Sharpening convex serrations ??

[crj1968]

Just curious, but when the time comes, how are these type of serrations sharpened? THX!

 

[Bill1170]

A trio of thoughts:

1. Just sharpen the back side, which is flat

2. Send it back to Kershaw for sharpening

3. Extreme tedium with fine slipstones, ugh

 

[crj1968]

A trio of thoughts:

1. Just sharpen the back side, which is flat

2. Send it back to Kershaw for sharpening

3. Extreme tedium with fine slipstones, ugh

I think #2 is my best bet. Great serrations, love the knife. It's a Mini Cyclone, not sure if these serrations are found on other MFG blades or not. ??

 

[Esav Benyamin]

1. Moved to Maintenance, our sharpening forum.

2. Cute kid in the avatar -- looks like Sluggo!

3. I have a Cold Steel Vaquero Grande with their tiny serrations and I sharpen it easily and effectively the way Bill suggested: Just sharpen the back side, which is flat.

 

[shecky]

Will the corners of those triangular Spyderco stones make it down in those crevices?

Power tools can be a great aid here. A cloth buffing wheel makes most serration sharpening an absolute breeze. For sharpening those tiny Cold Steel serrations, I made some cardboard discs about 2.5" in diameter (cut from a bakery box) mounted on a Dremel mandrel, loaded with tripoli. The cardboard is thin enough to get into the serrations and does a great job. I suspect either method will work with those Kershaw serrations.

 

[gomipile]

I use 3 sizes of leather laces with cutting compound to strop serrations. I use "white diamond" cutting compound, but there are many rouges and dedicated stropping compounds that work just fine. For the rounded Kershaw style serrations like that, I use the corner of a square cross section leather boot lace.

I keep the laces tied to the mounting end of my strop, along with a rag to wipe the stropping dust off the blade.

If you know how to strop, it is quite easy to keep serrated knives looking and cutting like they came from the factory this way.

 

[crj1968]

2. Cute kid in the avatar -- looks like Sluggo!

Sluggo! I like it- we just call him Bug. (I dunno why.)


Thanks for the suggestions. I appreciate it ! :thumbup:

Maybe it wont be as bad as I thought, to keep em' sharp.

 

[ChapmanPreferred]

So after you guys sharpen the back/flat side of the serrations, do you try to take the burr off the opposite side? Thanks, Doug

 

[Esav Benyamin]

Just strop the front afterwards.

 

[Bill1170]

So after you guys sharpen the back/flat side of the serrations, do you try to take the burr off the opposite side? Thanks, Doug

On regular serrations I use the corner of the paper polishing wheel to polish the burr off the serrations. I doubt it would get all the way into the notches on those ones pictured by the OP.

I like the leather shoelace strop idea a lot.

 

[Jason B.]

Use something like a sharpmaker rod to run over the front and back like a microbevel then use a cotton wheel and some compound to polish. They will come out near hair splitting sharp.

 

[cziv]

I will defer to the expert sharpeners who've posted but depending on what tools yo have ( I have a Sharpmaker and some others)

I've got 2 folders w/serrations and I use the corner of my Sharpmaker rods - the fine & x-fine. 4 or 5 light strokes as you move the rod slightly to get full coverage on the inner portion.

Then, one flat pass on the back per every 5 inside the serrations.

That's what I read to do somewhere and it really works for me - soft touch though!

 

[jimmyh]

You could try just keeping it sharp through stropping. Maybe 2-3 micron diamond to take off a bit more material than most stropping.

You'd probably want to do it on some soft material that can get up in the cracks (felt maybe?) I've had great luck with regular serrations on the leg of my workout shorts.

How well do those cut anyway?

 

[Broos]

I'm with the guys who say sharpen the back only and strop the front.