Just ordered my first SE knife. I'm nervous.

[KenD]

So, for years I have been one of those “I don’t like serrated knives” guys. In my mind, they could not be sharpened, and were only good for sawing through rope.

Then I found this forum.

I landed on David’s post on SE knives, read it and Vivi’s post on sharpening. Then I thought maybe, just maybe I could have been slightly narrow minded in my SE thoughts…

Fast forward to today. I am going on a family beach vacation later this summer. Great excuse to buy a Salt series Spyderco! After much thought and debate, I decided on the Salt 2 Green LC200N SpyderEdge.

As with any change, I am nervous. Did I waste my money? Will I figure out how to sharpen it? Will I hate it? Or love it and go crazy and buy every SE Spyderco I can find?

I guess I’m looking for assurance that I didn’t make a mistake and any advice for a first time SE owner. You SE advocates have already succeeded, you have opened my mind to change. I am ready to try it. The knife should be delivered Tuesday or Wednesday. I will keep you updated.

[Evil D]

I'll tell ya what, my buddy is a Delica/SE fan and he loves that green color. If you don't like it I'll take it off your hands.

Hopefully that doesn't break the no B/S/T rules, just trying to give you some peace of mind.

[juggler]

Did I waste my money? Will I figure out how to sharpen it? Will I hate it? Or love it and go crazy and buy every SE Spyderco I can find?

At the end of the day, buying (and of course using :)) a SE knife is the only way to really answer those questions once and for all.

So whatever the answers are, you did the right thing.

[PeaceInOurTime]

Congrats on your new incoming knife! :)

Taking the plunge into SE for the first time can be daunting. But honestly, I think it's easier to sharpen SE than PE. Don't over think it. If you're really concerned about messing up your new knife, I would recommend practicing on a SE Byrd first.

If you can sharpen PE, SE is just half that process. What will you use to sharpen serrations?

[araneae]

I almost always have an SE blade and a PE in the other pocket. I find each has its uses.

[ladybug93]

it's not absolutely necessary, but i would suggest getting a sharpmaker to go with it. i did the same thing as you and bought a fully serrated pac salt when i moved to hawaii and knew i'd be at the beach a lot. i ended up loving it so much that i've basically converted to full time se use. the sharpmaker will help you keep the edge in good condition to keep enjoying the knife though. if you don't have one and don't want to spend the money on it, you can try the small lansky rod that is similar to the sharpmaker rods. even if you end up getting a sharpmaker eventually, the lansky rod is good for your field maintenance kit. and, of course, you can use the sharpmaker for more than just serrated edges.

enjoy that salt 2. lc200n is good steel and is easy to sharpen. i think you'll understand and learn to love the utility of spyderco's spyderedge once you have it in hand and put it to use.

[KenD]

Should have mentioned it in my original post. I do have a Sharpmaker. So I have the tools, now I just need to develop the skill...

[bearfacedkiller]

Maybe you will learn to like it or maybe you won’t. At least now you will know. Just the learning experience is worth the money spent.

David’s thread is great. Massage those serrations until you get the performance you desire. For me it is about taking away the snagging. Once you have done that they perform very well.

[TheGiant80]

I'll tell ya what, my buddy is a Delica/SE fan and he loves that green color. If you don't like it I'll take it off your hands.

Hopefully that doesn't break the no B/S/T rules, just trying to give you some peace of mind.

And what would YOU know about serrated knives?!

:D :D :D

[benben]

KenD, I was exactly like you, had a SE Pacific Salt on my “to purchase next” list for 5 or 6 years! You know what? I missed out on using that knife for 5 or 6 years!

THE very first thing I ever cut with that Pacific Salt was to open a case of Anti-Freeze, which is very thick cardboard, it literally zipped through it with practically zero resistance, big wow moment for me!

And since you already have a Sharpmaker, you’ll figure it out in 10 minutes, super easy to sharpen! I seriously doubt this will be your last serrated edge knife!

[JRinFL]

If it helps, I went through the same phase. I learned to like the spyderedge, but it's unlikely I'll ever love it. And that is OK. Liking it allows me to use it where it shines and where it is appropriate, IMO. Others love it and use it for everything and that's OK as well. Having at least one SE knife is required, well not required, but you get what I mean.

[ladybug93]

i started out only carrying plain edge. then i moved to carrying a plain edge in my pocket and a spyderedge in my waistband for when i needed it and as a backup. now, i'll still carry both sometimes because i have too many knives i like to not carry them, but if i only carry one knife, it's spyderedge. it's moved from my backup carry to my primary edc in the last couple of years.

[Wartstein]

.....

I guess I’m looking for assurance that I didn’t make a mistake and any advice for a first time SE owner. You SE advocates have already succeeded, you have opened my mind to change. I am ready to try it. The knife should be delivered Tuesday or Wednesday. I will keep you updated.

Don´t be nervous, this is a perfect choice! :)

The Salt 2 ffg SE is probably the best performer I have when it comes to pure cutting power. Just a no nonsense great cutting tool.
- Strong blade, but still reasonably thin (2.5mm. No knife in that (small) size does need a thicker blade imho, this only hinders performance in my experience).
- Almost perfect serration pattern right from the factory. Only the Endela SE has an even better one, and the Salt 2 will just get better after some sharpenings when the points are a bit more rounded.
- Extremely light, but still offers a full handle for all fingers

You might want to read about my first impressions: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=89256
And why I think that this is the perfect ultralight hiking knife and "better BM Bugout": viewtopic.php?f=2&t=88925

Only thing: The Salt 2 ffg and Pac alt 2 ffg (so the LC200N models) seem to have quite some variance when it comes to blade play and action. Hope you´ll receive a perfect one. Generally with this models it seems to be a good idea to ask the dealer to check on blade play and action.

[Evil D]

Should have mentioned it in my original post. I do have a Sharpmaker. So I have the tools, now I just need to develop the skill...

If you can sharpen plain edge on a Sharpmaker, you already have the skills to do the same with serrations. The only difference is that you'll do a ratio of about 3-4:1 making stroke on the serration grind side so you don't over develope a bevel on the back side of the blade. That's literally it. There are other techniques you can play with that may be a little more advanced but even they are really simple. The same basic principles of making sure you actually hit the apex of the edge and you hold the knife at 90 degrees throughout the stroke down the rod is the same as with any other knife. Go slow, use light pressure, rinse and repeat.

[JD Spydo]

I'm highly doubtful if you end up being disappointed. When I got my very first fully serrated Spyder I was actually amazed because I had never had any other serrated blade that could perform like Spyderco's patented Spyderedge does..

And while you're at it learn all you can about keeping your serrations sharp. Buying a Spyderco 204 Sharpmaker with all the extra stones is something you really need to consider. Spyderco's great sharpening equipment is hard to beat.

[elena86]

Just purchase the wharnie SE Delica in VG10 and keep it screaming sharp. It packs terrific cutting power. Mark my words, it will rock you world !

[kobold]

I just ordered a H1 SE Dragonfly. It will be my fifth SE and the smallest one. Can't wait. I want to see if I can comfortably carry two (PE+SE) knives even while wearing shorts and if it is worth it.

[Wartstein]

Just purchase the wharnie SE Delica in VG10 and keep it screaming sharp. It packs terrific cutting power. Mark my words, it will rock you world !

True.
But so will/would the wharnie and drop point Salt 2 in LC200N imho. Same thin (or better: Not too thick...) blade in almost the same shape, same serration pattern as far as I can see...

[Jason Paul]

Yeah well...

I did the same thing you did - got sucked into the SE "hype", and ordered an Endela SE, and ended up liking it quite a bit.

So, very shortly after that I ordered - in one fell swoop:

Caribbean Sheepsfoot SE
Pacific Salt 2 SE
Rockjumper SE
Dragonfly 2 Salt SE

So, yeah...

Overall, I'm very happy with them so far, and can see how people can go full-SE. In fact I've been pretty much full-SE myself. As you've read here many times, when SE is sharp it can perform as well as, or better than SE in most cases. It can give you some aggressive toothiness in cases where PE would just slide across whatever you're trying to cut.

Regarding sharpening - mine were all super-sharp out of the box, and haven't really needed sharpening. I did consider reprofiling my Dragonfly to 15 degrees, and it became dull after a few minutes. I stopped "reprofiling" and just gave it a few minutes back at 20 degrees and it was back to normal.

I did decide to bite the bullet and reprofile my Pacific Salt 2 SE to 15 degrees. Honestly it went to dull & snagging right away. I figured maybe it's part of the process until I get the new edge all the way to the apex. Hopefully that's the case, and once I'm at the apex I'll start seeing some improvement. I've been using 100-grit sandpaper wrapped around a Sharpmaker rod for most of the work, and am now about to move to the CBN rod, then to medium and fine.

It's been a long process working on it a few minutes at a time almost each evening; probably two weeks. Hopefully soon it will start getting back to sharp, then sharper than when I started.

I only bring that all up because that's been my experience so far in learning to sharpen it - remember though, I'm talking more about reprofiling than just sharpening. Full disclosure I'm new to knives in general. Overall I think I'm on the right track, even though it's somewhat dull during the process. I know I'm building up some muscle memory with the Sharpmaker though - at least on one side LOL.

But for general sharpening, you should have no problems with the Sharpmaker. As you probably already read, just do 5-6 swipes on the scalloped side followed by 1-2 on the flat side, layed over a bit so it's almost parallel to the rod.

Jason

[benben]

Don’t do it, serrated knives are terrible! :D