How to Sharpen a Serrated Knife - Can you Sharpen Serrated Knives?

To sharpen serrated knives you will need a diamond or ceramic rod and as an option you can hone with leather or denim. You can also touch up serrations with a powered belt sharpener.
When sharpening use a diamond rod. Rest the curve of the serration on the diamond rod on the beveled side at about a 20 degree angle, usually you can feel where the knife wants to rest and a tapered rod is great when sharpening various sized serrations on the same knife. Move the knife up and down the diamond to remove some material and raise a burr to expose the cutting edge. Usually 5-10 short strokes will raise a burr on diamond. Do this for each serration.
Then use the leather or denim to hone and remove the burr. Lay the knife down on the opposite side you sharpened, flat. Raise the spine of the knife very slightly, about the width of 3 or four stacked playing cards. Lightly draw the knife backwards across the material to push the created burr back over to the beveled side. Repeat this process tow or three times to remove the burr and leave a sharp edge.
To touch up a serrated knife on a powered sharpener you will want to use a sharpener that uses a belt system. Because serrations are single bevel, you will only want to address the "flat" side of the knife, similar to the honing process outlined above. Rest the knife on the downward side of the belt flat, raise the spine off the belt the width of two or three playing cards, then power on the sharpener at low speed. Move the knife across the serrations back a forth two or three times to ensure you sharpen each apex.
If you have questions about these techniques, feel free to leave a comment below and we always do our best to get you an answer.

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