Will they ever make Spyderedge serrations ground on [i]both sides[/i]?

peacefuljeffrey

peacefuljeffrey

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Feb 24, 2001
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I am a fan of combo-edged Spyderco and Benchmade knives. I like a blade that has the option. I prefer a blade that at least 50% plain, which makes for expedient sharpening, but I want the serrations because they have their functionality, too. I usually leave the serrations alone, for the most part -- sharpening only the plain sections of my blades (since I don't relish sharpening serrations).

The one drawback to serrations, as they are executed today, is that while the forward part of the blades are double ground, the serrations are, effectively, chisel ground.

Will Spyderco or Benchmade ever grind the serrations on BOTH sides? I think that the knives would both LOOK AWESOME and PERFORM BETTER if this were the case.

Anyone with me on this?

---Jeffrey
 
I don't recall anyone criticising the cutting power of Spydies. Other than for cosmetic reasons - which are subjective - I don't think it would be an improvement.

As you colonial chappies say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

maximus otter
 
There's a guy who's always at the Spyderco table at the NY show. I'm sorry I cant remember his name but he wears a derby and has a handlebar mustache and is always demonstrating sharpening with the sharpmaker and in fact will sharpen your Spyderco for you if you are carrying one. Anyway, my point is that he showed me how to sharpen the whole blade, serrations and all. He just uses the points of the stone, not the flats and sharpens the whole blade end to end as if the serrations werent there,alternating side to side. Yes, he does both sides.He doesnt slide the points up and down each serration, he just pulls the knife through the same as you would a plain edge. You wont believe how sharp the blade gets.
As a benefit, to what you asked for, I think after a while sharpening your knife like this, it would be beveled on both sides.
 
There is one practical problem to this, the thinness of the steel.

At the momment a PE Spyderco has an edge of about 30degs inclusive, and although I have not measured it I would say the serrations have a grind angle of about 20degs inclusive. It's the reason Serrations cut so well. Normally with some steels like AUS-6 you wouldn't sharpen so thin, but on a serration each short legnth is supported by a relatively thick "tooth".
Now if you were to grind a serration on both sides I would have thought you would be down in the 10deg inclusive range, much too thin for most steels, supporting teeth or not.
 
The only production knives I've seen with double or "alternate" serrations on both sides of the blade are the Blackie Collins designed Smith & Wesson First Response folders and the old Meyerco Speedsters. The alternate serrations on the Speedsters didn't cut well at all, but the ones on the S&W First Response are radiused and cut well.

Image from knifecenter.com
911new.jpg
 
I agree with Maximus. There's nothing wrong with Spyderco's serrations being ground on one side. I have never noticed the blade cutting any worst than a plain edge. The blade doesn't veer off to one side and is just as easy if not easier to sharpen. So what's the problem? Looks? It's certainly not performance.
Matt
 
I don´t like serrations, however, I have tried some Japanese and Spanish knives (fixed blades) that had serrations ground on both sides and I think they are better than ground single side.

I believe grinding the backside of the serrations would increase, rather than decrease, the grind angle.
 
The angle on the regular Spyderco serrations is already thin enough. If it's ground on both sides, it will probably roll over or something.
 
Sal has indicated in previous threads that Spyderco tried to double grind the serrations, but it is not feasible to double grind the Spyderco design and maintain quality control.
 
Hmmm... I was not aware that Spyderco had considered or tried grinding double-edged serrations. It does make sense to me, though, that if one was first starting to manufacture knives, and had not done serrations before, one would at least think about grinding both sides, since that seems to be the "intuitive" way to grind a knife. Then once embarked upon the project, one would decide whether it was practical.

If quality control is an issue, and it is difficult to keep quality up when grinding both sides, then by all means, sharpen only one.

I was asking because I think that a Spyderco knife would look significantly better with double-ground serrations; my interest in them is definitely more aesthetics-oriented, although I do believe that a double-ground serrated knife would cut straighter with less effort than a single-ground one. I'll grant that there may not be great difficulty caused by Spyderco's single-ground serrations, but you kinda have to admit that double-ground ones would cut straight by their very nature: think particularly of push-cutting through a brick of cheddar cheese. A fully serrated Spyderco knife ground on one side will definitely want to push to your right. A double ground serrated knife would go straigth through, with "even pushing" from both sides canceling each other out.

Yog here said that double-ground serrations would leave the metal too thin, but I am inclined to agree with Don Luis -- double ground would increase the angle at which the bevels meet, would it not?

Maximus, I wasn't saying that the current Spyder-serrations lack cutting power, I said they would "perform better," and by that, though I should have been more specific, I meant that they would be balanced and not push in either direction when push-cutting.

Anyway, I think it would be doable, but I don't see anyone making knives like this. It's too bad.

---Jeffrey
 
If wanted to do it yourself you could easily do it with a mini diamond rod or small file. I know it might not look as good, but then again you wouldn't have to go real deep on the backside of the serrations to get the effect you're looking for. The only problem is, You wouldn't have serrations anymore, you'd have a SAWBACK!!!!
(or sawfront) Yes, believe it or not, that's what you are asking about. Take a look at some cheap survival knives, and you'll see that's exactly what's done, it's a double sided serration. And it won't cut as much as it will saw.
 
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