SpyderEdge on Wharncliffe blade question

[Jared]

I received a Shaman for Christmas this year. At first I was a little taken aback because it was serrated instead of plain edge. Then I cut some things with it (a little rope, couple zip ties) and decided it was definitely quite useful in the right roles.

Probably a week ago I read in here that a serrated edge was actually quite capable of making feather sticks and the like. So I tried it Sunday and lo and behold, it was accurate information.

That got me to thinking a bit more about maybe getting another knife with a SE. I like my Rockjumper a lot also, but it’s a plain edge. I’ve been looking at the new version of the Salt 2 with Wharncliffe blade, SE, and LC200N. I’m wondering though if the Wharncliffe loses a bit of its magic with a SE? Would I perhaps be better served with a “traditional” blade shape for a SE than a Wharnie? What are your experience that you’d be willing to share?

[VooDooChild]

If anything a lot of people here will yell you that a wharncliffe or sheepsfoot blade works even better in serrated edge.

I say get a serrated wharncliffe and try it out.

For me serrations are about aggressive cutting, where I dont care about whether or not the cut was clean. This is good because wharncliffes are also about aggressive cutting. This is also why I usually prefer most of my salts be serrated.

I dont like serrations on a cutting board, but wharncliffes are terrible on cutting boards anyways so no loss there.

[Wartstein]

...and decided it was definitely quite useful in the right roles.

Probably a week ago I read in here that a serrated edge was actually quite capable of making feather sticks and the like. So I tried it Sunday and lo and behold, it was accurate information.

That got me to thinking a bit more about maybe getting another knife with a SE. I like my Rockjumper a lot also, but it’s a plain edge. I’ve been looking at the new version of the Salt 2 with Wharncliffe blade, SE, and LC200N. I’m wondering though if the Wharncliffe loses a bit of its magic with a SE? Would I perhaps be better served with a “traditional” blade shape for a SE than a Wharnie? What are your experience that you’d be willing to share?

Hi Jared, actually I was the one who said that SE would be amazing (no only "quite capable" for me , but ymmv of course!) in making feathersticks. This gets rarely mentioned, but the combination of the very acute chisel grind and the teeth produce much finer and better shavings than PE in my use. Glad it worked for you too!

Actually, I personally also think SE is not only quite useful in the right roles, but better than PE in almost any task (note: Though I am not alone here with this opinion, many won´t bit that enthusiastic, but I think most on this forum would admit that SE is better than its reputation seems to be).
I´d really encourage you to try your Shaman SE in any cutting task you do and compare it to PE. I think you´ĺl be surprised how universally well SE performs! (Key here is though: Make sure the SE blade is really SHARP. I have a feeling that people often compare pretty dull SE to really sharp PE, and that´s not fair at all (though it actually shows that SE will still cut / tear apart even when dull, while dull PE is pretty much useless. On a sidenote: One advantage of SE is also, that it does stay sharp longer than PE, and for me is easier to bring back to sharpness if eventually dull than PE)

I think an SE Wharnie would certainly work even better than a PE wharnie, especially in the thin blade and shallow type of serrations the Salt 2 ffg offers!

[Wartstein]

...

For me serrations are about aggressive cutting, where I dont care about whether or not the cut was clean. This is good because wharncliffes are also about aggressive cutting. This is also why I usually prefer most of my salts be serrated.

...

In my use sharp SE is actually better or at least on par for clean cutting than PE in many tasks. This is probably for the most part due to the much more actue (chisel) grind that SE has compared to PE.
Sure on a clean cut with SE on something like paper, it often will be only one of the scallops that do the work (but greatly), while with PE one tends to do more of a drawing motion.

[Evil D]

SE make pull cuts more aggressive, and wharnies have the same effect so it's double the goodness. Basically if you already like how a wharncliffe performs in PE you won't have issues with one in SE.

[Jared]

Well, I guess that settles it, I’ll have to get a SE Wharnie and try it out. Probably the Salt 2, but maybe I’ll find something else I like better. I need to do some shopping and see, I can think of one combo I may like better. Will report back

[yowzer]

I picked up a SE Rockjumper the other day - my first serrated wharncliffe. I can attest that while it's not as good at destroying blackberry brambles as a SE hawkbill like the Spyderhawk, it still gets the job done pretty easily; a lot better than I suspect a PE wharncliffe would have been (I'm kicking myself for not grabbing my Canis to compare). It's also excellent at cutting apart cardboard boxes (Much like a SE sheepsfoot, or any SE blade). No regrets here over getting SE instead of PE.