Brand new, adivce on sharpening serrations

spydersteel · #1

Hello everyone, brand new to the fourm. Just bought my first spyderco knife a pacific salt se. Absoultley love it! I'm now at the point where I need to sharpen it and have never done it before, ever, any knife. I don't want to mess the blade up but I feel I REALLY need to know how to sharpen my own knife even if that means I might hurt the blade. I just have to learn and that is that. Could anyone give me some advice on where to start? Thanks in advance, I have learned so much from everyone here and am extremely appreciative of any help you could give this new guy

kbuzbee · #2

Welcome to the forum.

Great knife and I agree with you, being able to take care of your tools is a skill worth having.

I'm not usually one to go for the "search is your friend" kind of reply but this one has a wealth of information already posted.

For example:

http://www.spyderco.com/forums/showthre ... Serrations

Look over the advice available and if anything doesn't make sense, go from there.

Ken

jackknifeh · #3

You'll get advice about sharpening serrations all the way from "send it to Spyderco, it can't be don by a normal person" to "it's the easiest thing in the world to do with the right tools". I believe in both these theories, sort of. Even with the right tools it'll take some practice and getting used to IMO. So, it would be nice to have a knife or two to practice on. In my experience I have made the edge look terrible. The teeth were rounded off and the hollows all looked different. This is because I was using a hand held serated edge sharpener (which is ok) but I got impatient and started hurrying. I think you have to have a real good idea of sharpening edges before trying this. I'd recommend getting proficient on plain edges first. Do you have any sharpening tools? This is the first place to start. There are several that are good but I don't know of any that are better than the tools Spyderco has for serrated edges. I'm not being of much help except just to go slow, very slow. If you do want to keep the edge looking good I'd send it to Spyderco to sharpen. Better yet, if you have a friend who has experience maybe he/she could help you. After some practice on a cheap serrated bread knife from the Dollar store, work on your Spyderco. Good luck.

Jack

Waco · #4

I use my Triangle Sharp Maker and follow the directions that came with it.

PMBohol · #5

The Sharpmaker comes with a DVD that shows how to sharpen many kinds of edges including serrated. I believe that if you do a You Tube search you would find it there also. I would invest in a Sharpmaker.

araneae · #6

What type of equipment do you have? If you don't have a sharpmaker, it's time to invest in one. Its the easiest way to sharpen SE blades.

jackknifeh · #7

If you haven't been involved with sharpening knives in the past you may be SHOCKED at the prices of sharpening tools. I WAS. :) Same with knives when I decided to get a nice knife after about 30 years of using $10 knives. Anyway, I will agree with everyone here who recomends the Sharpmaker. I don't have one but understand how it works. I went through a couple of other sharpening systems prior to hearing about a sharpmaker. After using them, understanding how they work and how the Sharpmaker works I believe the Sharpmaker is a very simple to use and effective sharpener for all knives.

In the past 6 years I know I've spent $500, possibly close to $1000 on sharpening systems, stones, etc. This is just hitting the edge of what is available as far as tool selection. I don't even want to try to figure out how much. The only thing gained here is I now know what I like and use. I've gotten rid of a lot of the stuff I bought (sold or gifted). IMO, the sharpmaker is a great start and possibly finish for a sharpening system. It's angles are perfect for almost any application and you don't really need to study and fully comprehend the process. Just follow directions. If you want to go deeper into the sharpening subject you still can. This, of course is just my opinion.

Another thing about serrated edges is they don't need to be razor sharp at EVERY SINGLE SPOT to cut well.

spydersteel · #8

Thanks everyone for the great advice! I think I will great the sharpmaker and look for some cheap knifes to practice on. I will get back to everyone after I watch the how to video with some more silly questions. Thanks again everyone

Blerv · #9

I don't know if my method is the best but seems to work. Usually I just freehand with a pair of 701 profile stones dragging the medium grit along each scallop (towards the edge) at the proper angle a few times. Then I put the stone flat and do my very best to hit the edge at a flat angle w/o giving it too much of a back bevel. Once done I spend a bit more time on the plain-edge tip of the knife with the stone laid flat.

Honestly though I've yet to get a serrated knife very dull. It's surprising how little work it takes to get the edge back to functionally sharp.

If I didn't have a rounded sharpening stone I would probably do my best to de-burr damaged scallops with a smooth file or a small rounded piece of fine grit sandpaper (like on a chopstick) and then just hit the back edge on a flat surface.

anomad · #10

PMBohol wrote:The Sharpmaker comes with a DVD that shows how to sharpen many kinds of edges including serrated. I believe that if you do a You Tube search you would find it there also. I would invest in a Sharpmaker.

We all subscribe to the Spyderco facetube channel right?
http://www.youtube.com/user/SpydercoKni ... ture=watch

spydersteel · #11

Hey everyone! I went out and bought a sharpmaker today. I watched the video and said " that looks way to easy, there has to be something I'm missing"? I gave it a try, and WOW. That was really easy! My knife is as sharp as it has ever been. I guess I completely over complicated it in my head prior to ever trying to sharpen it. I really want to thank everyone for their great insite and help. I honestly assumed I would just be ridiculed for having never sharpened a knife and would not get much help, but not at all, total opposite, thanks guys!
Tim

kbuzbee · #12

Glad it worked out.

Enjoy.

Ken

PMBohol · #13

Good to hear.