Hate for serrated knives?

I have used serrations and liked them. But don't ever try to sell a half-serrated blade on the Exchange. You'll starve before it sells...for half of what you're asking.
 
This is not for the printer paper slicing, whittling wood into a spoon, batoning campfire wood, demographic. :D

[video=youtube_share;Hf0v-W9xICo]http://youtu.be/Hf0v-W9xICo[/video]
 
Last year I was doing a small yard project involving cement work. I used my old spyderco native with frn handles and sharp serrations ( I know they were sharp, in controlled printer paper tests ) and opening a few bags of ready-mix just shredded wherever or however I cut. Pissed. I used to think that serrations had some uses and the only one I can come up with is for the person who doesnt ever ever sharpen their knives and then I think serrations could be useful.
John
 
The Mango I had for lunch.
Cut using my Pohl Force Bravo 1 with a partially serrated blade.
Using a push cut straight down, no sawing, no ripping, no tearing.
Sharp (well maintained) serrations are a pleasure.
I still enjoy both P.E. AND SR. and do not condemn either one to death row.

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He just came from the dentist.... showing his pearly whites:

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Chambelona59- I gotta say I'm with you on the serrations. I think that there are just some people who, no matter how much proof they are shown, are never gonna believe that serrations are anything more than rough-edged saw blades. I had a video thread about serrations awhile back, and a poster, I think it was plumberroy, basically refused to accept that when both types of knives get dull, a serrated blade will cut circles around a plain blade. He went so far as to say he would just field sharpen his blade, and then it would be better than the serrated blade again. The premise of the challenge was if you had a dull serrated blade, and a dull plain blade, which would cut better. I think the serration haters are just never going to fully accept it. For those that just don't like serrations, I respect that. But when people start getting irrational because of that preference, the logical part of the conversation is over. Thanks for the vid, by the way.
 
Whatever your preference...PE, SE, or CE...is a matter of personal choice. What I always find puzzling, though, is that so many serration-haters like to say that proponents of serrations are those who don't know how to sharpen knives. Well, I like both PE and SE knives, and have no trouble sharpening my knives in either configuration. If anything, it's many of the anti-serration people who assert that serrations are too hard to sharpen.

Having personal preferences is one thing. But why do so many antis seem so quick to make such misinformed judgments about the pro-serration crowd? Odd.

Jim
 
72jroberts said:
Last year I was doing a small yard project involving cement work. I used my old spyderco native with frn handles and sharp serrations ( I know they were sharp, in controlled printer paper tests ) and opening a few bags of ready-mix just shredded wherever or however I cut. Pissed. I used to think that serrations had some uses and the only one I can come up with is for the person who doesnt ever ever sharpen their knives and then I think serrations could be useful.
John
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I know exactly what you're talking about.
Instead of cutting through the bag with the knife at a perpendicular or 45degree angle, try running the knife almost parallel to the bag and then it won't catch and tear.
 
3f8 said:
Is there a relationship between people who hate serrations and those who hate chisel grind also?
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Not sure.. I don't like serrations and have always thought they were in the wrong place i.e at the prime control cutting area of the blade. Now for a farm/work knife I can 'imagine' thay'd have more uses if they were in the right place, like this SAK..



Otherwise they have always seemed useless to me.

The chisel grind however, I think it good for certain tasks. I have a chisel ground sections on the back of my two of my machetes for grass and shrub clearing and a full one on my vintage billhook! Never used a small knife with a chisel grind but the only thing I can think of about one that I wouldn't like is the appearenc of the unsymetrical grind.
 
Carbon1 said:
Chambelona59- I gotta say I'm with you on the serrations. I think that there are just some people who, no matter how much proof they are shown, are never gonna believe that serrations are anything more than rough-edged saw blades. I had a video thread about serrations awhile back, and a poster, I think it was plumberroy, basically refused to accept that when both types of knives get dull, a serrated blade will cut circles around a plain blade. He went so far as to say he would just field sharpen his blade, and then it would be better than the serrated blade again. The premise of the challenge was if you had a dull serrated blade, and a dull plain blade, which would cut better. I think the serration haters are just never going to fully accept it. For those that just don't like serrations, I respect that. But when people start getting irrational because of that preference, the logical part of the conversation is over. Thanks for the vid, by the way.
Click to expand...

:thumbup:

First, I like them both, I'm not condemning one or the other.
I don't find one "uglier" than the other, I don't equate one to being a "spork", I don't feel that serrations are "only for bread" and I certainly don't find serrations to be *"un-Manly" (*that's my favorite one).

Just a couple of important points of views to keep in mind:
Keep in mind that the uses and cutting tasks/jobs that those of us use that live in major urban cities for example: N.Y.C., Boston, Chicago, Miami, Washington D.C., Atlanta (and not limited to America only) often can be quite different than those of us living in the more "non-urban" more rural areas of the country, lets say (for example only) Montana, Iowa, Oregon, Washington state, Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming, Utah, North and South Dakota, Tennessee... where the uses, needs and cutting tasks/jobs can often be vastly different.
I personally have lived in several different areas of the country, major urban city to rural areas and have seen how different the usage can be.

Additionally, just like for some Cigar smokers there is a "ritual" aspect of cutting the Cigar, smelling it, rolling it between the fingers, a certain preferred way to cut it and I didn't even mention the lighting part.... there is for some of us definitely a "ritual" aspect to sharpening our knives (what ever method used), meaning setting up, oiling, watering, pushing, pulling, angling, testing then going through it all again, not leaving out the stropping ritual.
I can understand that those that greatly enjoy that highly desired and enjoyable ritual when applied to a plain edge knife blade do not experience to the same degree the sharpening "ritual" when applied to a fully or partially serrated blade.
So I find that for some, besides saying serrations can't do this or that, or serrations suck at this or that... the actual lack of the "sharpening ritual", that is being able to sharpen serrations as easily and smoothly as a plain edge contributes to some peoples discomfort (hatred in some cases) with partial and full serrations.

Again, just my own personal thoughts.
 
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I think this boils down to the application the knife is being used for. It's the same reason guys carry a certain blade shape. Personally I'd never be caught dead with a double edged dagger or hawkbill style blade. Nothing against them but I don't have a use for them. I love the utility of a wharncliffe blade. It suits my needs. However I like my serrated rift as well. It cuts flex line for irrigation, rope, and "tougher" type materials more efficiently than any of my plain blades. My plain edge blades can cut these things too, but the serrations make it easier.
Serrations are ugly though.....
 
I wrote up a post a while back about serrated Traditional patterns, and never got around to posting it. This is a good place for it, I think.

In my opinion, "partially-serrated" means "semi-useless". I can't sharpen serrated edges efficiently - meaning that I can get a serrated edge to slice paper like a razor, but it takes a LOT more effort to get the edge to that point. I bought the Griptilian here a while back, and I'm still working on the edge. It's coming back (I dulled the plain portion on vines in the backyard), but someone before me wasn't very careful with the partially serrated area, and it's uneven now. That, to me, is one of the major drawbacks to a partially serrated edge: someone used to sharpening plain edges may not be able to get the serrated portion of the edge to a useful cutting state. Then it becomes no more than a short-stroke saw.


That being said, partially serrated can be useful in some situations: another member here posted about using serrations to cut the shells of shrimp for cooking; a plain edge knife just slid off the shell. When I did restaurant work, we kept a couple of steak knives for shelling shrimp. They worked better than anything else, IIRC.

A Spyderco Delica 4 and stainless Native. They are both partially serrated - I wanted the knives, and didn't care one way or the other about the edges. In all the time I've had them, I've never used the serrated portion of the edge.


But, on another note, I bought these old 1st generation Enduras a while back, and while both have edges that are in terrible shape, both still cut very well - I actually carry & use the bottom one. It still cuts rope with little effort, and still slices cardboard just fine. (I'll eventually send it to Spyderco for a new edge, but until then it's still adequate for the cutting tasks I have.) The top still cuts well, but the lock is loose, so I don't use it. I have a fully serrated Spyderco Endura 4, and I've carried it occasionally for the least four years. It took me a while to get the cutting technique down with a serrated blade, but now I can use either edge type as well as the other.


Two old U.S. Schrade (pre-closure) #AV7 Avatar knives; I love their lines & style, but the partially serrated edges add no usefulness and just ruin the flow of the blade in my opinion.


Spyderco Tasman SALT, and it's one of those knives that perform beyond all expectations. The H1 takes a great edge, and gets better with holding the edge over time. The serrated edge on the Leatherman Charge Ti is no better than a plain edge, IMO. As I sharpen it, I'll just work it down eventually to make it a plain edge. As far as I'm concerned, Leatherman should just cut that step (serrating the edge) out of production.


Two slipjoint patterns with serrated edges: The Camillus-made Stanley Trapper is really no better than a plain edge, and if I use it, I'm not going to any effort to keep the serrated edge intact. The Imperial/Ireland has very aggressive serrations, and they work really well for cutting dog food bags open, but I really only ever use the plain edge portion of the blade. I think this illustrates the issue that the size & shape of the serrations on a blade really determine how useful it can be.


Anyway, long winded post, but I figured it may be useful to some here.

~Chris
 
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Nullity
I am going to try that-you described exactly what I did, I was cutting perpendicular to the blade and it really got gummed up- torn bag everywhere. Next time I will try laying that blade down nearly flat against the media and I probably will get better results.
Thanks!!
John
 
PropThePolecat said:
@chambelona

Nice knife! Ive got the same one and it handles everything as good as the next blade.
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I like it a lot, well designed by Dietmar Pohl, an expert at Military and Police Special Forces design applications.
I lost the thumb disc once after taking it apart... I wrote to P.F. asking if I could purchase a replacement thumb disc,
Dietmar Pohl wrote back, "no problem, I'll send you one free", received it within a week from Germany.
I like the concave area on the spine for the thumb, allowing great choke up.
I think it's the only D2 I own.

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These are very shallow serrations that came on one of two Gerber knives that were
sold together in a metal box, only through Wal-Mart a few years ago and were $26.00 for the box.
I liked this knife a lot, kept it and gave the other larger one one away.
It's a very proficient sharp slicer!

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If I could only have one knife it would be plain edge, but the serrated ones do cut through certain materials far better, no question about it.

I've done quite a bit of landscaping on a large country estate and can tell you for a fact that it's nice to have a very sharp fully serrated blade.

Will cut through weeds clogging your weedeater, bush hog or anything else you might encounter with much greater ease than plain edge.
 
I appreciate serrations, exclusively on ultra small, unobtrusive, minimalist, folders. Like my Spyderco Ladybug in H1. Helps it cut a bit out of proportion to it's diminutive size. Aside from those specific applications they leave me cold.
 
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