The EdgeMaster: How to Sharpen a Serrated Knife Blade

By PAUL WHEATON

The Edgemaster

Two bucks.

The serrated blade on my leatherman was dull.  Really dull.  I had never sharpened a serrated blade and figured I would need to figure it out soon.  I imagined it would involve small round files and a half hour of careful sharpening.

Ray has a knife sharpening booth just outside the Army Navy store in Missoula. There is an extension cord coming out of a second floor window to power Ray’s grinding wheel.

His sign said “SHARPENING $2.00 PER BLADE” .

“How much for a serrated blade?”

“Two bucks.”

So I handed him the leatherman opened to the serrated blade.

The tip was sharpened the way you would sharpen a normal knife blade and then he used almost exclusively the power rag buffer wheel which he kept loaded with a fine grit.

I passed this video around to a lot of forums and got a lot of feedback from experts on sharpening serrated blades.  Apparently, the way I was thinking of doing it is the best way, but the way Ray did it was a close second.   And Ray’s technique is about 20 times faster.

Note how Ray rubs the blade on the wood once in a while.  That takes off any weak edge metal.   This is to make sure that the only edge left is an edge that will last.

The blade I got back was freaky sharp.

Two bucks.  A helluva deal.

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BIO: Paul Wheaton is is the tyrannical ruler of two on-line communities. One is about permaculture and one is about software engineering. There is even one for Missoula. Paul has written several permacutlure articles starting with one on lawn care that he presented at the MUD Project 17 years ago, including articles on raising chickenscast iron and diatomaceous earth. Paul also regularly uploads permaculture videos and permaculture podcasts. In his spare time, Paul has plans for world domination and is currently shopping for a hollowed out volcano in the Missoula area, with good submarine access.

See all of Paul’s contributions to MakeitMissoula on this Blog Homepage here