Broke new ground sharpening serrations...if you're a SE fan, you need to read this

[JAfromMN]

I believe that.

Still I have a bad habit of overheat stuff

[Evil D]

I believe that.

Still I have a bad habit of overheat stuff

It helps if you have a variable speed Dremel. The reality here is if you've gone so long in one spot that you've made the blade even close to hot enough to effect heat treat, you've also likely rounded off the edge anyway.

[JAfromMN]

I believe that.

Still I have a bad habit of overheat stuff

It helps if you have a variable speed Dremel. The reality here is if you've gone so long in one spot that you've made the blade even close to hot enough to effect heat treat, you've also likely rounded off the edge anyway.[/quote ]

One of these days I promise to give it a try.

I think it could work great to buff up the edge on a dull but damaged blade

[zhyla]

Dude just go do it right now. It takes less time than getting out the Dremel, honest.

[JD Spydo]

This thread should just reinforce the fact that we need for the 701 Profiles to be brought back to the main product line up IMO. Because if Spyderco really expects the GOLDENSTONE to more or less replace the need for the 701 Profiles I think the evidence is in>> which is to say during this long thread I didn't read where even one guy said that they were able to get their Spyderedged blade in top form by using the GOLDENSTONE. I own a GOLDENSTONE myself and like it for some applications but in my humble opinion I've yet to find any sharpening tool that will maintain Spyderedges like the 701 PRofiles will.

The 701 Profiles if they would add more grit selection I believe would sell very well if they were brought back>> and with more grit selections I think they would sell extremely well IMO. There are so many people here on this Forum and Bladeforums both who have said they have had excellent results using the 701 Profiles for Spyderedges.

Hey I'm open minded if there is another sharpening tool out there that will sharpen Spyderedges or any other serration pattern for that matter I would sure like to know about it. The 204 Sharpmaker stones will enhance the edge but they tend to round off the spike part of the serrations and deform and round off other parts of the serration pattern. I've only found that the 701 Profiles will really do them right up till now. But I'm all ears at this point and I'm always looking for better sharpening method for Spyderedges

[Evil D]

I would buy a set, absolutely. In fact I would also buy an entire separate Sharpmaker that was set up to hold the 701 stones, but they'd also need to be a bit longer.

I'm getting better with the Sharpmaker in general. I use it for pretty much everything except reprofiling or polishing bevels. With serrations though I still can't come near the sharpness that I get after using the Dremel. What's really surprising to me is I can't get the same results on a PE blade with the Dremel to save my life. Not sure why, it just never turns out the same.

[RLR]

This set up is perfect (since we are resurrecting threads) - google a bit and you'll find the 1/8" mini rods. Here's a pic (I had an old one with both grey and white rods) :

FullSizeRender.jpg

Old version of this product had 1/8" ceramic rods that fit into the Dremel chuck. Low speed, perfect size and shape for serrations.

[dplafoll]

Was your title intentionally misleading? I read it as "I just finished grinding my serrations and then I broke 'em, so listen up spyderedge users so you don't make the same mistake."

Not really sure what you mean..."broke new ground" is usually a term used when speaking about making progress with something.

You meant "I broke new ground when I was sharpening serrations" but it could also read as(slightly re-ordered for clarity) "I broke my serrations, which were newly ground and sharpened". I wasn't sure either until I read the post.

[Evil D]

Was your title intentionally misleading? I read it as "I just finished grinding my serrations and then I broke 'em, so listen up spyderedge users so you don't make the same mistake."

Not really sure what you mean..."broke new ground" is usually a term used when speaking about making progress with something.

You meant "I broke new ground when I was sharpening serrations" but it could also read as(slightly re-ordered for clarity) "I broke my serrations, which were newly ground and sharpened". I wasn't sure either until I read the post.

Huh, I guess if it said "Broke new ground sharpened serrations" I would have caught that, but I can see how it's easy to confuse. The duality of the word "ground" on a knife forum :rolleyes:

[JD Spydo]

EVIL D I was reading this thread again and I was just thinking about what other sharpening tool companies might have to offer for sharpening various serration patterns including our beloved Spyderedge? I was wondering what maybe DMT, Lansky, Norton, 3M, Shapton and other top notch sharpening tool makers would recommend or even what they themselves make in order to maintain the serrated edge irrespective of what knife company's serrations we might be talking about?

As great as Spyderco's serration patterns are they aren't the only knife company making serrated edge knives so you just have to believe that there must be other sharpening tools out there that would maintain serrated edges? And please you guys before you all start throwing rocks at me I am a Spyderco fan first and foremost. With that being said I've also come to believe that there are a lot of sharpening tools on the market with all the Woodworking supply catalogs and older established vendors like Norton and 3M for instance. Also with the 701 Profiles no longer available I'm wondering what else might be out there that could be recommended specifically for a wide range of serration patterns as well as Spyderco's.

[Evil D]

JD I think most other companies just recommend a tapered diamond rod...that's pretty much the industry standard for sharpening serrations, I think because nobody has put as much thought into it as Spyderco has.

[JD Spydo]

JD I think most other companies just recommend a tapered diamond rod...that's pretty much the industry standard for sharpening serrations, I think because nobody has put as much thought into it as Spyderco has.

Yeah unfortunately you're probably right>> but with all the newer knife companies producing knives that are either partially serrated or in the case of many knife companies in the culinary line there are many new knife companies that are producing fully serrated blades and with various new serration patterns as well. DMT for instance is offering many more of those conical rods than they used to. That tool is great for the scallops that many serration patterns have but it doesn't do so well for the spike part of the pattern.

It just baffles me with the abundance of serrated knives on the open market even compared to 10 years ago it would seem like someone out there would want to fill a void in that sector of the market. But it is kind of like Spyderco truly does have that sector of the market to themselves almost. Which again doesn't make sense to delete the 701 Profiles. OH how I would love a set of 701 Profiles in the new CBN material.

[Evil D]

JD I think most other companies just recommend a tapered diamond rod...that's pretty much the industry standard for sharpening serrations, I think because nobody has put as much thought into it as Spyderco has.

Yeah unfortunately you're probably right>> but with all the newer knife companies producing knives that are either partially serrated or in the case of many knife companies in the culinary line there are many new knife companies that are producing fully serrated blades and with various new serration patterns as well. DMT for instance is offering many more of those conical rods than they used to. That tool is great for the scallops that many serration patterns have but it doesn't do so well for the spike part of the pattern.

It just baffles me with the abundance of serrated knives on the open market even compared to 10 years ago it would seem like someone out there would want to fill a void in that sector of the market. But it is kind of like Spyderco truly does have that sector of the market to themselves almost. Which again doesn't make sense to delete the 701 Profiles. OH how I would love a set of 701 Profiles in the new CBN material.

Well, am I wrong to think that not many knife companies also produce as much sharpening gear as Spyderco?

When you think about it, it's kind of irresponsible in a way, to sell your customers a tool and leave them with no way of maintaining it. I would like to see more companies follow Spyderco's example in that regard.

[JD Spydo]

That's a great point you make there EVIL D because of all the knife companies that I know for sure that either market or make their own sharpening equipment with their name on it I can count on one hand I'm sure. And in most cases the knife company doesn't really make or manufacture the sharpening equipment they just simply market it and sell it with their name on it. Case, Buck, Ka-Bar and F.Dick of Germany are the very few that come to mind immediately. In the case of F. Dick they are sort of like Spyderco they made sharpening equipment before they made and marketed their own line of knives>> their sharpening steels are the very best in the entire industry period.

But you and I both know how totally useless a dull knife is>> it is probably the most useless tool on the planet. When I first started collecting knives way back in the early 80s my uncle emphasized to me that unless you have the skill of sharpening and maintaining your knives you are defeating the entire purpose of owning them. So from that day till now I've been just as interested in sharpening knives as I am being a proud owner of some fine quality cutlery.

OK with that said isn't it fair to say that having the proper sharpening equipment and having the skill necessary to make use of it is just as important if not more important than even owning one. It's kind of like the "Chicken versus the EGG" so to speak>> which comes first? I actually invested money in sharpening equipment before I procured all the knives I have. I wouldn't have done it any other way. With that said we need more sharpening equipment available for serrated edged blades than what we have available to us at the present time IMO. And with the millions, if not billions of serrated blades out there you know there is a growing market for such tools.

[Evil D]

Thought I would revisit this thread a bit since SE seems to be having a bit if a revival.

I still do the power strop on my SE, but I have since stopped using the diamond rod except to repair chipped teeth or for severely dull edges. I've moved on to using a Sharpmaker which is better for maintaining serration shape than the diamond rod which can be pretty aggressive if you get careless. I've also come to prefer more rounded teeth over pointy sharp teeth and I've found they snag less when rounded but still initiate cuts like serrations should do.

But overall my goal was always to find a reliable, easily repeatable method of getting my serrations sharp and for me the Dremel really takes it to the next level. It seems that no matter how much time or focus I put into sharpening them on the Sharpmaker, a few passes with a buffing wheel still takes the edge up a notch. I can't really say if it has negatively effected edge retention, because I maintain my serrated edges even more closely than my PE because they tend to drop down quickly in what I call "enjoyable performance", meaning they start snagging and generally become less satisfying to use as they drop from peak sharpness. This is a bit of drag and goes against the notion that SE are great because they hold an edge longer, which is still true because they will indeed still cut or even rip and tear better than a very dull PE blade, but for me the snagging is a deal breaker so I like to either strop or touch up my serrations as often as possible.

[elena86]

I started to touch up my spyderedges freehand using just a fine SM rod and finsh with a UF SM rod.I use very light passes and I noticed that doing so, the scallops maintain their original shape with pointy tips for a long time.I like spydereges as pointy and agressive as possible.

Marius

[ZrowsN1s]

I use the edge of a leather belt with a little polish on it to strop my serrations... one at a time. It's a pain, I like the dremel idea. Good post D.