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Sharpening Serrated blades?

3K views 19 replies 7 participants last post by  polishshooter 
#1 ·
OK, OK, I know you've all heard me knocking down serrated blades, that they're only for people that can't sharpen REAL blades, yada, yada, yada....:cool:

But I lost my long term beloved etched Buck 442 carry knife, :mad:and in the process of finding another like it on Ebay ended up buying a couple, and one was a new in the package SERRATED Buck 442...

....which I kinda like best now and is now my carry knife while the regular bladed ones sit in the house or the console in the car...:p:eek::eek::D

So OK, tell me you told me so, they ARE handy (even if SOMETIMES those serrations get in the way when a REAL knife would work better.....;))


But now I need to know the best way to sharpen those serrations. The blade in front of the serrations I've sharpened a few times, it sharpens nicely with a stone just like the old 442, and not like SOME Bucks which can be a bear...

...But how do I touch up the serrations?
 
#4 ·
I have one of those sharpeners too zane, picked it up at Smokey Mtn Knife Works and it don't work too bad. PS you shouldn't have to worry too much about sharpening the serrations though, they will hold up fairly well until they are totally gone or used up so to speak. Which means the suggestion by zane (You Da Man!) should handle your concerns.
 
#5 ·
Hey Bob,
Ive always had a few serrated blade knives but never used them much.
I recently bought a survival fixed blade and it is serrated half way. During
deer season I was helping a guy do some processing on my off time and
used the survival knife (serrated part) to open the chests up a bit more
when people would bring'em in about 1/2 field dressed.

After doing a "few" that's when I did need to sharpen it a bit. And was in at
w-"mert" and saw the one they had....for the price, couldnt beat it!
 
#7 ·
Files. We use this thing for sharpening most knives (including my wife's $800 kitchen knife set).
But for the serrations, this set works best. These Spyderco files I actually bought to use for DIY trigger jobs, but they haven't yet been put to that use.
I have not tried it, but I think Josh is right about the SpiderCo files. They look like they would be more precision than the round file that I use.
 
#11 ·
Ya, me too. Hi zane.
Hey Jim,
But you know, the one I got worked just fine for what I
needed it to do.
For sharpening reg. blades, Ive got the Smith's 3 stone with the
2 position angle giude. I bought it back years ago and with once
you get the right angle on any blade, just a "touch-up" will get
them back to shaving.
(not sure about the wife's legs though) :lmao:
 
#13 ·
I agree boy's, the Spyderco files would be better, but I guess Zane and I think a lot alike because I use the Smith 3 stone kit as well and for no more than I use the serrated blades I get by fine with the cone shaped rod.
:thumbsup::thumbsup:
Hey Bob,
you know, I bought mine years ago and I will admit, the fine stone
is a bit wore. But I've done alot of knife sharpening on the
"rig" Ive got.
 
#14 ·
Hey Jim,
But you know, the one I got worked just fine for what I
needed it to do.
For sharpening reg. blades, Ive got the Smith's 3 stone with the
2 position angle giude. I bought it back years ago and with once
you get the right angle on any blade, just a "touch-up" will get
them back to shaving.
(not sure about the wife's legs though) :lmao:
I have the smith's tri-stone, and then a softv Arkansas, and than a black hard arkansas. When I get done my blades are fantastic. I am going to be buying the Tormac 3 for sharpening knives after the first of the year. I sharpen knives on the side and I need something quicker. But I do enjoy sharpening a knife by hand. It's an art. I always thought that in order to have a man card you had to know the basic's of knife sharpening. Is that true? ;)
 
#15 ·
I have the smith's tri-stone, and then a softv Arkansas, and than a black hard arkansas. When I get done my blades are fantastic. I am going to be buying the Tormac 3 for sharpening knives after the first of the year. I sharpen knives on the side and I need something quicker. But I do enjoy sharpening a knife by hand. It's an art. I always thought that in order to have a man card you had to know the basic's of knife sharpening. Is that true? ;)
so I've "heard"...;)
But, I can honestly say the only "specimen" ive ever tried the shaving
on with a fixed blade knife was my own face on a hunting trip! :lmao2:
Not for a lack of offering, just no trust, maybe? :dontknow:
(i'm not a mean look'in kinda person!!!) lol
 
#18 ·
I use a Spyderco Sharpmaker that has the triangle shaped ceramics.
I sharpen a variety of serated blades with it, including a Spyderco Delica that has two different sized serations.
I have found that by using the edge orientation of the ceramics, greatly increasing the vertical motion over the horizontal motion of the strokes, and reversing the horizontal direction several times, I get a good edge in the serations of all of them.
The finer the seration, the shorter the horizontal movement during the process.

While more difficult to sharpen, serations sure do have their uses - -
 
#19 ·
can simply wrap 600 grit sandpaper around the appropriate sized rod.
Careful Bill, this is a family site:cool::D

Actually, thanks all for your advice. I too love sharpening knives with my stones, but I never paid attention to serrated blades, although I knew they were better for cutting lines, seat belts, etc.

Mine is getting dull from cutting coax and other wire, along with opening boxes that my pocket knives seem to do a lot. Which is why I like the Buck 442s...quality enough to last, and to hold an edge, really light, but big enough for serious use, don't show "Pocket Wear," but not a $100 Spyderco or whatever that I would hesitate to use roughly because of the price I paid for it.:p

The other thing the serrations do really well when you are up on a ladder and your wire stripper is 10 or 12 feet straight down on the floor:cool: is strip wire better than a straight blade. Just use one of the serrations.
 
#20 ·
Speaking of sharpening, my wife and I go to a lot of estate auctions, and I bid $1 for "What was left on the table" which was a bunch of kitchen stuff, and in the knfe box was all Case XX table and kitchen knives!:eek:

Not to speak ill of the dead....

BUT....90% of them the guy had put on a GRINDER to sharpen and flat out ruined them. Some of the blades were more than 1/2 way gone.

I DID find a 6 peice set of Case XX steak knives in there, UNUSED that quickly became OUR steak knife set on the counter.

My wife and I have been married for 32 years, and she was from Bradford, PA, and from somebody we got a Case Kitchen knife set for a wedding gift. It is STILL on the wall, and used daily. (Except for the paring knife that "Walked away" years ago at a pitch in:mad:) Which is why I was able to compare mine to HIS.

But they have seen NOTHING but Arkansas stones and occasional kitchen steel, and the blades still look, well, not new, but "Well Used but Used Well."
 
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