How To Serrated Blade Sharpening Video

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bgentry

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Aug 3, 2009
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Years ago, Jason B described how he sharpened serrated blades from the flat side and deburred the scalloped side. I've been using this basic technique for several years now and have adapted it to the belt sander.

I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with the results, especially considering the amount of time it takes. This video is more than 10 minutes long, but I think the actual sharpening time is a good bit less than 10. Trying to do individual serrations I think you could easily spent 2 to 4 times as long.


Is this the perfect method? No, not at all. But I think it works pretty well for what it is. I'm happy with it.

Brian.
 
Excellent video.
Some stainless kitchen knives can be extremely difficult to deburr.
 
For deburring have you tried a sisal wheel as HeavyHanded recommended? I haven't, but it's on my try eventually list.
 
Mr.Wizard said:
For deburring have you tried a sisal wheel as HeavyHanded recommended? I haven't, but it's on my try eventually list.
Click to expand...

I have not. I don't yet own a buffer or grinder. I keep thinking about it, but don't have a specific use. Though I've been wanting to polish the plastic handles on worn kitchen knives and was thinking that a cotton wheel with compound would probably do a good job.

For regular (non-serrated) blades I have been using a Very Fine ScotchBrite belt and find that it removes the burr pretty well. I also use rough side leather in conjunction with the VFSB. This helps preserve all of the tooth of a blade sharpened on a coarse belt like the Trizact A100 that I use for a lot of sharpening jobs.

Brian.
 
This is one of the first ones I used on my set-up after settling on the sisal wheel for deburring - overall a really effective method - I will probably never go back to individually cutting the grind side unless there is a very compelling reason.


 
I never liked sharpening serrated blades, this would be a good way to go about sharpening that type of blade, cool video, you have a knack for making vids, looking forward to seeing your future vids.
 
HeavyHanded said:
This is one of the first ones I used on my set-up after settling on the sisal wheel for deburring - overall a really effective method - I will probably never go back to individually cutting the grind side unless there is a very compelling reason.


Click to expand...

That's a seriously sharp serrated blade.

Glad to hear that you seem to (mostly) agree that grinding from the flat side is the way to go.

Brian.
 
bgentry said:
Years ago, Jason B described how he sharpened serrated blades from the flat side and deburred the scalloped side. I've been using this basic technique for several years now and have adapted it to the belt sander.

I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with the results, especially considering the amount of time it takes. This video is more than 10 minutes long, but I think the actual sharpening time is a good bit less than 10. Trying to do individual serrations I think you could easily spent 2 to 4 times as long.


Is this the perfect method? No, not at all. But I think it works pretty well for what it is. I'm happy with it.

Brian.
Click to expand...
If this someone call sharpening..........................:thumbsdown:
 
bgentry said:
That's a seriously sharp serrated blade.

Glad to hear that you seem to (mostly) agree that grinding from the flat side is the way to go.

Brian.
Click to expand...


Yeah, it would have to be a special circumstance to not do it this way from now on. With a real light touch it doesn't even remove that much metal. Would have to be understood beforehand on somebody's heirloom or coated blades that there's going to be a work zone along the edge, but is that or lay out long dollars or take it to someone else.
 
Natlek said:
If this someone call sharpening..........................:thumbsdown:
Click to expand...

This general method is recommended by a number of commercial sharpeners including Ben Dale of Edge Pro, and KnifeGrinders.com.au.

I did not like the idea at first but after consideration realized this method preserves the original serration profile whereas grinding on the front side always changes it at least a bit.
 
I've tried this method by hand a few times and it never worked as well as using a tapered rod on the grind side.
Using it with a wet wheel or belt yields a much better outcome.
 
Mr.Wizard said:
HeavyHanded HeavyHanded Do you have a hypothesis for why that is so?
Click to expand...

Not really. It might be due to using a guide on my belt grinder, I can lay the blade way over and just clear the low spot on the scallops. And then I also think the sisal wheel does a better job deburring the grind side than I can do by hand.
I'll guess if I used a guide to hit the backside and power deburred it might have same result.
 
Cool video. Thanks.

Doesn't this method reduce the depth of the serrations and dull the points? It seems that you're basically converting the serrated edge to a V edge or hybrid V edge.

I get that sharpening the edge serration by serration is time consuming, but it does preserve the geometry and performance that the designer intended.
 
T Twindog If you grind the back almost flat the profile is essentially unchanged, though you use up some of the serration grind like "lead" in a pencil. Done right this does not dull the points; that's one of its advantages.
 
Twindog said:
Cool video. Thanks.

Doesn't this method reduce the depth of the serrations and dull the points? It seems that you're basically converting the serrated edge to a V edge or hybrid V edge.
Click to expand...
Over time it will erode the scallops for sure. It is an important part of this approach to minimize the amount of steel removed. You could hit the same knife half a dozen times maybe before really having an effect.
A bonus is the backside of the tips get sharpened whereas doing them with tapered rod is almost impossible to get all the way up the peak on both sides without deforming it.

The real benefit is that it makes them very sharp in a reasonable amount of time. I'm not going to toss my manual jig, but will only be using it for special occasions.
 
Mr.Wizard said:
This general method is recommended by a number of commercial sharpeners including Ben Dale of Edge Pro, and KnifeGrinders.com.au.

I did not like the idea at first but after consideration realized this method preserves the original serration profile whereas grinding on the front side always changes it at least a bit.
Click to expand...
I don t care who recommended it , all they want is easy money and they find this way to get them ..........and after several sharpening totally destroyed blade edge !
IF someone do this on my knife , i would ask them to give me a new one...they can keep that one for them !!
 
Natlek said:
I don t care who recommended it , all they want is easy money and they find this way to get them ..........and after several sharpening totally destroyed blade edge !
IF someone do this on my knife , i would ask them to give me a new one...they can keep that one for them !!
Click to expand...

If the knife is worth an extra $25-$30 dollars just to do the serrations, I'm sure you'll find folks willing to take your money and only work on the grind side.

If you want it done for $5 there's no way its going to happen without a shortcut. No well used edged tool lasts forever, use and sharpening kill them all.
 
N Natlek Like anything else this method can be applied incorrectly but that doesn't mean that it is inherently bad.

I will take as my example one of the most popular serrated pocket knives, the Spyderco Endura.

hVtKBbd.jpg


On a sample in the middle of the blade the serration grind is 3mm tall, and the thickness behind a scallop is 1.44mm. It would take dozens if not hundreds of routine sharpenings to move the edge 3mm up the blade, like this:

idB8s4j.jpg


At the same time you would be thinning the blade from the back, ultimately moving the saber-grind-line up toward the spine, preserving reasonable cutting geometry at the cost of an asymmetry. I would consider the knife worn out at this point, but it would still be possible to regrind the serrations if desired to further extend blade life:

m3RDjWQ.jpg
 
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