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Sharpening serrated blades.

redwood25

July 27, 2015 11:43

Just curious how this is done. I'm not a knife sharpening guy myself, tried for a second, decided I didn't care enough to do it.

How are serrated or partially serrated knives sharpened? It seems like it would be much more labor intensive. Maybe Benchmade or other knife companies have machinery that
Makes it easier?

Comments

8 comments

kirbysdl

July 27, 2015 14:23
Edge Pro and Spyderco claim their products can do it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCqby2dO3_Q

http://www.knivesplus.com/medi...ydercosharpmaker.pdf

As for Benchmade, I think there was a factory tour video a couple years back that showed equipment where they sharpen their serrations.

Didn't care enough to do it? Me too. Much more labor intensive? Sure seems like it. These are among the reasons why I prefer plain edges.
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fastjan

July 27, 2015 14:39
You can buy a tapered round diamond or ceramic sharpening rod that works great. I bought the diamond version at Wally World for about $7 or $8 in their camping or knife depts., but similar items can be gotten from REI or online.

It makes the partially serrated part of the blade easy to sharpen. Just slide the rod into each serration and sharpen it for 4 or 5 strokes making sure the rod angle is matching the angle of the serration.
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nosuchagency

July 27, 2015 15:23
lansky also has 2 different hones for serrations. I purchased the fine one, but will need to pick up the medium one at some point as the fine one is an exercise in patience.

iirc, Archer mentioned another method awhile back using leather boot laces and some jeweler's rouge or something similar, which sounds like it would net positive results in theory. kind of like an aggressive stroping effect.
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redwood25

July 27, 2015 15:43
Just to clarify, when I stated that I "didn't care enough", I didn't mean I didn't care if my knife was sharp or well cared for. I simply meant that I didn't care enough (at the time-I'm wishy washy enough to know I may change my mind one day) to take the time to learn how to do it well myself. I learned some basics, and could do it myself if need be. But why? I can send it to BKC, they'll do it for free. If desperate, I can go to a local knife shop and pay them.

I look at it like car repair. Sure, I can change my own oil. I've done my own brake jobs, replaced a clutch, replaced seat and other interior work like stereos, etc... But I don't want to anymore. I'd much rather drop off my car, say "change the oil, please" and go have lunch.

Just curious about the serrations, is all.
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fastjan

July 27, 2015 15:47
quote:

Originally posted by nosuchagency:
lansky also has 2 different hones for serrations. I purchased the fine one, but will need to pick up the medium one at some point as the fine one is an exercise in patience.

iirc, Archer mentioned another method awhile back using leather boot laces and some jeweler's rouge or something similar, which sounds like it would net positive results in theory. kind of like an aggressive stroping effect.

I would say mine is more of a medium grit because it gets right after it.

I have also ignored the serrations and just sharpened right over them with the EdgePro. That works too, after a fashion, but they might look a little unusual. That's why I usually just go with the tapered diamond rod.
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po

July 27, 2015 18:12
The corners of the Spyderco Tri-angle Sharpmaker rods work pretty well. I haven't had much experience, since I generally avoid serrated blades, but it has worked fine the few times I have tried it.

You can buy the rods separately from the sharpening kit. I use the rods a lot, freehand, but never use the base myself.
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tom700

July 28, 2015 02:31
I use an edge pro on my serrated blade. I only do a few passes on the flat side then I follow it with a rod ceramic on the actual teeth very lightly.
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lowspeed

July 30, 2015 20:25
Work Sharp Guided Sharpening system will work for serrated blades. Works great. Also, works on rescue hooks.
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