know how to use it. The steel appears to be of good quality and the handle is adequate being molded synthetic. I would have prefered wood but for the price point of $33 the Mercer is a good value. I use a wood whittler's motion to hone my knives but i place the knife stationary and horizontally (at desired bevel angle) with the point away from me in my left hand and then draw the hone from the handle to the tip of the knife with my right hand which is my dominant hand. both sides are honed this way with the only difference being if the blade edge is facing right i push the hone across the edge and blade edge facing left i drag the hone across the edge. both strokes are from handle to tip and both strokes are with the hone in my right hand. The Mercer hone steel is premium quality, the handle is durable poly and designed so the hone will not roll when set on the bench and also has a stainless ring for hanging up when not in use. The 12" hone total length with the cardboard sheath is 1/4" too long to fit in the kitchen cabinet knife drawer so i will thow away the scabbard and get a piece of clear plastic tubing at the hardware store that i can cut to length and the Mercer will then fit straight in the drawer. Or i could cut enough of the handle end to remove the ring and shorten it a bit. Hind sight is that a 10" hone would have be adequate for my needs and be easier to fit in my kitchen drawer. A quality tool at a good Price!........ Edge in pics is a 12" chef's knife finished with light strokes on the Mercer hone.

Great sharpener! Looks to be a decent quality unit. Just run the knife through a couple of times and its sharp again. Very dull knives easily sharpened by running them through one slot and then the other three or four times each. I usually spend five or ten minutes hand sharpening one of my knives with a three or four part whetstone kit. This is so much easier, faster and its done in just a few seconds.

I have only used the 3000 side so far, and so far, it works fine. It does not seem to wear down fast, so it looks like it will work for a long time to come. I usually buy Kotobuki King brand ones, and have had very good luck with them. I would say that this one is about as well made as the ones I usually buy. The reason that I have only used the 3000 side is because the Kotobuki King one I have is double sided, 250/1000, so this one was to supplement that one. I do wish this was a little longer though, as my Kotobuki King one was about an inch longer, which may seem minor, but it can make a bit of difference when using it. This one is about a quarter of an inch wider though. Also the markings on the side so you know which grit each side is, is nice. The one bad thing that I can say about it, is that it is made in china. I thought with the advertising and stuff, that it would have been made here, in the USA, but alas, it is not. I did look, but could not find any info as to where they were made, until I got it in and read the box. Other then that, this is a good product. In the end, yes it is a good product. Yes it is worth purchasing. But, if you are like me and get tired of everything being made in china and want something not made in china, then look elsewhere, which I will do in the future. ................................................... Update I have had this, and have gotten a lot of use out of both sides now. I have found that this seems to wear down just slightly slower then the "King" brand ones that I have. The numbers, that tell the grit on the side, have not worn down or off either, so you can still read them, which is good if you can not remember which side is which. After all, after you pass the 1000 grit mark, it gets harder and harder to tell the difference between grits. This is definitely a decent quality of a product. as of right now, after getting a lot of use out of it, I can say it is worth buying, and my only complaint, as of right now, is mainly, it being made in china. and I still wish it was a tad bit longer.. just an inch would make it better. But still not too bad to use

I bought this for replacement. It works just as good as the original

I ordered this for a friend who just graduated from Culinary school and now has a job at Disney. She put it on her wish list as it’s supposed to be of high quality. Price was great and shipping was fast. It is made in Germany so I know the it is going it do exactly what she needs it to do for her job.

Holds the knife at the correct angle for sharpening

I always wonder why a honing steel is called a sharping steel in some adds? Because it is not. If you want a sharpening steel get the ceramic steel, because that does sharping. (yes I have a ceramic steel and I gave my daughter one too) Ok, so this is a German steel from Mercer, its harder than the other steel that Mercer sells, so yes this is the good one that will last you many many years. If it doesn't sharpen what is Its job you ask? Its job is to realign any rolled part of the knife edge. The Advantage of a "German steel" steel is that it is harder than your knife's steel. Buy a lesser hardened steel (read "cheaper") and it will not do the job very well and will not last. I bought this as a gift for my 14 year old daughter who I bought the Mercer Genesis Knife set for. Now if you have the extra funds... Get the "Zwilling JA Henckels Oval 12 inch Honing steel. It puts more steel to the blade (oval not round) and will get the hone done faster. Why buy a 12" steel over a 10" steel? Simple, because some day you'll have a 10" chefs knife and will want to hone it too!

This works amazingly well. Sharpens knives super fast and oh so sharp.