Bread knife edge restoration

[Northwoods]

I have a couple serrated bread knives that between SWMBO running them through the dishwasher, and the kids doing who knows what with them, are in serious need of edge restoration.  Given some damage to the edge I'm looking at need to take the worst one back likely a good 1/4". 

I'm not about to pay someone else to do this.  I'll use a belt sander to make it into a flat edge knife before I do that.

Best a quick google search turned up was to use a chainsaw file that matches the existing serrations and file out the first one.  Then tape a brass rod of the same diameter to said file as a guide to ride in the first serration while doing the second, and on down the line.  I can certainly do that, but would prefer something less time consuming.

Any knife fiends on here got a better suggestion?  Or KD5NRH?

[charby]

Take a look at this

https://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/Lansky-Crock-Stick-Serrated-Bread-Knife-Sharpener-P161.aspx

[Nick1911]

I'd use my die filer. 

In lieu of that, how an appropriate diameter grinding stone on a dremel-type rotary tool?  You may have to craft up a jig to keep the depth consistent.

[Perd Hapley]

Buy new.

[Hawkmoon]

https://www.amazon.com/Smiths-CCKS-2-Step-Knife-Sharpener/dp/B00032S02K/ref=lp_289867_1_5?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1542603628&sr=1-5

[Northwoods]

I'd use my die filer. 

In lieu of that, how an appropriate diameter grinding stone on a dremel-type rotary tool?  You may have to craft up a jig to keep the depth consistent.

My concern with a Dremel type tool is they spin so fast that it would torch the edge and ruin the heat treatment.

If I could index it for consistent spacing seems like an electric chainsaw sharpener might do the trick.

[charby]

https://www.amazon.com/Smiths-CCKS-2-Step-Knife-Sharpener/dp/B00032S02K/ref=lp_289867_1_5?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1542603628&sr=1-5

Bread knife is a serrated blade.

[charby]

Buy new.

I buy the cheapest bread knife at Mao Mart, wash it in the dishwasher and when it dulls in a few years, go buy another $7 knife.

[dogmush]

My concern with a Dremel type tool is they spin so fast that it would torch the edge and ruin the heat treatment.

If I could index it for consistent spacing seems like an electric chainsaw sharpener might do the trick.

My Dremel is adjustable speed.

That said, I use a round ceramic stone on my bread knife.  like so.  Mine actually comes from my gunsmith ceramic file set, but it's basically the same thing, and adding "gunsmithing" to the description adds like $15.

However, you said:

Given some damage to the edge I'm looking at need to take the worst one back likely a good 1/4".  

1/4 inch?   That thing is done for.  At that point you are removing and regrinding the edge.  I'd use a belt sander to take that much off.  Actually I'd throw it out and avail myself of one of the very nice bread knives I see Amazon offers in the ~$30 range.  You are going to be several hours (at best) into moving the edge back 1/4", regrinding the bevel, evening out the serrations you moved back, and sharpening the edge.  How much is your time worth?

[brimic]

For serrated, you simply sharpen it like a normal edge, but only on the side of the serrations.Take a stone or crock stick, find the right angle and run the entire edge across it. Its the points, and sides of the points that do the cutting, not the valleys.

You can do it on a belt sander, keep the speeds low, make sure you have the angle right, and start out with a finer grit than you think you might need. You can always go coarser to remove more metal, but you can't (easily) put metal back on once its gone. Run the edge across the edge of the sanding belt.


Alternately, you can buy tapered diamond hones and do each groove individually.

[Mannlicher]

toss it out and buy a new bread knife.  They are cheaper than the time required to refurbish the edge

[T.O.M.]

I have good kitchen knives (Henckles) except for the bread knife.  Bread knives get abused in our house, so I buy cheap ones and don't sweat the care of the knives.  Since they get replaced fairly frequently (every couple of years), I sharpen them using one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/Wusthof-Precision-Stage-Knife-Sharpener/dp/B003TWNYYU/ref=sr_1_30?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1542641430&sr=1-30&keywords=kitchen+knife+sharpener

Yes, I know, the sharpener is for straight edges, and I'm destroying the serrations pulling it through the sharpener, but I don't care since it's just for bread and I replace it every couple of years when the serrations are useless.  

[lupinus]

Does it have the wider half moon type serrations or the narrow lots of fine little teeth type serrations?

If the former, get a wooden dowel that fits between the teeth with some room to spare, and sand paper of appropriate grit. Use the dowel as backing for the sand paper.

If the latter, toss it and buy a new one. So far as I know those are made with being disposable in mind with no thought or consideration given to restoring the teeth once it wears out.

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[Hawkmoon]

Bread knife is a serrated blade.

Yes, I know. That type of sharpener works with the type of rounded serrations found on bread knives.

[charby]

Yes, I know. That type of sharpener works with the type of rounded serrations found on bread knives.

I have a couple of those, keep on in my tackle box and the other in my bird prep box. They will not work very well on serrated bread knives. They do work awesome on fillet knife and other straight bladed knives. 

[T.O.M.]

Does it have the wider half moon type serrations or the narrow lots of fine little teeth type serrations?

If the former, get a wooden dowel that fits between the teeth with some room to spare, and sand paper of appropriate grit. Use the dowel as backing for the sand paper.

If the latter, toss it and buy a new one. So far as I know those are made with being disposable in mind with no thought or consideration given to restoring the teeth once it wears out.

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Good point.  I always buy the big half-moon serrations, as the sharpeners seem to work okay on those.

[Northwoods]

Does it have the wider half moon type serrations or the narrow lots of fine little teeth type serrations?

The former.

[Northwoods]

toss it out and buy a new bread knife.  They are cheaper than the time required to refurbish the edge

It's a mid-range Henkels.  I'd rather not toss it.  Over the holidays it's something to do while the MIL is visiting.

[Northwoods]

1/4 inch?   That thing is done for.  At that point you are removing and regrinding the edge.  I'd use a belt sander to take that much off.  Actually I'd throw it out and avail myself of one of the very nice bread knives I see Amazon offers in the ~$30 range.  You are going to be several hours (at best) into moving the edge back 1/4", regrinding the bevel, evening out the serrations you moved back, and sharpening the edge.  How much is your time worth?

Maybe that was an exaggeration, but it's still over 1/8".

[charby]

It's a mid-range Henkels.  I'd rather not toss it.  Over the holidays it's something to do while the MIL is visiting.

Took me a while to convince my wife not to put the good kitchen knives in the dishwasher. She ran my chef's knife in the dishwasher, so we went to Kohl's and showed her the exact same knife without rust spots on it for $90.

[lupinus]

The former.

Yeah then get the wooden dowel and some fine grit sandpaper. Preferably something with some flexibility to it. You can buy ceramic rods and such for the job also, but really for what they cost and how often they're needed, I'll go with the dowel and sand paper.

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[K Frame]

Check this out...

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS770US770&q=how+to+sharpen+henckels+serrated+knives&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwig2uzVsuPeAhVS11MKHanNAEEQ1QIoAHoECAQQAQ&biw=1680&bih=908

Lots of resources.

Can't say that I've ever cut enough bread that my bread knife has needed resharpening...

[Grebnaws]

Dowel and fine grit sandpaper is the correct answer for a one off job like this. You could probably get by with a single high grit sheet of wet sanding material and give it a fresh life.

[brimic]

Took me a while to convince my wife not to put the good kitchen knives in the dishwasher. She ran my chef's knife in the dishwasher, so we went to Kohl's and showed her the exact same knife without rust spots on it for $90.

Yeah, I feel your pain.
I had a chef's knife that I painstakenly honed on water stones to a razor sharp edge. Wife tossed in in the sink, then in the dishwasher  
I quit sharpening it until she complained that she needed a new chef's knife because the one I had didn't cut any more.  
At that point, I had to regrind the edge on a belt grinder and resharpen. I made sure that she saw how much work it was to restore the edge, then gave it back to her with a warning that she'll have to live with a dull knife if it gets banged around carelessly or put back in the dishwasher.

She's been very careful with it since.

Its not even an expensive knife.... its a very good, inexpensive knife.  https://www.amazon.com/Winco-KFP-120-Acero-cutlery/dp/B00C0NAA6Y/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1542737319&sr=8-4&keywords=winco+chef+knife


I had an expensive spyderco kitchen knife that my ex wife now has. I'm sure that its as dull as a butter knife by now- she never learned to care for knives properly, and VG-10 is fairly difficult to sharpen without proper tools.

[Mannlicher]

It's a mid-range Henkels.  I'd rather not toss it.  Over the holidays it's something to do while the MIL is visiting.

that's why I buy cheap, use and replace.  :)