Favorite type of blade grind (full flat, scandy, sabre, ect.)

ocnLogan said:
Yep, this is it. I'm not quite sure where my previous post said that sabers were better at chopping, but the bolded parts up above exactly describe it. The Saber acts as a much better wedge for splitting wood. But the part that makes it better for splitting, also does hurt it when it comes to chopping if the blades are the same height. But I'm willing to sacrifice a little bit of chopping performance for a stronger knife for batoning, as a folding saw does most of my cutting while camping.

Saber grinds also put a bit more mass behind the blade compared to a FFG of the same size, so that extra mass might help some when there is not much penetration, but I'm not really sure how that would counteract the more obtuse edge angle, as I'm no scientist, and am not the most experienced person around.

Also worth noting, is with thicker blades (aka, my BK2), the edge doesn't even actually hit the wood once you're really batonning with them(typically). The edge angle on the BK2 with the saber grind is actually splitting the wood sheerly by the wedging action (keeps the edge nice and sharp :)).

And finally, I personally feel that grinds make proportionally more of a difference on thicker blades. For instance, a 1/4in thick knife with a scandi grind would be ridiculously obtuse (why we don't see any most likely), but a FFG would be much thinner at the edge. But on an 1/8in thick blade I don't feel like the difference would be as drastic, but I really have no "proof" to back this part up, it just makes sense to me.

And I noticed someone said right hand chisel ground for machetes... is that common? I've never heard that.

:D.
Click to expand...

Not a fan of chisel grinds except on chisels myself.

The problem with heavy, thick saber grinds, in my opinion, is that they put their extra mass to the sides of the edge rather than behind it. If a Mora #333 (only 0.06" or 3/50" thick!) can baton through armloads of arm-thick twisted wood without a problem I think that putting the mass behind the edge would be a better choice. The extra strength isn't needed if it has a good HT and the rigidity is there, and chopping performance will be drastically increased thanks to the improved sectional density and thinner geometry. I find that thin blades baton just fine, too, they just take more swings to get the job done since your "ramp" is longer, so to speak.

If you can't tell, I like thin, broad blades. :D
 
I like a high hollow grind these days with full flat a close second. Not a fan of sabre grinds or chisel.
 
On a thin knife any of them. On thick knives either convex or full flat. I've used all of them and haven't really found any of them to be better then the other given the parameters I just laid out. For instance I have a convex knife that out performs a scandi in wood working. How well the grind is done is IMO way more important then the type of grind.

Edited to add that I've never tried chisel grind so I can't comment on that one.
 
For me it depends on the knife. A saber grind with a thin edge and grind may slice better than a full flat that has a thick edge and grind. That being said, I generally prefer a flat grind most of the time... Unless I am batoning. That's when I finally get to use my ESEE 5. That .250 thick saber grind splits like no other.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Not a fan of chisel grinds except on chisels myself.

The problem with heavy, thick saber grinds, in my opinion, is that they put their extra mass to the sides of the edge rather than behind it. If a Mora #333 (only 0.06" or 3/50" thick!) can baton through armloads of arm-thick twisted wood without a problem I think that putting the mass behind the edge would be a better choice. The extra strength isn't needed if it has a good HT and the rigidity is there, and chopping performance will be drastically increased thanks to the improved sectional density and thinner geometry. I find that thin blades baton just fine, too, they just take more swings to get the job done since your "ramp" is longer, so to speak.

If you can't tell, I like thin, broad blades. :D
Click to expand...

Looks like I'll have to try a machete sometime. I've never owned one, so I'm not really sure what they're capable of. It seems like they wouldn't make a very good wedge to split, but I could see how because of the thin profile it might move through the media more easily.

I can't say that I like chisel grinds on anything I've ever used (other than chisels). Not sure how this would
 
Yeah like I said machetes and other thin knives take more blows to knock through a piece of wood, but they take less energy to get started. The key is to make sure it's still decently stiff so the blade doesn't buckle under the baton.
 
For me all depends on the knife. There are knives, where I strongly prefer FFG, but on others I like high hollow more.
 
Hollow grind is prettiest. :D Convex is pretty too, but how the heill do you sharpen a convex recurve? Scandi is boring but maybe good for adding weight to choppy blades and being more gentle to the edge during batoning.
 
ocnLogan
And I noticed someone said right hand chisel ground for machetes... is that common? I've never heard that.
Click to expand...
practically the whole of southeast asia where farmers and woodsmen use machetes whose tangs are heat-sunk into wooden handles. there are more right-handers of course. :D
 
Deep hollow grinds, think Buck 110 style. Makes for a great slicer with enough spine thickness to still be tough. Wish there were more options like this.
 
I an kind of partial to a hollow sabre grind, but I like them all...except convex.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top