Experienced Serrated Edge K390 users wanted.

[JoviAl]

Oh, and as for k390 SE, I haven’t had any issues with the tips of the serrations. I do knock them down a bit with a diamond plate before I sharpen them though, so they’re more of a wavy set of peaks than spikes. I do that to all of my SE blades before I use them for the first time after I noticed my Carribean cut way better than my other SE knives and narrowed it down to it being less spiky.

*edited for correcting ‘autocorrect’ related frivolities.

[bladesandbeverages]

Oh, and as for k390 SE, I haven’t had any issues with the tips of the serrations. I do knock them down a bit with a diamond plate before I sharpen them though, so they’re more of a wavy set of peaks than spikes. I do that to all of my SE blades before I use them for the first time after I noticed my Carribean cut way better than my other SE knives and narrowed it down to it being less spiky.

*edited for correcting ‘autocorrect’ related
frivolities.

Al, I’m glad you brought this up. I had never been a fan of serrations until I bought a serrated Caribbean and the cutting performance blew me away. I bought quite a few more serrated spydercos after that one and the patterns are pointier and I do not get the cutting I enjoy from the Caribbean.

Can you go into a little more detail of how you knock them down? Do you just hold the spine vertical and lightly swipe the points on the stone? If so, how long does it take to get it sharp again on the sharpmaker?

I have been wanting to round out the points on my serrations but didn’t really know how to go about it outside of repeated sharpening over time.

Really enjoying this thread by the way

[Brock O Lee]

I don’t know if it is at all helpful but I do pretty much exactly what Hans does using a conical diamond file. Where I differ slightly is that I clamp the knife blade teeth pointing out into a ball and socket bench vise (one that rotates in all directions that I use for holding chainsaws by their guide bars for chain sharpening) and adjust it so that I can go at it from a comfortable angle. Works quickly and gets a consistent angle, but I only do it for reprofiling as it really hogs metal out.

Nice one Al... You are right, you can clamp the blade or the stone at an angle in any vice instead of using the SM base.

Can you go into a little more detail of how you knock them down? Do you just hold the spine vertical and lightly swipe the points on the stone? If so, how long does it take to get it sharp again on the sharpmaker?

Yes! I found if you square the tips off slightly, by cutting at 90' into a stone (as if you tried to cut the stone in half), they get nice and round again as you reprofile. You end up with a wavy serration at the end of the reprofile job.

I also found if I file down the ridges of the serrations slightly with a flat stone (the lines they form running up the bevel) before the reprofile, it seems to speed up the reprofiling. Likely because you now have less material to cut with each reprofiling stroke. I believe that also helps the serrations to regain a wavy round shape at the edge quicker.

[bladesandbeverages]

Thanks Hans. Makes a lot of sense. Definitely going to give this a try

[JoviAl]

Oh, and as for k390 SE, I haven’t had any issues with the tips of the serrations. I do knock them down a bit with a diamond plate before I sharpen them though, so they’re more of a wavy set of peaks than spikes. I do that to all of my SE blades before I use them for the first time after I noticed my Carribean cut way better than my other SE knives and narrowed it down to it being less spiky.

*edited for correcting ‘autocorrect’ related
frivolities.

Al, I’m glad you brought this up. I had never been a fan of serrations until I bought a serrated Caribbean and the cutting performance blew me away. I bought quite a few more serrated spydercos after that one and the patterns are pointier and I do not get the cutting I enjoy from the Caribbean.

Can you go into a little more detail of how you knock them down? Do you just hold the spine vertical and lightly swipe the points on the stone? If so, how long does it take to get it sharp again on the sharpmaker?

I have been wanting to round out the points on my serrations but didn’t really know how to go about it outside of repeated sharpening over time.

Really enjoying this thread by the way

Hi,
I’m away on holiday in Thailand at the moment, but I’ve got my Dragonfly SE and my handy dandy CBN double stuff. I’ll take some photos later when I get back to the accommodation, but I basically just sharpen it on a coarse flat stone as if it was a plain edge *but only on the ridged side of the blade*, not on the back side. Reading that back it is not very clear. Bare with for photos

[JoviAl]

turns out we were almost home!

So I basically sharpen the ridged side like a PE blade on CBN until the points round out a bit (which thins it out a lot too), then I sharpen it like Hans mentioned in my vice with the conical rod until I’m a happy chap. Once that’s done it takes but a fleeting moment to get it sharpened again

[Brock O Lee]

turns out we were almost home!

Niiice!

[JSumm]

All very interesting guys. So it sounds like tips wearing or breaking down doesn't really matter in the long run since that is the desired edge in the end, more wavy than pointy.

I am still curious what steels hold up better than others in SE. I am very familiar with how K390 holds in PE after some good sharpenings. Sounds like it does the same in SE once you can get that edge reprofiled and sharpened back a bit. I am positive that my Delica and Endela will get there eventually.

[JoviAl]

All very interesting guys. So it sounds like tips wearing or breaking down doesn't really matter in the long run since that is the desired edge in the end, more wavy than pointy.

I am still curious what steels hold up better than others in SE. I am very familiar with how K390 holds in PE after some good sharpenings. Sounds like it does the same in SE once you can get that edge reprofiled and sharpened back a bit. I am positive that my Delica and Endela will get there eventually.

I am practically frothing at the mouth to try SE Cru-wear - it has all of the characteristics I look for in an SE steel with regards sharpening response, toughness and an almost unbelievable level of corrosion resistance (for a tool steel). I am still grumpy at missing the SE Ayoob.

[JSumm]

All very interesting guys. So it sounds like tips wearing or breaking down doesn't really matter in the long run since that is the desired edge in the end, more wavy than pointy.

I am still curious what steels hold up better than others in SE. I am very familiar with how K390 holds in PE after some good sharpenings. Sounds like it does the same in SE once you can get that edge reprofiled and sharpened back a bit. I am positive that my Delica and Endela will get there eventually.

I am practically frothing at the mouth to try SE Cru-wear - it has all of the characteristics I look for in an SE steel with regards sharpening response, toughness and an almost unbelievable level of corrosion resistance (for a tool steel). I am still grumpy at missing the SE Ayoob.

Yeah, that is the steel I'm most interested to see in more SE. Maybe SPY27 as a 2nd. Cruwear with all its strength and ease of sharpening still has a relatively high hardness with Spyderco. I seems like it would be a perfect fit.