sal wrote: ↑Mon Jun 14, 2021 3:09 pm
Funny, As I watch some of the experts and their videos, I find my self cringing at times.
"From the factory": (Metaphoricalsimile)
When we first began introducing serrated edges in the early 80's, it was a battle with factories for a good 10 years. Serrated edges are put on with a formed wheel. Each time the wheel is plunged into the the blade, the serrations are formed. Each time there is a little bit of wear on the wheel., which changes the shape slightly. When the shape changes too much, the wheel is dressed with a diamond dresser that reshapes the wheel. Most of the steels we use are quite hard and abrasive resistant so the wheels are dressed often, in some cases every 10 blades. Also keep in mind that the wheels are getting smaller as they wear and are dressed. So in reality, no two serrated blades are exactly the same. Factories like to start with deeper teeth so they can get more dressings before having to redress the wheel. That's why the Sharpmaker can be so useful. Rounding out the teeth a bit really helps with this "tuning". I was really impressed with David, because he went through all of the learning curves to get to the cheese at the end of the maze, and his explanations and pictures really helps explain the maze. That's why we keep it at the top.
When sharpening a serrated edge, we feel the Sharpmaker works best. The corner of a flat stone can be used, but in my opinion, the edge is less effective than if sharpened on a Sharpmaker. We developed the Sharpmaker with serrations and microscopes over a several year period. Tapered rods are, in my opinion, difficult to get there because if you don't stop the stroke at the exact location to fit the curve, you deform the edge.
It is important that you slow down the stroke down the stone if you really want to sharpen the edge, which is recessed between the teeth. If you go too fast, like the guy in the video above, I don't think he's actually getting to the edge properly, but is hitting the tips of the teeth more than the edge. a 10X-12X magnifying loupe is really useful when sharpening to really see the effect of your stroke.
If you sharpen the ground side and then just remove the burr, that works, but it is only one way to do it. If you sharpen both sides, in maybe a 3 -1 ratio, you will also get a very sharp edge, that is not quite as sharp, but is stronger. I don't think that there is any ONLY ONE way, as all of the expert opinions differ.
Since I invented the Sharpmaker and we were among the first to actually make serrated edges on folders in production, I have come up with the way I like to do it. But I'm sure you can modify your practice in the way that pleases you. That'a where the loupe comes in.
A properly sharped serrations will cut just about anything well from thread to paper to envelopes to heavy rope.
Re-serrating is different than sharpening.
sal
) over a hotdog. Ah, hahaha! 
