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Excellent!

GKC, far from complicating things you made then quite clear, and cbwx34's sketches made them crystal clear!

Now I think that everybody sees what it's all about, and even before trying I am convinced that one can proprely sharpen a scandinavian grind with a Tormek by usnig the "flat over hollow" method.

Thank you guys 

Hi Greg, thanks for your precious contribution. I will be experimenting with the technique you describe. I agree with cbwx34 about the video. Some details are better seen in a video than in a detailed text description.

Hi,

I've just made a topic about the solution I found :

https://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=3784.0

Hello,

As a professional sharpener, I find the RB-180 (rotating base) essential and even vital. In fact I think that Tormek should bundle it with every T8 they sell...

However, the smoothness of the rotation is not great. The solution I found is to use a silicone based lubricant (silicone oil). This product after it has been applied, dries almost instantly and leaves a very slippery, but dry, surface. So it does not have the inconvenience of a normal oil (WD-40, mineral oil, gun oil, sewing machine oil, Ballistol etc.).

I respray the area every month or so and the rotation is now quite smooth.

Hope this helps.

Thanks again to all those who replied to this post making it quite rich and useful  .

The correct answer to my original question appears to be: it's up to the user whether he wants to sharpen a scandi grind on the Tormek or not.

Here is my personal position for now:

First note that even if I've owned a Tormek for eight months now (so I'm still a beginner), I've been into sharpening for seven years, so I think I can rely a bit on my experience.

For me a scandinavian ground knife should have a flat bevel and no secondary  bevel. It might have a micro-convex bevel obtained by stroping on leather for better edge retention.

In my experience, if you use your knife correctly, this flat grind is NOT too weak. The question here is who needs to adapt to the other, the tool or the user? I think that the user should know the limits of his tool and use it accordingly.

But it seems that not everybody shares my views. So there are people who want to use a scandinavian ground knife for everything and would complain if it does not perform well at some tasks (deboning multiple pieces of meat or cutting cardboard all day long for example). I suspect that a company like Morakniv tries to adapt to this behavior by releasing knives with micro bevels (as seen on the Bushcraft Black). In my opinion this operation removes or at least reduces the most important feature of a scandinavian knife. Therefore many users, including me, remove the secondary bevel on their Mora knives prior to using them. And yes the knife performs well without the micro bevel, because we use it wisely.

One last thing about this annoying micro bevel; I own a high end Finish Roselli carpenter knife and it came with no secondary bevel. It holds a very keen edge for a long time even when I whittle hard wood.

Now about sharpening a scandi grind with the Tormek, I would not do it despite what I saw in the video about the wood carvers who make horses in Sweden. If I'm in a hurry, I would do it, but not if I have the time to work properly. As far as I'm concerned the slight hollow grind that the wheel would do is not acceptable. You need also to consider that the smaller the grind wheel, the deeper the hollow grind would be.

Nothing like a good flat bench stone to sharpen these knives the proper way.

[leather strop]

Thanks cbwx34 and Wolfie for your replies. Things are clearer for me :

- A real scandinavian grind (zero grind) can't be properly sharpened with a Tormek.

Coming from the bushcraft world and doing wood whitling, I don't like to have a micro bevel on my scandinavian knives. A micro bevel reduces wood penetration.

Since Thomas at Morakniv talks about making a "small secondary bevel" using a leather strop, I think he refers to what I call "micro convexing the edge"and that is ok on a scandinavian knife since it does not affect wood penetration. A micro bevel is typically done with a stone by increasing the angle and is clearly visible with the naked eye.


Example of a Mora knife with a micro convex bevel: The Mora Companion.

Example of a Mora knife with a micro bevel: The Mora Bushcraft Black

It is true however that our vocabulary and interpretation of language is creating some confusion here.

Hi.
First, for those who don't know what a "scandi grind" looks like, see attached picture below.

These are knives with no secondary bevels. After many tries I could not find a satisfying technique to sharpen such knives on the Tormek T8.

To properly sharpen this kind of grind, you need to put the entire bevel flat on the stone. This works perfectly well, and sharpening is quite easy on a flat bench stone. But the grind wheel on the Tormek being round, it cannot remove steel off the whole width of the bevel. To get around this problem, I tried to grind the whole bevel by changing the height of the universal support bar, but the result is not acceptable: ugly multiple scratch patterns + the bevels are not perfectly flat as they should be.

So have i missed something. I find it strange not to be able to sharpen scandinavian grinds on a machine made in Sweden. Is there a good way to sharpen Scandi grinds on the Tormek T8?

Thank you.

Thanks guys for your warm welcoming and thanks Ken for your advices. At the right time I'll probably check Steeve's videos.

Marc

Hello,

My name is Marc and I'm new to this forum. Here are a few words to present myself.

I started my sharpening adventure in 2011 when I discovered bushcraft. One of the activities I liked the most in bushcraft was wood whittling with a knife to produce various cooking utensils. For this kind of work, you need very sharp tools, so I had to learn how to sharpen.

I started using diamond stones, then tried sand paper, ceramic, natural stones and finally Japanese water stones.

I must say that I started sharpening as a necessity, but it became quickly a pleasure in itself. The pleasure and satisfaction of being able to bring your tools to the best performance so they can serve you well. After a few month of practice, I started sharpening for my family members and friends.

Now I'm in the process of starting a small sharpening business. So about two months ago I bought a Tormek T8 which will be my main tool.

I've been training quite intensively with the machine and I'm very satisfied with the results.

So this very rich and interesting forum is already very useful to me. Thanks to all the contributors who share their knowledge of the Tormek system.   Of course I'll be happy to contribute myself If I have interesting information to share.

Regards

Marc