Stropping & steeling for serrated Spyders?

J

JD Spydo

Joined
Nov 20, 2004
Messages
4,827
I own several Spyderco serrated blades. I even use several of them in EDC rotation. I usually have either 2 fully serrated or at least one combo edge on me always. As I have stated on this Forum and other Forums that I mainly use the Spyderco 701 Profiles to keep my serrated blades sharp. However I still haven't figured what is the best way to strop and steel the serrated edges.

I had heard in the past that leather boot laces with green Chrome-oxide compound does a decent job. I have also heard that steeling the back side of the serrated blade is the only good method for steeling serrated Spyders. So what do you all use for stropping and steeling your serrated Spyders. I am specifically confining this to Spyderco serrations because of their coarse, unique patterns.

Also if there are any other tricks to getting Serrated Spyders to maximum sharpness I would sure like to know about it ( other sharpening methods are welcome). Also please tell us of any other edge maintenance you might find useful for SE Spyders>??
 
I work in a knife store that sharpens knives profesionally and the easiest way is to buff/strop the back side of the seration. (at least thats how we do it and it works well)
 
I strop the back of the blade on the flat of a leather belt, and use the sides of the belt on the front between the serrations. When I get a small nick I use a diamond needle file to remove it, then strop on the belt. Nothing fancy, good sharpness.

jw
 
I know I seem to be in the minority on this, but I think stropping, in particular, and steeling, to a lesser degree, are a waste of time and effort in most cases for knives used for real purposes in the real world. I fail to see how either could be appropriate on a serrated blade, either. :yawn:
 
Well Dr. Mudd, I would disagree myself. I've brought dull knives back to life by steeling them on the back of another knife then stropping on my pants leg. That's all I do to our kitchen knives, since I can't be bothered to reprofile and grind out a nice edge on knives that are left in dirty dishwater and banged around on other metal objects. Steeling and stropping is all I usually do to my knives to keep them razor sharp after setting the main bevel, assuming I don't get any nicks in the edge (Which is rare for me).

No comment on serrated knives though. The only time I "sharpened" a serrated knife was when I turned me SE Endura 3 into a PE knife. :)
 
Dr. Mudd said:
I know I seem to be in the minority on this, but I think stropping, in particular, and steeling, to a lesser degree, are a waste of time and effort in most cases for knives used for real purposes in the real world. I fail to see how either could be appropriate on a serrated blade, either. :yawn:
Click to expand...

Well Dr. Mudd even though I disagree with you I still appreciate you chiming in with your viewpoint :) . But I have on many, many occasions really done wonders on plain edged knives by steeling and stroping them. The retired butcher who taught me some techniques in steeling sure gave me some good pointers. Also my cousin who is a barber ( out of the old school) taught me the proper use of a good, high quality leather strop on a blade that is already sharp and it has paid me some great dividends with my hunting knives in particular.

The serrated blades I haven't mastered yet but I am looking forward to more feedback from this thread. Hopefully we can all learn from this one. I've just seen to many good results to know that steeling a stropping definitely have their place.

I am wondering about using the edge of a regular strop to do individual scallops on a serrated blade?
 
K0nly understand and agree with the practice of steeling kitchen knives and others meant for meat cutting by butchers and others, even if something other than a "butcher's steel" is sometimes used for this. But what I was thinking mostly about when I said what I did was pocket knives and other reasonable outdoor or what I call "real world" knives ... other than those routinely used for food preparation. I have also heard of serrated Spyderco folders being buffed BY AN EXPERT on a buffing wheel, and that sounds to me like it has possiblities, too. It also sounds extremely dangerous for anybody who is not an expert in the use of a buffer to attempt! A buffing wheel impregnated with some sort of very fine abrasive or polishing compound (jeweler's rouge?) might just be the best thing for a Spyderco that isn't too dull, and there are tapered hones available from several sources that should probably be used first if one is partucularly dull. I'm hoping to hear about somebody who wants to get their serrated Spyderco "shaving sharp" so then they can really try to shave with it. I'm going to sell tickets for people to watch that! :D
 
I don't know how that first word (?) got into my post above. It should have simply been "I." Oops.
 
I still don't grasp the implication that "real world" knives don't need a high level of sharpness. In whittling or woodcarving for example, thin, acute edges and an extreme level of sharpness will save you a lot of fatigue. It's never appeared difficult to myself to maintain these types of edges either. Is there anything in particular that led you to feel this way Dr. Mudd?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top