Comments on: how do i sharpen a knife?

Question: how do i sharpen a knife?

goldism — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 20:14:10 -0800

how do you sharpen a "sir-rated" (i cant spell) knife?

am i just better off buying another one?

By: subatomiczoo

subatomiczoo — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 20:16:29 -0800

i love your inventive spelling, but you might find googling easier by spelling it this way:

serrated

and yes, they can be sharpened, but i take mine to the local hardware store and they do it for me!

By: aubilenon

aubilenon — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 20:17:59 -0800

serrated.

Knowing how to spell it found me:
this. Never tried it myself, though.

By: RMALCOLM

RMALCOLM — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 20:29:47 -0800

Most serrated knives have a bevel on one side of the blade while the other side is "flat" or unbeveled. I have good results when I use a sharpening rod on the unbeveled side.

This technique will not work forever, but you should be able to get at least 10 years use out of the knife if you use only the rod and not a grinder or file.

You should also be aware that the first round of sharpening should be at an angle of only 11 degrees to the edge of the blade (almost parallel to the blade). On a normal blade, you do both sides at this angle, while on the serrated, as stated above, you do only the non-beveled side. Once this is done, you then lightly run the rod no more than twice at 22 degrees per side. This last part is what produces the razor edge.

It took me a while to learn how to feel the rod biting the steel of the blade. It also helps this process to rest the side of the blade not being sharpened against a counter top to support it while the rod is being run along the upper surface away from the counter.

I have several Dreizack knives which we use regularly and I sharpen them every time they are used. I have owned them for 20 years and they show little sign of being worn down.

By: frogan

frogan — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 21:22:58 -0800

Professional sharpening at any decent knife shop is definitely worth the (suprisingly low) cost. You'll do this, say, once every six months, depending on usage levels. They can also teach you to use a steel for everyday sharpening.

By: StickyCarpet

StickyCarpet — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 21:25:46 -0800

Not for the purists, but I use one of those spring loaded crossed roller sharpeners, and its worked fine for years. maybe the serrations have lost some of their points, but it wasn't an heirloom knife to begin with.

By: ceri richard

ceri richard — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 03:15:56 -0800

Tip for a quick spell check: enter sirrated knife into google and it will kindly offer you the correct spelling.

By: Kirth Gerson

Kirth Gerson — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 07:09:57 -0800

RMALCOLM's sharpening with a rod (called a "steel") works fine for me. Serrated blades normally dull only on the high points, where the blade is widest. A sharpening steel sharpens only those places. StickyCarpet's ceramic rollers work for the same reason.

By: 445supermag

445supermag — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 07:15:53 -0800

The unglazed bottom of a coffee cup is an amazingly good sharpener (if you just need a touch up).

By: dersins

dersins — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 09:17:27 -0800

Tip for a quick spell check: enter sirrated knife into google and it will kindly offer you the correct spelling.

OMG spelling hack!

By: goldism

goldism — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 10:55:52 -0800

awesome, thanks for all of the help peoples.