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jmills115

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TheArchitect

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Are the Swix Evo & the Mantac electric sharpeners fairly comparable in performance ? Does anyone have experience with both sharpeners? Any preferences for one over the other?
 

jmills115

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I had been contemplating an electric sharpener and stopped at my LSS to check what they had in stock.
Instead of the sharpener I left with a handful of new scrapers thinking I would continue with the panzer file for sharpening.
Using a new scraper I realized I’ve not used a sharp scraper for a long time and headed back the the LSS.
View attachment 94542

My Swix unit wouldn’t power up yesterday. I tried a different power supply and that didn’t help.
I would guess I’ve used it 4 times in the past year only getting it out when I had 30-40 used scrapers in a bucket needing to be sharpened.
 
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François Pugh

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My Swix unit wouldn’t power up yesterday. I tried a different power supply and that didn’t help.
I would guess I’ve used it 4 times in the past year only getting it out when I had 30-40 used scrapers in a bucket needing to be sharpened.
OK. This is scary. I was about to buy one of those off the web.

I went to my local ski shop and priced out a decent manual scraper sharpener, and the price (same as internet pricing) was so high I decided that for double the price I could get the electric one, but as they didn't have one in stock, I left with a new scraper and figured I could wait a bit. Now I'm rethinking again.

Maybe if I only use it on my own few scrapers it will last a bit longer?
 

jmills115

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My LSS said they will send it in for me.
Using a Swix manual sharpener with the Panzar file for a couple years I will not be going back to that method and will pay for another electric if I have too.
I have only used it on my scrapers and followed the @KingGrump method of putting the used ones aside until there are enough in the bucket. I would guess I have run 80-90 through the electric.

Edit: I would say if it failed it was something I did wrong.
D223CC07-49A2-46C5-A67E-43F49A26E528.jpeg
 

Doug Briggs

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Carrot makes a great sharpener. It does what it says it does: " optimizes the scraper for low consumption, high precision and consistent sharpening." It isn't cheap but it works well.


At home I'm still using the simple abrasive method like @Dakine describes above. Mine is simpler than his. Drywall sanding sheets are a mesh so don't clog. My bench top is flat enough for me. I keep the edges sharp by sanding them for each new pair of skis. Easy, cheap, effective.

IMG_20210425_171508839.jpg
 

dan ross

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I One of the most frequent cause of accidents is the relative size of the work vs the machine utilized. This often translates to the work piece being too small for the machine utilized. Small work pieces puts the hands and fingers too close to the cutters. For 10"/12" table saws and 6" jointers, the minimum size for the work piece is 12" in length. Anything smaller have to be secured in a jig. No exceptions.

A wax scraper for skis is usually 6" wide. The throat on a 6" jointer often exceed 2". Not a good match.
Truer words were never spoken and things go wrong in micro seconds . The cutters and blades don’t care what they’re cutting . I speak from experience. There are numerous plastic jigs and pushers that can keep your fingers away from the cutters all of them less expensive than a trip to the E.R.
 

Snuckerpooks

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Carrot makes a great sharpener. It does what it says it does: " optimizes the scraper for low consumption, high precision and consistent sharpening." It isn't cheap but it works well.


At home I'm still using the simple abrasive method like @Dakine describes above. Mine is simpler than his. Drywall sanding sheets are a mesh so don't clog. My bench top is flat enough for me. I keep the edges sharp by sanding them for each new pair of skis. Easy, cheap, effective.

I do the same thing. Drywall mesh on my tuning bench and a 90° bracket, all from the local hardware store for under $4. Swipe like a credit card. Flat and sharp. Can't beat it and can be made anywhere in a pinch.

I tried other handheld sharpeners or bench mounted stuff but found that I wasn't able to make a flat scraping surface. But it always resulted in a curved edge on the sharpener.

Side note:
Here in Japan, homemade solutions aren't very popular (DIY home repair is almost non-existent). EVERYONE buys a gadget for sharpening their scrapers. Only the race coaches who have been overseas for extended periods embrace the homemade style. I always get laughed up as the foreign guy with homemade stuff until the former WC guys come in with homemade wooden boxes for waxes and tools.
 

jmills115

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My LSS said they will send it in for me.
Using a Swix manual sharpener with the Panzar file for a couple years I will not be going back to that method and will pay for another electric if I have too.
I have only used it on my scrapers and followed the @KingGrump method of putting the used ones aside until there are enough in the bucket. I would guess I have run 80-90 through the electric.

Edit: I would say if it failed it was something I did wrong.
View attachment 132220

Prior to talking to my LSS I had sent a message to Swix customer service with a couple questions about the power supply.
The response back was a request for my shipping address to send a replacement and asked me to ship mine back to them.
I own a couple Swix tools currently and will be adding more tools in red based on this experience.
 

anders_nor

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I have not had mine for that long, but it has eaten through a few complete 5mm scrapers allready, 2 friends also borrow it on the regular to sharpen their arsenal of scrapers + use it when scrapeing.

Here (land of swix) they have to provide a full 5 year warranty on it.
 

Doug Briggs

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I have not had mine for that long, but it has eaten through a few complete 5mm scrapers allready, 2 friends also borrow it on the regular to sharpen their arsenal of scrapers + use it when scrapeing.

Here (land of swix) they have to provide a full 5 year warranty on it.

I have found that the Carrot sharpener is quite frugal. The previous sharpener we used, the Mantac, was very aggressive and wasteful. It also was easy to have the sharpener 'buck' and make the edge less than straight.
 

jmills115

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I purchased 25 of these and cut them in half. With 50 scrapers less than $1 each, I would be ok if the Swix took a little extra but haven’t noticed them getting thin.
I still have a stack that’s not been used and will compare with those that have.

1C61FCC5-EB40-4369-BFE3-061E13C93C0D.jpeg
 

Atomicman

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I have found that the Carrot sharpener is quite frugal. The previous sharpener we used, the Mantac, was very aggressive and wasteful. It also was easy to have the sharpener 'buck' and make the edge less than straight.
I have not had that happen. You have to push it tight against the back guide.
 

Tom K.

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I purchased 25 of these and cut them in half. With 50 scrapers less than $1 each, I would be ok if the Swix took a little extra but haven’t noticed them getting thin.
I still have a stack that’s not been used and will compare with those that have.

Would you mind sharing your source?

And cutting method? I've got a few ideas, I'll take all the intel I can get before making 25 cuts! :ogbiggrin:
 

jmills115

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I used a bandsaw on the first batch.
I bought them on eBay and grabbed 25 more from the same seller after I posted last week. I’ll send you a PM with the info
 

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