Spyderco sharp-maker - any good for Scandi grinds?

[Nonsuch]

I just took delivery of one of these and it seems to do the job for knives with a secondary bevel, but what about Scandi grinds (i'm talking about the main bevel, not an optional micro secondary bevel) ? I tried it with a scandi and the bevel felt rather wobbly against the angled stone. My first impression is that is easier to "lock" the bevel onto the stone with a nice big flat stone, and there is quite a good chance of rounding the bevel with the Sharpmaker. You are also restricted to 40 or 30 degrees, which may not match the angle of your Scandi.

Any thoughts?

 

[Xunil]

I only zero grind fine detail carving knives.

Anything else I have that has a Scandi grind gets a secondary micro bevel which is more robust so, in theory, the Spyderco sharp-maker would be OK. I don't use one though - I find my belt grinder and strop is a little more efficient

A mate of mine has a sharp-maker and I showed him how to re-establish the Scandi bevel by laying the two coarse (triangle section) rods on some rubber matting and using the pair together much as you would a normal sharpening stone. There is a knack to using them but if you practice with them you can sharpen pretty much any knife with them, if you want to.

I know quite a number of folks I know who have handsomely screwed up a Scandi bevel on stones, so the method is more important than the abrasive IMHO

You will also find that a lot of makers in Norway and Sweden regularly regrind Scandi knives for users once the secondary bevel angle becomes so acute that it can no longer be effectively sharpened.

We seem to have gone a bit nuts here in the UK regarding Scandi grinds, using various Japanese water stones up to unnecessarily high grits and all kinds of related paraphernalia for sharpening. It's pretty hard to beat a 400 or 600 grit edge that has been stropped with Solvol Autosol half a dozen or so times each side. For general use this is a great working edge; it takes a fraction of the time to establish and removes less material, meaning your knife will last longer.

The sharp-maker is very capable but you have to learn to get the best from it, which holds true for any sharpening medium.

 

[3bears]

I have a sharpmaker but I find it a real pain to use on a scandi grind (flipped over stones in the grooves), so I always fall back on 'ye olde faithful' DC4... for me it's the easiest way but then again, I'm not very good (hence the sharpmaker lol)