New serrated edges-more than just hype?

[jcs71]

Hi there,
When I was in the Navy I used mainly a stright edged Buck 110. My knife was very sharp and would slice right through all types of lines and ropes. Naturally the thicker the line like ship mooring lines it took a couple of swipes due to my knifes blade length. I have cut dirty, mud-encrusted canvas line with a straight edge, all the way down to hermaculite( form of vinyl) wrapped in duck tape with no problem. All that with a straight edged knife.
BUT,,, I did try some serrations on some line that we were seizing, burning the ends so they don't come undone on us. When I cut the line with the serrations it cut them very aggressively, but left the end full of very fine hair-like fibers. When we went to burn the end of the line it burst into a uncontrolable fireball and made the end look like crap. Nylon also does not feel good when burning droplets fall on you either.
We did the same thing with a staight edge and burned the end of the line and it was so easy to control and maitain. The ends looked alot better when we used a straight edged knife.
I say just use a plain edge and get very good at sharpening your knife. Watch your bevels and make sure they are even on both sides and that there is no rolled edge when you are completely done.
Serrations are very difficult to sharpen neatly and properly. I have sharpeners to sharpen most if not all currently used serrated patterns on the market. Unfortunately some very good knives are stuck with serrations to a degree when you buy them.
I hope this helps out. Have a nice day.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

I did try some serrations on some line that we were seizing, burning the ends so they don't come undone on us. When I cut the line with the serrations it cut them very aggressively, but left the end full of very fine hair-like fibers. When we went to burn the end of the line it burst into a uncontrolable fireball and made the end look like crap.

Do you recall the type of serrations?

-Cliff

 

[Followthehollow]

I've been EDCing a combo edge endura lately. My first combo edge knife and I thought I'd give it a try as the blade is long enough to have a usable amount of each type.


For things like hard plastics as mentioned above, the serrated edge excels far beyond even the sharpest plain edge.

On general cutting chores you won't notice a difference.

 

[orthogonal1]

Everytime I see these (and read) posts concerning serrations, I wonder why no-one makes them such that they are on both sides of the blade, applied in a cycle of one on one side followed by on on the other side.

It seems to me this would have potential.

 

[razorsdescent]

Serrations are usually a good thing to have around, almost every knife i carry has partial serrations, i tend to disagree with some members over its efficiency. some tasks it makes much easier!

+1 i really lament that the BM 42 no longer comes in combo edge.:grumpy:

My delica is a CE and i love it.

Oh if anyone has a sharpening faq i would love to read it. I have a sharp maker that i got second hand so no clue what ta do with it. Espeacially when it comes to serrations.

 

[Sal Glesser]

Hi Razorsdescent,

The Sharpmaker comes with a DVD that can help you understand serration sharpening on the tool.

I believe the DVD is available through some dealers or through the Spyderco Factory Outlet (SFO) store.

sal

 

[Quiet Storm]

I've moved away from partial serrations. Combination edges don't leave enough plain or enough serrated area for the specific uses I'd need them for.

It's all or nothing now, with a few fully serrated blades for specialized use, and I don't tend to carry them regularly. For daily carry, I much prefer plain edge, well-maintained.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[WadeF]

I find if I keep my plain edge blades scary sharp they perform as well or better than a serrated blade. It's when a plain edge knife starts to dull it quickly becomes less effective than a serrated knife that even when it starts to dull, it can still rip and tear things apart. I don't cut rope often, but when I have, with a scary sharp plain edge, the rope just explodes apart.

 

[Vorpal Blade]

Everytime I see these (and read) posts concerning serrations, I wonder why no-one makes them such that they are on both sides of the blade, applied in a cycle of one on one side followed by on on the other side.

It seems to me this would have potential.

I too have wondered how well such serrations would work.

It would center the tips of the teeth exactly below the center of the spine, making precise slicing intuitively easier. But such serrations would have to be sharpened on both sides, so if the blade was run down the corners of a sharpmaker, for instance, the points would eventually become scallops; Maybe not a bad thing, as pointed out earlier.

To keep the points, each serration would have to be sharpened separately, preferably with a rod, the diameter of the serrations; not overly difficult.

I would take a guess that staggered serrations on both sides of the blade would not be hard to manufacture once the machinery was set up.

It would be interesting to use a 1/4" (or so) diameter diamond coated rod to make such serrations on a beater.

 

[weety]

Thank you everyone for your input, if anyone has an opinion please post!!

Thanks