Serrated blade help.
- Thread starter Txcwboy
- Start date
I have had good results using the different sized sanding drums on a dremel, start with a normal edge thickness, mark with a sharpie to get your spaces right, hold the dremel at the right angle and be careful. If you go slow and keep the edge cool, then you can get pretty good Spyderco style serrations, and imperfections can be cleaned up with diamond or ceramic rods.
Justin King
Well-Known Member
I have only done them once and I cut them after the blade was heat treated, using small diamond files to establish the initial grooves and the spacing, then using a carbide grit hacksaw blade (sold at home improvement/hardware stores for hand cutting ceramic tile, etc-sometimes called a rod saw) to deepen them, then finishing them off with different shapes with the diamond files. If you are doing them by hand, it would be worthwhile to practice on a scrap blade or blade-like object before doing it on a real piece. The depth and angle you should cut them at will depend on the edge geometry to some extent and might need some experimenting to get them to cut well.
EdCaffreyMS
"The Montana Bladesmith"
I've been prototyping out a new knife pattern for a while....it's a fully serrated blade. I've experimented with a number of things. The very first thing I learned was that the serrations need to be installed/created AFTER heat treating...if you "cut" the serrations prior to heat treating, you will loose about 75% of the blades to edge cracking during heat treat, due to the stress risers the serrations create. This limits the options....at first I tried a rotary tool with diamond burrs, but that lacked the control necessary for creating a consistent serration pattern. I finally had to go with diamond needle files, doing it all by hand.
Personally, I found that a pattern of two small, one large performs the best for cutting things like rope, and other fibrous materials. I found that a shallow cut, at a steeper angle will give the serrations better endurance. Also, after trying various combinations, it's evident that you have to find a "sweet spot" in terms of depth...while a shallow angle with a deep cut on the serrations gives a better cutting action, it also makes the "points" of the serrations somewhat fragile. A steeper angle doesn't cut as well, but the serrations will hold up much better. For me it took some time and effort (along with a few sacrificed blades) to determine that "sweet spot" of depth and angle.
Since I'm planing on making a number of these type knives, I broke down and purchased a diamond wheel for creating serrations from KnifeKits.com. It was expensive, but I've taken the attitude that if I have to produce more than 3 of something, I purchase the tools to make production easier and more efficient.
Personally, I found that a pattern of two small, one large performs the best for cutting things like rope, and other fibrous materials. I found that a shallow cut, at a steeper angle will give the serrations better endurance. Also, after trying various combinations, it's evident that you have to find a "sweet spot" in terms of depth...while a shallow angle with a deep cut on the serrations gives a better cutting action, it also makes the "points" of the serrations somewhat fragile. A steeper angle doesn't cut as well, but the serrations will hold up much better. For me it took some time and effort (along with a few sacrificed blades) to determine that "sweet spot" of depth and angle.
Since I'm planing on making a number of these type knives, I broke down and purchased a diamond wheel for creating serrations from KnifeKits.com. It was expensive, but I've taken the attitude that if I have to produce more than 3 of something, I purchase the tools to make production easier and more efficient.
Last edited:
rhinoknives
Well-Known Member
Hello Ed,
After looking at this wheel you purchased because I do have one design that may benefit from serrations. The pattern here Ed looks like it would be very difficult to resharpen due to the flat in the middle of the small serrations. Were you just planing on running the knife against the wheel again to resharpen or did you have something else in mind?
Cheers!
Laurence
www,rhinoknives.com/
EdCaffreyMS
"The Montana Bladesmith"
Resharpening can either be done as you indicated, or it's easily accomplished with one of the DMT tapered diamond rods. The pattern is the one that's been standard on many of the factory knives for years. It might look difficult to resharpen at first, but it's not. (I've been resharpening that type of serration pattern for a number of years).
rhinoknives
Well-Known Member
It looked like the small square area in the top of the small scallop would be a pain, But if a DMT rod would do it! we are good to go with this pattern.
Are you setting up the wheel on a Variable speed? My first thought would be slower would be better working with that diamond wheel.
Mine is a 5/8" center. Are there collars to make it 3/4" in size that would be safe to use?
Thanks for your answers Ed.
Cheers!
Laurence
www.rhinoknives.com/