How do you sharpen serrated blades?

Never Dull

Never Dull

Joined
Feb 20, 2011
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384
Like the title says, I am looking for the best way to sharpen serrated blades. From Spyderco Endura, Police, Harpy to kitchen bread knives. Is there a rig like an EP attachment that can be set to the proper angle and hold the angle? I have the 1/4" paper wheels that I profiled with a radius but I cannot keep it consistent.
 
it's a pain for me, i use a conical DMT sharpener too, you have to do each scallop one at a time using the portion of the cone that fits tight, i usually do every small ones then the big ones, then one or two passes at a very low angle on the flat side with a fine flat hone, you have to lay the blade almost flat to touch the tips and recess of the serrations at the same time, on my spyderhawk it means flat on the hollow grind. then light passes again with the cone then flat on the other side again until no burr.

it's a real pain, if anyone has a faster method i'll take it gladly.
 
Yes, I understand each serration must be done separately. However, I have been unable to find a guided system to do each scallop accurately. Does such a system exist? There is no such accessory for the Wicked Edge that I know of. I have a conical diamond file and dowel rods that I wrap sandpaper to. I am not that clever but maybe I should try my hand at designing some guide rig for the dowels. This might get ugly!!
 
With a 60-grit Blaze ceramic belt. Takes about 20 seconds to get rid of those nasty suckers and have a good fine edge blade again. :D

Seriously, though, I've seen a mod for the EdgePro that uses a drill extension and various diameter rods wrapped in wet-or-dry as a slide-in replacement for the arm-and-stone. You pick the rod size that matches the serration, clamp it into the extension like a drill bit, and slide the extension into the hole that would normally hold the arm. Then just sharpen the serrations like a chain-saw chain, working each one, then moving to the next.
 
Never Dull said:
Yes, I understand each serration must be done separately. However, I have been unable to find a guided system to do each scallop accurately. Does such a system exist? There is no such accessory for the Wicked Edge that I know of. I have a conical diamond file and dowel rods that I wrap sandpaper to. I am not that clever but maybe I should try my hand at designing some guide rig for the dowels. This might get ugly!!
Click to expand...

Both Lansky and Gatco have dedicated triangular hones for serrations, to be used with their guided systems. DMT also did, at some time, but I'm not sure they still offer it (I'll look to see if I can find it).

Edit: Here's a link to an Aligner kit, with a conical accessory hone for serrations:
http://www2.knifecenter.com/item/DMTADELUXE/DMT-ADELUXE-Aligner-Deluxe-Kit
DMTADELUXEa.jpg
 
OK, that is along the lines of what I am looking for. I want to be able to have a guided system to match the scallops. That might do but I'd like something a little more robust. Thanks.

Obsessed with Edges said:
Both Lansky and Gatco have dedicated triangular hones for serrations, to be used with their guided systems. DMT also did, at some time, but I'm not sure they still offer it (I'll look to see if I can find it).

Edit: Here's a link to an Aligner kit, with a conical accessory hone for serrations:
http://www2.knifecenter.com/item/DMTADELUXE/DMT-ADELUXE-Aligner-Deluxe-Kit
DMTADELUXEa.jpg
Click to expand...
 
Komi, wouldnt a belt wreck the points between scallops? I couldnt find any mod for the EP. Perhaps I will look harder. Shouldnt be too difficult to make I suppose. I am not familiar with the belt you mention, I'll look that up. Your expertise is always appreciated.
Cheers
Komitadjie said:
With a 60-grit Blaze ceramic belt. Takes about 20 seconds to get rid of those nasty suckers and have a good fine edge blade again. :D

Seriously, though, I've seen a mod for the EdgePro that uses a drill extension and various diameter rods wrapped in wet-or-dry as a slide-in replacement for the arm-and-stone. You pick the rod size that matches the serration, clamp it into the extension like a drill bit, and slide the extension into the hole that would normally hold the arm. Then just sharpen the serrations like a chain-saw chain, working each one, then moving to the next.
Click to expand...
 
Never Dull said:
OK, that is along the lines of what I am looking for. I want to be able to have a guided system to match the scallops. That might do but I'd like something a little more robust. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Not sure what you mean by 'more robust'? Most of these hones (from Lansky, Gatco, anyway) are ceramics, used very lightly for best results. Same generally holds true for diamond hones, in DMT's example. At any rate, as relatively lightly and infrequently as they'll likely get used, these will last forever. It's very rare that serrations/scallops would have to be completely re-ground on a blade; anything short of that can be handled easily with these available options.

By 'match the scallops,' if you're referring to an exact fit, that could be expensive and entirely dependent on specific brands & types of serrations. I'd think it would have to be custom-made.

Having said all that, more often than not, I've used a dowel or other similar rod with sandpaper (wet/dry) to touch up serrations. The process is generally so minimal and infrequent, I haven't seen a need for a guided setup to maintain them. Most serrations require minimal upkeep, unless one is really working a knife extremely hard.
 
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Never Dull said:
Komi, wouldnt a belt wreck the points between scallops? I couldnt find any mod for the EP. Perhaps I will look harder. Shouldnt be too difficult to make I suppose. I am not familiar with the belt you mention, I'll look that up. Your expertise is always appreciated.
Cheers
Click to expand...

Don't bother too much with the research, I was tossing that one out there rather tongue-in-cheek. A 60-grit belt used that way would simply remove the serrations entirely and grind on a plain edge. I've actually done that a couple times, when the serrations were too badly damaged to save. It gives an odd-looking blade, since the edge moves ~1/16" toward the spine, but it beats throwing a knife away with plenty of steel left in the blade.
 
I have heard that the Spyderco Sharpmaker can sharpen serrations, but does anyone know if the round ceramic file they offer will sharpen the big scallops? I believe that the triangular ceramic file will work for the small scallops.
 
Got me!! I didnt even notice the grit size. LOL "feel shame, go to penalty box"

Komitadjie said:
Don't bother too much with the research, I was tossing that one out there rather tongue-in-cheek. A 60-grit belt used that way would simply remove the serrations entirely and grind on a plain edge. I've actually done that a couple times, when the serrations were too badly damaged to save. It gives an odd-looking blade, since the edge moves ~1/16" toward the spine, but it beats throwing a knife away with plenty of steel left in the blade.
Click to expand...
 
ConBon said:
I have heard that the Spyderco Sharpmaker can sharpen serrations, but does anyone know if the round ceramic file they offer will sharpen the big scallops? I believe that the triangular ceramic file will work for the small scallops.
Click to expand...

Actually there are videos out there that say to drag the serrated edge down the triangle ends just as if you were starting to sharpen a plain edge.

Another option is to get a Lansky Croc stick for serrated blades and it has three different radius ends for different sizes of serrations.
 
If you have a dremel, you can get the thin felt buffing pads with some compound. Takes a few seconds for my multi-tool's serrated blade. Worked the same for the large and small scallops, so nothing to match up.
 
I have the Spyderco Sharpmaker, and it sharpens my Endura, Tenacious and bread knife just fine. No problems, just make sure you know how to use it properly. There are plenty of posts here about that.
 
This is how I sharpen them... works great. Still don't have everything together to sell yet, lol, but you can put this together with a little research. Give me a call and I'll tell you where to get the stuff and get set up if you're interested. I haven't found a better way to do serrations yet... I can take an edge w/ completely wasted serrations and make them better than new now. This was thanks to RichardJ after I found the quarter inch paper wheels. I did as you tried, reprofiled them and gritted them. It is all in how you grit them... they will work great if you do them right, trust me.

[video=youtube_share;BggYojTm9xw]http://youtu.be/BggYojTm9xw[/video]

Here is an example of what can be done... This is a kitchen knife.

Before:
2011-09-06%252011.58.01.jpg

2011-09-06%252011.57.25.jpg


After:
2011-09-07%252011.30.25.jpg

2011-09-07%252011.24.31.jpg
 
Here is how sharp it will get even a bread knife...
[video=youtube_share;XbXi8TwTP-M]http://youtu.be/XbXi8TwTP-M[/video]

You can do large and small serrations. I would just try to keep your quarter inch paper wheels and get them up and running. After you have them profiled, just use a very light coat of wood glue and then pour the grit over it as you turn it... After it dries you can run a piece of sandpaper up to it to make sure it is true before you hit your serrations on it. Just be sure not to get your serrations too hot by staying in place for too long or using too much pressure.
 
Thanks, I have not been able to master the paper wheels. I stopped and visited with RichardJ last summer. He has mad skills with them. All I get is uneven grinds. That is why I was looking for a guided system. Something that would provide consistency. Guess I'll have to practice more with them.

razor-edge-knives said:
Here is how sharp it will get even a bread knife...
[video=youtube_share;XbXi8TwTP-M]http://youtu.be/XbXi8TwTP-M[/video]

You can do large and small serrations. I would just try to keep your quarter inch paper wheels and get them up and running. After you have them profiled, just use a very light coat of wood glue and then pour the grit over it as you turn it... After it dries you can run a piece of sandpaper up to it to make sure it is true before you hit your serrations on it. Just be sure not to get your serrations too hot by staying in place for too long or using too much pressure.
Click to expand...
 
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