2 Amazing Methods – How to Sharpen Serrated Knives Easily?

When you are cutting tough products and want to do it with ease, no other knife can offer a better support than the serrated knife. People find it uniquely beautiful but it is also extremely strong and high-quality knife you can use.

There is a common misconception among the users that serrated knives are less useful than plain blade knives because they cannot get accurate cuts. In reality, a serrated knife can help you in getting highly accurate slices and cuts on any object you want. You just need to know how to sharpen serrated knives to maintain their accuracy and performance.

Find Out the Best Ways of Sharpening a Serrated Knife

How to Sharpen Serrated Knives in 2 Methods?

Some of you might wonder like it is impossible to sharpen serrated knives because of their scalloped tooth-like edge. It is obvious that normal knife sharpening methods will not help you in sharpening your bread knife but that does not mean you cannot sharpen it. Try the below given methods to maintain sharp edges of your serrated knife.

Method -1: Using A Sharpening Rod

Buy A Serrated Knife Sharpening Tool

You will need a knife sharpener for trying this method. A sharpening rod would be an effective tool for sharpening tooth for tooth. Rod’s diameter must be equal to the serration of your knives.

Locate Your Knife’s Beveled Edge Side

Unlike plain edge knives, the serrated knives look different from both sides of the blades. As you can check, on one side it seems like the blade’s angle is same till the end of the blade. It would appear like blade angles down slightly from the other side of the knife. It is called the beveled edge of the knife where you are going to apply the sharpening rod.

Place The Sharpening Rod In One Of The Serrated Scallops ("Gullets")

It should be easier for you to find a perfect angle for sharpening serrated knife because the angle of bevel will be perfect. Let’s consider it as a guide when placing the sharpening rod. Keep the sharpening rod at 13°-17° angle to get exceptional results. Suppose there is straight edge portion, you should use the sharpening rod at 20°-25° angle. In order to perform this job with more accuracy, you can use the marker to locate the serrated scallops on the blade of the knife. Thus, you will know where exactly you want to place the rod.

Adjust The Rod’s Position To Match The Gullet's Diameter

This might be possible that your sharpening tool’s diameter is not exact the size is not equal to the serration on the blade. You should place the rod at the center in the gullet where it can fit perfectly.

Start Sharpening The First Gullet

Now the time has come to start sharpening. Place the sharpening rod on the first grove and then slowly move it back and forth. Keep it pushing in different direction to sharpen the edges within the groove. Keep rotating the rod because that’s how it will work the best to sharpen your knife.

Search For A Burr

In order to get a perfect finish, you should use your fingers to search for burr or metal shavings on the backside of the groove. If you feel there is a burr, you have perfectly sharpened the targeted groove of your serrated knife. If there is no burr, you must work more on the same groove.

Keep Sharpening Each Groove On The Blade 

There would be many grooves on the blade of your serrated knife. You must continue until all the grooves are sharpened perfectly.

Remove All The Burrs

Burrs can occur when sharpening a metal object like a knife. You cannot leave them as it is. You must remove all the metal shavings by using fine-grit sandpaper. Take a piece of sandpaper and start rubbing it near along the backside of newly sharpened edge of your serrated knife. If that does not work, you can use the sharpening rod to remove tough burrs.

Sharpen All The Straight-Edged Parts Of The Blade

It might be possible that the whole knife is not serrated. So, such kind of knife will require both special and traditional sharpening treatment. For sharpening straight-edged portion you must use a whetstone. It will be perfect for sharpening straight edge of the knife.

Method-2: Using Other Tools

Using Other Tools

Try a triangle-shaped sharpener

Hence it can be tough to sharpen serrated knives with normal knife sharpening tools, a triangle-shaped sharpener is designed to make it easier for the users. This tool is perfect for sharpening V-shaped gullets. You can apply the same tactics given in Method-1 while using this tool to sharpen a serrated knife.

Create Your Personalized Tool From Emery Cloth And Dowels

You can prepare your own serrated knife sharpening tool if you do not want to buy one. You will have to buy a few dowels and emery cloth to prepare this tool. Now place each dowel in the first scallop and assess which one sits perfect. Now wrap emery cloth perfectly around that dowel. Your tool is ready to be used. Hold the cloth while sharpening the serrated edges of the knife with your DIY knife sharpening tool.

Use A Square Stone

You do not need any special knife sharpening tool while trying this method. However, it is a very difficult serrated knife sharpening method. You will have to hold the spine of your knife tightly against a hard object, like the edge of a square stone. Let the stone’s edge fit perfectly inside the scallop and then slowly move the knife back and forth.

Use A Ceramic Sharpening Rod

It would be pretty easy to sharpen a serrated knife if you are using a ceramic sharpening rod. First, you must visit a hardware store to find a ceramic rod that sits perfectly in the gullets of your serrated knife. Get the rod and then place it within the first groove. Now slowly move it back and forth to sharpen that groove. Repeat the same process until all the grooves are sharpened perfectly. If you find holding and moving the ceramic rod difficult, you can keep it down and move your knife’s edge over it. The rod should not move otherwise you may hurt your fingers.

Sharpening A Serrated Knife On A Spyderco Sharpmaker

The Spyderco Sharpmaker is an exceptional tool for sharpening any kind of knife. You can have different options in knife sharpening rods while using this tool. It features different settings for placing the rods at different angles. Find a rod that suits the best for sharpening your serrated knife’s grooves. Now set the sharpening rod in the first groove and move it downwards. Keep moving it until you are satisfied with the sharpened edge of the knife.

Sharpen A Serrated Knife On A Chef’s Choice

Chef’s Choice knife sharpener makes knife sharpening a child’s play for anyone. You just need to place the knife’s edge in-between abrasive discs to sharpen it. This sharpener performs its job in several stages to offer razor-sharp knives. You can also sharpen your serrated knife by using this sharpener within a few seconds.

As you have checked, there are several different methods of sharpening a serrated knife. Choose a method that you can try with ease and without hurting yourself because that would be the best way of sharpening the serrated knives for you.

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