Falling out of love with serrations

[skeeg11]

I do perform some jobs where a those more pointy serrations perform far better. The main one that comes to mind is splitting snapper fillets. When I pull a fillet off a big Snapper it is often too wide to skin so I split it down the midline before skinning. I lay the fillet on a cutting board (skin side down) and split the fillet in half. The skin is thick on those guys and the heavy scales make it harder to score cut on a cutting board, even when cutting from the inside (meat side). The pointier serrations will make that cut WAY easier, simply because there is less surface area touching the cutting board.

My end grain Boo's butcher block just said, "OUCH!!!"

[Ballex]

Hi Ballex,

Welcome to our forum.

sal

Thank you Sir

[ZrowsN1s]

I know paper isn't 'real', but do this with serrations.....

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cji-XCUgSyp/

Really ? I didn’t want to give you guys the final blow but you twist my arm. Watch and think twice….

https://youtu.be/_ufue1riPu8

That's just a 15 minute sharpening video. Lots of us can get SE plenty sharp.

Final blow, huh?

A few things, first I doubt many of us can sharpen on Mike Christie's level. Second I still didn't see him in that video or any of you cut a smooth "S" into a paper towel. Not a sheet of note book paper, telephone book paper, or news paper. A paper towel, which will tear if cut with anything that isn't crispy sharp.

Yep, not very difficult!

Now cut an "S" in a paper towel with it. Not exactly a common cutting task, but one I don't think SE can do.

When I get asked why I prefer PE and polished edges, I say smooth clean cuts. The paper towel test is a good way to quantify that.

[Evil D]

I know paper isn't 'real', but do this with serrations.....

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cji-XCUgSyp/

Really ? I didn’t want to give you guys the final blow but you twist my arm. Watch and think twice….

https://youtu.be/_ufue1riPu8

That's just a 15 minute sharpening video. Lots of us can get SE plenty sharp.

Final blow, huh?

A few things, first I doubt many of us can sharpen on Mike Christie's level. Second I still didn't see him in that video or any of you cut a smooth "S" into a paper towel. Not a sheet of note book paper, telephone book paper, or news paper. A paper towel, which will tear if cut with anything that isn't crispy sharp.

Yep, not very difficult!

Now cut an "S" in a paper towel with it. Not exactly a common cutting task, but one I don't think SE can do.

When I get asked why I prefer PE and polished edges, I say smooth clean cuts. The paper towel test is a good way to quantify that.

I don't see why edge type would matter, it says more about how sharp the edge is than what edge type it is. If my knives can't do that it's not because they're SE, it's because I'm not that good at sharpening. I can do that all day long on newsprint and phone book paper and make single clean slices. I don't know if I have any PE that can do that either.

[ladybug93]

i don't think i've ever needed to cut a paper towel cleanly, so i can't imagine why i'd use that as a test for sharpness. honestly, i barely cut paper unless i'm testing a blade's sharpness, so that doesn't really make much sense either.

[vivi]

I know paper isn't 'real', but do this with serrations.....

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cji-XCUgSyp/

Really ? I didn’t want to give you guys the final blow but you twist my arm. Watch and think twice….

https://youtu.be/_ufue1riPu8

That's just a 15 minute sharpening video. Lots of us can get SE plenty sharp.

Final blow, huh?

A few things, first I doubt many of us can sharpen on Mike Christie's level. Second I still didn't see him in that video or any of you cut a smooth "S" into a paper towel. Not a sheet of note book paper, telephone book paper, or news paper. A paper towel, which will tear if cut with anything that isn't crispy sharp.

I wouldn't know, I've never sat through any sharpening video of his or anyone elses over 5 minutes long. Besides the sharpmaker video. I'm sure there's plenty of people that can sharpen better than me, especially using guided systems. I'm content being able to get any PE or SE cutting tool hair whittling sharp.

FWIW I can do S cuts in paper towels with my low grit pocket knives or my polished work knives. It isn't very hard IMO. Maybe I'll do a video after the gym.

[ZrowsN1s]

I don't see why edge type would matter, it says more about how sharp the edge is than what edge type it is. If my knives can't do that it's not because they're SE, it's because I'm not that good at sharpening. I can do that all day long on newsprint and phone book paper and make single clean slices. I don't know if I have any PE that can do that either.

I think the teeth will cause a rip in the paper towel even with a polished edge of equal sharpness to the Native 5 I was using.

But that highlights another point about SE/PE. For me at least, it is much harder to sharpen SE to that level of sharpness. I don't think I could do it, I've never gotten close to that with SE. But I can with plain edges.

I can get SE sharp enough to split a hair, and shave arm hair, but that's kinda of a hard ceiling for me with SE. With PE the sharp scale starts where the SE scale ends.

I'll have to retest it when I have time but I think my best SE was around 160 BESS, and my best PE is around 75 BESS.

It makes sense. You have an edge that is relatively straight vs one that is made of constantly changing curving angles every centimeter that come to a series of points. Pretty obvious which one would be easier to sharpen.

Im not knocking SE either. My SE K390 Police cuts in ways a PE never could. It's a great knife and I love it. But it doesn't cut the same as a PE, and doesn't sharpen like a PE. SE and PE have different strengths. And that's ok. There's room for both.

[vivi]

well said matt.

wish I still had my home made bess style tester, I'd love to see how my current SE sharpening abilities compare to PE.

[RustyIron]

In terms of Combo Edge, I really would still love to see an experimental Sprint of 'Reverse Combo Edge' on a FFG Endura or similar sized blade.

That makes MUCH more sense to me. There's the plain edge for doing delicate work up close, when you need a lot of control. The serrations can be way out at the tip when you just need to hog through something. While I say that, right now I'm not interested in a combo edge of any sort. I want the full hacking awesomeness of the serrations, or the maximum pushcuttiness of a long plain edge. I'm 100% down with one or the other, but not compromises.

[Surfingringo]

If I’m carrying a single serrated knife as a dedicated EDC then I prefer slightly less pointy/aggressive for the versatility. If I’m carrying a serrated blade as a secondary blade for a few very specific tasks I might prefer the pointier tips.

[Bill1170]

In terms of Combo Edge, I really would still love to see an experimental Sprint of 'Reverse Combo Edge' on a FFG Endura or similar sized blade.

SE in the front, PE in the back.

SE front is for pull cutting zip ties/straps/plastic sheet/ tape. PE in the back for whittling, breaking down cardboard.



I think that would revolutionize the CE concept. And if nothing else be a fun experiment.

Victorinox uses a combo edge on some of their longest folding knife blades and they place the serrations on the tip half, plain edge towards the pivot.

[Doc Dan]

I was thinking that the other day.

I like serrations for some applications. For others, most others, I prefer plain edge. I have a Seki made knife that has two blades. It is really practical. One is a plain edge clip point drop point sort of blade. The other is a fully serrated wharncliffe blade. I have choices and I like that. Very practical knife. It has opening holes, too. I wish Spyderco made this knife instead of the humped Dyad, though it is right hand only.

[skeeg11]

I was thinking that the other day.

I like serrations for some applications. For others, most others, I prefer plain edge. I have a Seki made knife that has two blades. It is really practical. One is a plain edge clip point drop point sort of blade. The other is a fully serrated wharncliffe blade. I have choices and I like that. Very practical knife. It has opening holes, too. I wish Spyderco made this knife instead of the humped Dyad, though it is right hand only.

Is it OK to ask who makes it?

[Doc Dan]

I was thinking that the other day.

I like serrations for some applications. For others, most others, I prefer plain edge. I have a Seki made knife that has two blades. It is really practical. One is a plain edge clip point drop point sort of blade. The other is a fully serrated wharncliffe blade. I have choices and I like that. Very practical knife. It has opening holes, too. I wish Spyderco made this knife instead of the humped Dyad, though it is right hand only.

Is it OK to ask who makes it?

Buck. It was made in Seki for Buck. Buck Ecco, Sekiden. https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-1tyihs2 ... 19.jpg?c=2 It's like this. I misspoke earlier. It is 2/3 serrated.

[aaronkb]

I personally insist on EDC-ing bread knives exclusively. I know a fixed blade is a lot, but it works.

[skeeg11]

Buck. It was made in Seki for Buck. Buck Ecco, Sekiden. https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-1tyihs2 ... 19.jpg?c=2 It's like this. I misspoke earlier. It is 2/3 serrated.

Mucho Thanks

[T.J.]

I wound up buying several SE knives based on Vivi's enthusiasm. I wound up selling all of them. I'm definitely a PE type of guy.

[benben]

Think I’ve got a good fix (for me anyway), thinking of buying two Green LC200N Natives in each edge, one for each front pocket, combined less than 5oz. These two could replace a lot of knives for me!

[z1r]

I wound up buying several SE knives based on Vivi's enthusiasm. I wound up selling all of them. I'm definitely a PE type of guy.

Yeah, I like the few SE blades I have, but PE is definitely my preference. I have a SE Ladybug on every keychain.

[mark greenman]

I wound up buying several SE knives based on Vivi's enthusiasm. I wound up selling all of them. I'm definitely a PE type of guy.

Yeah, I like the few SE blades I have, but PE is definitely my preference. I have a SE Ladybug on every keychain.

I think small blades are the ideal application for SE, where the added 'horsepower' of the SE really makes them perform like a larger knife.

The performance of the SE Ladybug vs PE Ladybug - especially as the knife gets duller with use - theres just no comparison.

Likewise, the SE Cricket vs PE Cricket.