How To Serrations?

[E.Carlson]

I'm not a fan of serrations and I've never tried to do them, but I've had a request so its time to give it a shot.
Anybody have any tips? Are they done pre heat treat without burning the edge?
I'm thinking about maybe 2 different sized round files alternating.

 

[argel55]

I have seen some that use stacked grinding disc of different sizes to cut the serrations. It is done in one application.

 

[REK Knives]

I do it post ht, water cooled with radius'd cbn wheels on a variable speed bench grinder hooked up to my kbac. The burr doesn't even turn colors - stays nice and cool.

 

[ashwinearl]

in a recent episode of Knife Talk pod cast, the guy from Chop knives talked about how he is doing them.

 

[E.Carlson]

Those are pretty cool options, but I don't see this being something that I do very often and I'm not looking to invest in a whole new setup.
Anyone do any low tech serrations?
I have various small round files for pre HT and I also have a foredom. Is there a type of burr for the foredom that I could use post HT?

 

[WValtakis]

Those are pretty cool options, but I don't see this being something that I do very often and I'm not looking to invest in a whole new setup.
Anyone do any low tech serrations?
I have various small round files for pre HT and I also have a foredom. Is there a type of burr for the foredom that I could use post HT?

Just cut them in after heat treat with diamond files or burrs, then clean up/sharpen with sandpaper around the appropriate size dowels. Low tech as it gets.

~Chip

 

[Richard338]

I did these with a round file before heat treat.
I put the file next to a round rod to set the spacing going down the line.
I file a little past halfway and then when you complete the bevel on the opposite side it comes through.
Easy to do, tough to do perfectly (unless you do something sophisticated like Josh from Razor Edge).

 

[Ian Fifelski]

I am no expert and have only done this once but it works rather well to get consistent serrations and is more fool proof than other methods I have seen.

An easy way to do it is make the blade profile a bit large and then scribe where you want your edge to be. Then drill holes at the scribe line.

The holes, if they are lines up correctly, will make the troughs and peaks of the serrations after you grind the excess material off. Then all you need to do is file the bevels of the serrations on one side. It really helps get uniform spacing between the serrations.

 

[john april]

i have seen some guys making knives by hand with a file and an angle jig, if you made one of those jigs and used round files, marked and started your centers with a triangular file, it will be very consistent and look professional.

 

[E.Carlson]

i have seen some guys making knives by hand with a file and an angle jig, if you made one of those jigs and used round files, marked and started your centers with a triangular file, it will be very consistent and look professional.

I like this idea. I have a Gough jig from when I started out. I may see if I can attach my foredom to the guide rod. That should give me a consistent angle and allow me to do most of it post HT. I'll probably get them started pre HT. Might even try the hole drilling method.