I've received a couple of emails from members here about Scandi knives and in particular, what to do with the one that Garry makes. Here was my reply for all your reference:
Question: how do I sharpen a scandi. Do I introduce a secondary bevel by using a stone to keep it sharp?
My answer:
Any sharpening system or any stone will ruin a scandi. Once ruined (a secondary bevel) it will cost you $50 to have the hardened blade reshaped to make it a scandi again. That's not fun. Once its not a scandi, then what was the point of buying the scandi, right? The gigantic amount of metal that must be removed going back 1/2" or more up the knife's edge all has to be ground again to make a secondary bevel go away once its there. Like a day's work and maybe an ounce of metal must be removed. Crazy.
For a scandi, the killer super-awesome thing about them is they are usually tool steel (yours from Von Gruff is very high quality tool steel) and they take a razor edge again with a strop so easily you'll never need to use a stone on the knife. You need/want a strop bat. 4 sides. 4 pieces of leather. It comes with compound. One side is 400 grit compound. The next 800. Next 1200. Next is pure leather for final scalpal sharpening. It is easy because you just strop flush with the whole scandi edge so you put no bevel on the knife edge. It also removes patina from the whole scandi edge. A few minutes is all it takes to keep it up. The strop bat is all I use on any knife once its sharpened, regardless if its a filet, scandi, or traditional bevel knife. An ounce of prevention (strop) is worth a pound of cure (a stone). A barber's strop will ruin a scandi though, anything that flexes while you strop will put a bevel on the knife ruining a scandi edge. Here's a great strop:
https://jreindustries.com/sharpening
A scandi is the easiest knife in the world to work with. It takes a razor edge. It can be touched up with a fixed strop or even a glass car window's edge in a pinch. It has a TON of metal behind the edge so it will take way more shock without edge damage too. You also don't need to know what angle to sharpen a knife with a scandi. The edge profile of the whole scandi is held FLUSH to the strop so you are polishing perhaps 1/2" or 5/8" of material, not just a micro bevel. It's so easy anyone can do it. If you don't read this and you sharpen your scandi any other way, you've made it into just another knife and it will get duller and duller as you change and grow a microbevel (secondary bevel) until it has no cutting surface at all. Play by the easy rules and enjoy the sharpest, most durable, easiest to sharpen knife design ever made.
I hope this helps you out!
