The 'Mid-Serrated' blade and Edge area usage poll

[FortyTwoBlades]

As far as sharpenability goes, it'd be nice if more manufacturers used a flat grind on the rear face of the serrations rather than the typical hollow, because it allows you to lay the bevel on the stone and hit every part of the serration. My serrated Victorinox paring knives (that I use all the time in the kitchen) are a zero flat on the backs, and I just lay the blade flat on the stone to touch them up, with a little deburring stroke on the front along the edge of the stone.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Corn knife and grain sickle manufacturers used to use a couple of methods to produce serrations that "wouldn't grind off" in frequent resharpening. Some corrugated the blades and others used a machine that struck the serrations far back into the blade so that by the time you sharpened through all of it you'd have been just about out of blade. Both styles were ground on one side only.

 

[Sympa]

Funny you used the Boker Trance as one of your prototype knives.

The designer of the Trance, Chad Los Banos aka Daywalker on the forums, is an advocate of the mid-serrations and pushed for them on his Direkt model (though the factory version had the serrations towards the front rather than the middle like Chad's proto).

 

[SCWillson]

I think it's a great idea and this might actually make me consider using a partially serrated blade again.

 

[22-rimfire]

I know victorinox has partially serrated blades with the serrations near the tip instead of the heel.

Vic's partially serrated blades make sense to me. The ones situated near the handle make little sense to me from a use standpoint unless you like serrations. Then just buy fully serrated blades.

I like your idea and would actually buy one to try out. Will have to look at one in a store and handle it.

 

[darsk20]

I like look and the theory. Neat idea.

 

[NG VI]

Looks great to me, I really prefer having some plain edge near the handle, it just makes me less likely to do something stupid with the tip.

 

[Subwoofer_CPF]

Funny you used the Boker Trance as one of your prototype knives.

The designer of the Trance, Chad Los Banos aka Daywalker on the forums, is an advocate of the mid-serrations and pushed for them on his Direkt model (though the factory version had the serrations towards the front rather than the middle like Chad's proto).

And there is more as the Boker Plus XS appears to also be a Chad designed knife and happens to be one of my go-to slipjoints. The next one to get mid-serrations added is going to be one of my XSs (when I have time).

I have a lot to thank @Daywalker for!

As far as sharpenability goes, it'd be nice if more manufacturers used a flat grind on the rear face of the serrations rather than the typical hollow, because it allows you to lay the bevel on the stone and hit every part of the serration. My serrated Victorinox paring knives (that I use all the time in the kitchen) are a zero flat on the backs, and I just lay the blade flat on the stone to touch them up, with a little deburring stroke on the front along the edge of the stone.

So many serrations appear to be added as a one time only edge with little attention to maintenance. This is why I love the Kubuli serration as it is cut into a normal edge and you just sharpen normally.

I might start another thread just on serration patterns as some work brilliantly and some are worse than an old rusty saw, but what I do wish for is serrations you can easily maintain as they do go blunt (just saying in case any manufacturers think they are magic).

 

[DPC]

I might start another thread just on serration patterns as some work brilliantly and some are worse than an old rusty saw, but what I do wish for is serrations you can easily maintain as they do go blunt (just saying in case any manufacturers think they are magic).

Posted this on a related serrations thread, but it might be of your interest.

The Chris Reeve pattern of serrations is I think excellent.

They have notches on both sides. On one side you'll see notches and a flat edge portion with a "ding" on it. If you turn the knife around, the pattern is replicated but moved up a notch, so the notches on this other side will match the flat surface with a "ding" you saw before.

This allows for serrated edge that is also aligned with the main edge and can be sharpened on both sides just as well and alongside the main plain edge.

 

[Subwoofer_CPF]

Posted this on a related serrations thread, but it might be of your interest.

The Chris Reeve pattern of serrations is I think excellent.

They have notches on both sides. On one side you'll see notches and a flat edge portion with a "ding" on it. If you turn the knife around, the pattern is replicated but moved up a notch, so the notches on this other side will match the flat surface with a "ding" you saw before.

This allows for serrated edge that is also aligned with the main edge and can be sharpened on both sides just as well and alongside the main plain edge.

This is exactly why I chose the Chris Reeve Kubuli serration pattern for my prototypes, I really like them. If you check the first post, you will see my version of the Kubuli serration.

I'm still finding the mid-serration to work really well - no change in feedback as yet.

 

[Roamad]

Subwoofer: Curious how you cut the serrations in your blades? You did a beautiful job. Did you use hand files or some kind of rotary tool?

 

[Subwoofer_CPF]

Subwoofer: Curious how you cut the serrations in your blades? You did a beautiful job. Did you use hand files or some kind of rotary tool?

First I covered the blade with masking tape and marked out the position for each cut on this, then I used a Dremel with either a sanding drum, grinding stone or diamond bit (chosen based on the size of serration) to cut each serration.

The blade was clamped onto a piece of wood on a workbench and positioned to help me maintain the correct angle (or at least the same angle) for each cut. once the first side was done I flipped it over and repeated for the second side.

The first image in this thread shows the 5th blade I have done. The first attempt is not something I want to show anyone, but what I definitely learnt was not to try this on anything you care about until you have practised a few times.

 

[Roamad]

Thanks for the prompt reply -- and advice to do a 'trial run'. Makes sense since your serrations are alternate sides (and I like that CR design a lot) so it must be tough to get the spacing and relative positioning just right.