Hate for serrations?

Let's see, straighten out the edge of my serrated knife and I have 10-20 percent more cutting edge over the same length plain edge. No matter my hand/wrist angle to what I'm cutting, I have an aggresive angle somewhere on that blade. Once I find the proper tool for sharpening my serrations, sharpening is a breeze.
I agree, they are not everyone's cup of tea, but cut rope, tape, or packaging for any length of time, you might wish you had a quality serrated knife.
Interesting idea about a half serrated blade being useless. At one time I thought that might be a good compromise but wondered if it would be effective on say a police model spyderco. Maybe someday I'll find out.
 
bubblewhip said:
I think serrations especially comboedges suck. I don't think any high end production high quality knife should come with any serrations. A blade made out of VG-10 or S30V does not deserve serrations. Serrations in my opinion is for knife steels that can't hold an edge like the super steels. That's why you see late night TV knives on QVC are always serrated, and saying "We took this knife to concrete and it's still razor sharp!" It's not sharp it just rips, serrations in my opinion don't cut they rip, and therefore don't need super edge holding steels. A dull serrated blade will usually still work forever as long as those teeth are still there.

High end steels don't deserve serrations, if you want a serrated blade you don't need VG-10 or S30V as it wont really do anything for it that a 420HC blade won't do.
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My Fully Serrated ZDP-189 Endura 4 is appalled by this post.
It can cut nearly anything just as well, and many things much better than a plain edged knife.
Sharpening is a breeze once you figure it out. Just do all your grinding on the side opposite the serrations, then use a stick sharpener to remove the burr on the side with the serrations.
I finish with a crude stropping on the corner of a 2x4.

With the rod and 2x4 remember to stroke in both directions to get both sides of the scallops.
 
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:):):)
 
banana-clip said:
I have a few knives that are serrated and they cut really good. The main reason why I don't like serrations is because they are hard to sharpen.
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I used to feel the same way about sharpening them, but now I just have a few different sized leather laces hanging off my strop that I use to strop the beveled side of each serration. Sure it can take a while, but it gets done right, and doesn't have to be done often.
 
T.K.C. said:
I don't hate serrations, but I really don't care for them and have no use for them.
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+1

I have a serrated blade on my LM Wave that is as sharp as when I bought it almost a decade ago - because I never use it. I do use the PE blade on the same Wave and I keep that 'scary sharp' (honestly, I have to be VERY careful).

All my other blades are PE.


GWashington1732 said:
They have their place. They're good for cutting rope, carboard, or tearing up a nice steak, but aren't so good for clean cuts.
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How tough is your steak? I can slice up and eat a piece of rather average steak pretty darned easily with my PE knives. I often use my Opinel #8 stainless - it slices steak better than my serrated steak knives!

I find PE works fine on cardboard - I think SE only wins when you cut enough cardboard to dull the PE blade.

I don't cut enough rope to care about it - but my VERY sharp PE blades don't seem to have a big problem cutting synthetic cordage like 550 Paracord.


My view:
Serrations may be better in some cases but mostly they are good for those people that are bad at keeping their knives sharp. If you keep your PE sharp then you should be able to handle fairly much any cutting task with ease.
 
I don't understand how you could hate an inanimate object. I prefer plain edges but serrated blades have their place in the knife world.
 
I'm firmly in the 'don't care for serrations' camp, and I really, really don't like combo edges. The exception to both of those is the Kershaw rounded serrations as noted above. I find them very efficient cutters, easy to sharpen and not bad in a combo edge. I saw a co worker cut the end of his finger off with the serrations on a Kershaw Storm... they cut spectacularly well in that instance.
 
I don't care for serrations, I cut well with my knives plain edges. I also re-profile the blades to what I feel is the correct angle for the knife geometry, steel and what kind of use I intend it for.

All that being said, yes IF the knife gets dulled the serrations will continue to rip through or have a few spots where it's still sharp... That's why I carry two knives, lets face it, if you have to cut that much... it's abuse or you need to think about carrying a different tool.
 
jthomas said:
The exception to both of those is the Kershaw rounded serrations as noted above. I find them very efficient cutters, easy to sharpen and not bad in a combo edge. I saw a co worker cut the end of his finger off with the serrations on a Kershaw Storm... they cut spectacularly well in that instance.
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Oh yeah, sure - but I still say that a very sharp PE blade could easily do just as well! It shouldn't be hard to prove me right, your co-worker still has 9 other fingers with intact ends, correct?
 
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I think serrations are fine. If you ahve a knife with a really well done heat treat and some decent steel - thee are no reasons for the serrations to get dull quickly.
I do not care for combo edges on smaller blades (< 3"). They are nice on full tang fixed blades though.

D1omedes said:
I hope Yablonowitz or any other hard-knife user chimes in on this one. :rolleyes:
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X2

I'd like to read what powernoodle would have to contribute.
 
I don't hate serrations at all. I just can't understand why people bitch about them all the time.
 
Knifein said:
I don't hate serrations at all. I just can't understand why people bitch about them all the time.
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My thoughts exactly. Most knives folding or fixed are either plain edge only or offered as plain or combo. its not too hard to grind them off. when you want or need a bite to go along with your cutting chores, serrations are much loved.
 
Another useless post started by someone wanting to argue today. A like vs dislike post about serrations is equivelent to a discussion about religion and politics.

This post was started as a statement and not a question, it should have been ignored.

I'm sure that if everyone had the supreme skills that only PE advocates espouse we would all be just as wonderful as them because they are the only true worthy owners of the "Knife".

The rest of us who think differently or have any other opinion are only worthy to wallow in our own substandard ideas of knife worthiness.

Nice post Newb :jerkit:
 
Skimo said:
I don't care for serrations, I cut well with my knives plain edges. I also re-profile the blades to what I feel is the correct angle for the knife geometry, steel and what kind of use I intend it for.

All that being said, yes IF the knife gets dulled the serrations will continue to rip through or have a few spots where it's still sharp... That's why I carry two knives, lets face it, if you have to cut that much... it's abuse or you need to think about carrying a different tool.
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Why not carry a Byrd Wings? That has both a fully serrated and full plain edge blade in one knife.
 
I don't like serrations except for Microtech. I may be biased since I am a dealer for them, but all my Microtech knives in my collection are partially serrated. Their serrations are extremely aggressive and I like the look of them. And some of their offerings look better in a plain edge.

I also use and carry a partially serrated UT-X70 on my keychain that I use to cut tape, boxes, packaging, etc. Serrations come in handy in many situations.

Some of us do not even know how to sharpen a knife, don't have the time to learn, or just can't do it right when we try. I for one can't sharpen a knife to save my life. Nor do I have the time to properly learn. So serrations do create a dual use for me, aesthetics and function.
 
Angus McGunnigl said:
I won't say that I hate serrations, but I have had a few bad experiences with them.

There was that time at the grocery store when a bunch of serrations were in front of me in line. It was the "12 items or Less" line and they had full carts of stuff. It really was rude.

Some serrations bought a house next to my parents a few years ago and although they seem nice, they just don't take care of the place like the previous owners.

I do know some pretty nice serrations though. I did date one once, but with me being a plain edge guy, I didn't see much of a future for us. Her Dad was very serrated and I don't think he liked me very much.

Oh well, to each his own.
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:D I think I know those serrations .
 
I actually like a combo edge for general EDC tasks, the tip can be used for finer detailed work like cutting out coupons, and the serrations can be used for materials that crumple, fold and bend when you try use a plain edge like plastics. I do prefer the rounded off serrations though.

I find that they are not at all hard to sharpen or take long, I use 300-600grit sandpaper wrapped around a dowel for getting into the serrations for the initial sharpening, a strop for the back side when removing the burr, and I finish off with the corners of a leather strop on a belt sander, it leaves an edge I can shave with and takes less than 3 minutes.
 
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