Serrated vs. Plain -- A. G. Russell Knives

Serrated vs. Plain -- A. G. Russell Knives: "Serrated vs. Plain

Author: Joe Talmadge
Source: rec.knives Newsgroup
December 1998

I. Introductions

There's been a jump in recent years in the popularity of serrated edges, and there's often confusion as to when a serrated edge is advantageous, versus when a plain edge is advantageous. The question comes up often in rec.knives.

For our discussion, we'll need to talk about what we're doing with the knife. Think about what you can do with a knife: you can shave, slice, slash, saw, hack, chop, etc. For our purposes, we'll divide all knife uses into two very broad categories:

Push cuts: The main cutting is done by pushing the edge through the thing-to-be-cut. For example, when you shave, you push the edge of the knife through your beard. When peeling an apple, you push the edge under the skin of the apple. When chopping wood, you try to push the edge into and through the wood.

Slicing cuts: The cutting action is substantially done by dragging the edge across the thing-to-be-cut. When you slice meat or a tomato, you drag the edge across the tomato as you cut through it. Slicing and sawing are examples of slicing cuts.

II. Plain vs. Serrated: The Conventional View

In general, the plain edge is better than the serrated when the application involv"