Serrated knives

[Elden]

Serrated knives have been discussed various times here on the forum. This is following up after reading Chiltop's thread.
http://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=1836.0

That thread  was old enough that I started a new one instead of adding to his.

Ken uses dowel rods with self stick abrasive on them.

Jeff uses the corner of the Tormek wheels and/or grinds the back side of the knife.

I have used tapered diamond hones from Buck and DMT. The DMT can be used with their alignment jig.

Chiltop cut grinding wheels thin for His Tormek. (brilliant idea!!)

Foley Belsaw, years ago, had a grinder with approximately 2" wide grinding wheels for serrated knives. The serrations were crushed into the grinding wheels by steel rollers being turned and pressed  into the wheel. This allowed several serrations to be ground at the same time. So a person had several grinding wheels and rollers with it. I couldn't find the number of the machine.

Another fellow here on the forum (I think his name may been Steve??) talked about getting thin (1/4") paper wheels. I don't remember seeing his results posted.

While trying to find the Foley machine online, I stumbled across the following link:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BggYojTm9xw

I found it interesting.

[Ken S]

Good post, Elden.

My serrated sharpening has been limited to my eight inch bread knife. Actually, my wooden dowel method is not really slow; it just is not fast. I have the diamond paste ready to go for the next sharpening session.

Lee Valley sells "Stanley 55" router bits which can produce molding shapes like the old Stanley 55 multi plane. The list includes quite a number of beading bits (different radius sizes)Used on a simple router table, these beading bits could easily make wooden "files" to match different size serrations. This kind of cutting requires only minimal power. A trim router mounted on a homemade plywood router table is more than up to the job. I would use diamond paste with these.

These could be used indidually or ganged together. If the individual bolted strips were bolted together, separation could easily be adjusted with paper of cardboard shims.

Once I knew I had the set up worked out, I would mill enough stock to have several in reserve for the inevitable wearind down. I would use good straight grained hardwood. The amount of stock needed for a good supply is minimal; don't skimp on the wood.

Three beads ganged together should make short work of most serrations. Keep some singles available for difficult situations.

Ken

[Elden]

Those are good thoughts, Ken.  Talk about Popular Mechanics mentality! Might have to play with that idea, possibly bonding some hardwood dowels together?

One thing I noticed in that video was that he wanted sharp points on the knife. For certain knives and uses that would be fine. However, less sharp points might be beneficial in other instances. That can easily be obtained by swiping the knife on a bench stone. I would hesitate to leave the points sharp on steak knives.

[Ken S]

Elden,

I'm still not convinced that the single dowel isn't the best option for a quality job. Not a fast job, but a solid product. I have seen sharpening price lists where there is a $200 surcharge for edges sharpened with a Tormek. I would think sharpening a scalloped knife this way should command a higher fee than just grinding away some of the back bevel.

Ken

[Herman Trivilino]

From the "Greater Houston Sharpening" price list:

$2 + $1/in. for all manner of knives such as boning, carving, chef's, cleavers.

$4 + $1/in. for serrated (1 sided) knives. With a warning that the height of the serrations will be reduced by the sharpening process.

I've never had this guy do any knives for me, but I have had him do a few 10 inch carbide-tipped circular saw blades and a hand saw or two over the years. He does very nice work.

I don't have an expensive bread knife, but if I did and it were dull, I'd be tempted to have him sharpen it. I do use my Tormek to tune up the flat side of my serrated bread knife, and it needs it again. There's a limit to how many times that can be done. Eventually the side with the scallops will need grinding.

[Ken S]

Herman, you have the perfect bread knife to try sharpening the scallops. Just because a knife is not expensive does not mean that it is not a good candidate for broadening your sharpening skills. As you have so aptly coined the term, we have a "sharpening hobby". In that spirit, I would encourage you to try my humble wooden dowel method. Adhesive or regular abrasive paper works fine. That's what I used before, although the next time (needed soon) I sharpen my bread knife, I will try diamond paste. It isn't expensive, and should be useful for many things.

After you sharpen your bread knife, treat yourself to a really good loaf of unsliced bread!

Ken

[Elden]

Nothing beats home made bread!  Add some jalapeño jelly or apple butter that are also home made. That is hard to beat.

[Ken S]

I did not realize that jalapeños were native to Missouri..........

Ken

[Elden]

Let's see, jalapeño, habanero, basket of fire, bhut jolokia (ghost pepper), and hopefully this year Carolina Reaper. Oh you said Missouri, I live in Kansas. I guess I have to admit they aren't native, but they do grow well here. Mix them together with some spices and a few other ingredients and the make some tasty salsa that tingles the tongue.

[grepper]

I love hot!  What I think is mild, sends a lot of folks straight to ice cream.  I put peppers on almost everything.  But... I have not eaten either of the legendary varities bhut jolokia or Carolina Reaper. 

"The ghost pepper the Scoville scale at a walloping 855,000 to 1,041,427 Scoville Heat units. The Carolina reaper eclipses it at 1,400,000 to 2,200,000 SHU.

Check out YouTube and watch the funny videos of people consuming them.  Looks like it really tickles!

Have you actually eaten those things Elden?

[Elden]

Mark,
Yes, but with fear and trembling!  I like hot but I am not a real fire eater.   Flavor is to be desired more than extreme heat. Those who will sit and eat a whole pod are well beyond me.

To explain it better, it took me several meals to get to get a whole Bhut completely eaten. Same thing with the Carolina. My favorite pepper is an old time HOT jalapeño that has full flavor. The trouble is that those are very hard to find thanks to genetic manipulation. Occasional ones can be found but to get them consistently from the same plant, seems to be an impossibility.

That is why I started playing with the super hots. They do a good job of making salsa come "alive". I use jalapeños as the base. I also have friends who are true chili heads that I enjoy supplying.

The Corolinas that I tried came from a friend in NC. I saved some seed from them.

[grepper]

I like the same thing about peppers Elden.  I like that slow building heat that makes you sweat and clears the sinuses, but not just painful searing hot.  I find that wonderful heat very difficult to get from just jalapeño.  Recent jalapeños seem to be about as hot as a pickle.

Guess we are a little off subject!

[Elden]

Guess we are a little off subject!

Yes, guess we are! It is kind of like talking about a bowl we turned on the lathe. Wonder if a polished serrated knife or a sharp, polished smooth knife will cut a pepper better?

[grepper]

Actually, I know the answer to that. 

A polished blade would work great, but it would have to be really, very sharp.  From my experience that super sharp edge is something which is often ephemeral. 

A good sharp knife with a little "tooth" would be excellent.

A serrated blade would be good for slicing one, but would not work so well for chopping them up.

Peppers are great for demonstrating what a little tooth in an edge can do for you.  Especially with bell peppers with unwrinkled skin, a smooth blade that is anything less that very sharp tends to just ride on the surface rather than cutting through.  A lot like tomatoes or broccoli stems.