Flat Grind or Hollow Grind?

draggat

draggat

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I've only been collecting knives for a few years. When I first started, I somehow got the impression that flat grinds were the best. I've started to change my opinion a little. Lately, I've been starting to feel that a nice high hollow ground blade makes a much better slicer. I still love flat grinds because I think they offer a little more strength on a tactical style blade, but these days it seems my favorite are hollow ground.

Just got it today, and I have to say that my current favorite hollow ground knife is a CRK small sebenza.

What's your opinion, and why? Favorite knife with that particular grind?
 
Alot of flat grinds are too thick and don't have a good distal taper. I like a nice high hollow grind has alot of utility. The way it catches low light... shiny. Alot of my favorite flat ground knives are just very slightly concave. Just depends I suppose.
 
I've found the same. The Spyderco Gayle Bradley was what sold me on the performance of hollow grinds. Plus, they're cheaper to make.
 
You know, it used to be that my knee jerk reaction would be a FFG, but recently I have really been appreciating well made hollow ground blades with a large diameter wheel (still can't get used to really acute hollow grinds)
 
Used to be I was a FFG or high flat ground kind of guy. Then, like you, I got a Sebenza. It really opened my eyes to the advantages of a well done high hollow grind.
 
Meh. Depends on the use and edge thickness. Both can be done wrong, both can be very good.
Gotta say aesthetically a high hollow grind is king though :D
 
draggat said:
I've only been collecting knives for a few years. When I first started, I somehow got the impression that flat grinds were the best. I've started to change my opinion a little. Lately, I've been starting to feel that a nice high hollow ground blade makes a much better slicer. I still love flat grinds because I think they offer a little more strength on a tactical style blade, but these days it seems my favorite are hollow ground.

Just got it today, and I have to say that my current favorite hollow ground knife is a CRK small sebenza.

What's your opinion, and why? Favorite knife with that particular grind?
Click to expand...

Well, for a slicer, Buck proved that a hollow grind cuts better. They did a bunch of work on a CATRA machine about 10 years ago developing the best blade shape for slicing. At the time, they called it "Edge 2000". The CATRA machine cuts a type of calibrated sandpaper. Buck found that a hollow grind outperformed pretty much everything else. So much so that they made a 420HC blade in their optimized shape that outperformed a standard shaped blade made of BG42.

By the same token, because a hollow grind leaves less steel in the blade, it isn't as strong. So, if I were looking for a stronger blade, I'd be looking for some other grind.

As for my own uses, I find a full flat grind does well, though not as well as a hollow grind. I'll buy either, depending on the other features of the knife and the purpose for which I am buying it.
 
You have to just focus on the material being cut I would think, remember that hollow grind spreads the material as it cuts through, and flat grind wedges through while cutting. I haven't necessarily tried this, but for instance a hoow grind would not slice a block of cheese as easily as flat grind because the material, somewhat tactile, might get a bit caught up on as the spread of the hollow gets thicker, while a flat grind will wedge through it evenly. In theory anyways. To be honest, if your edge is razor sharp, and your not doing anything major, any grind is gonna cut properly, as it should.
 
It's really going to depend on the knife in question and how thin the grind is on the FFG and the hollow grind.

In production blades at typical thickness a hollow ground blade will slice better provided it's well done.

In customs it can go either way depending on how thin the blades are ground.
 
I've always been a big fan of the sound of a well-done hollow ground blade. I just love hearing that 'PING' sound when the blade resonates as the hair pops off of a shaving sharp hollow ground blade.

Hollow grinds are one of the best examples of how blade geometry matters more to cutting ability than steel type. One of my absolute favorite production knives (and one of the best bargains on the market) is the Beretta Loveless hunter. It's made of 'lowly' AUS8 but features a fantastically executed high hollow grind. This $40 knife will open up a deer as well as or better than any knife I've ever used. And the superb build quality and heat treat (it's made by Moki in Japan) means the AUS8 is performing at the absolute peak for this steel. A fine grained steel and a hollow grind can reach incredible levels of sharpness.
 
I tend to go for a hollow grind if the ffg has too thin of a point. other than that id take either one over a saber grind.

Which do you think preforms better, a hollow ground delcia/endura or a ffg?

I figure just about everyone here has had atleast one
 
I like high hollow because it can have a thick spine (3mm is my preference) and tip while keeping a thin and slicing edge. Plus aesthetically it is more pleasing than a full flat, i do still love full flat.
 
If you are cutting meat/food a hollow grind is far superior.

In the slaughterhouse our knife sharpeners would put hollow grinds on production victorinox, henkels and frost knives we used on the line.

Unless you hit your steel mesh glove, metal on the line, or repeatedly cutting into bone (rookie) a smooth steel will keep an excellent edge for 2 to 4 hrs of continuous cutting.
 
Enter the Hollow Grind.

I like FFG or HFG, but I do likes me some hollows, too.

Depends on your needs, for my rough stuff, FFG/HFG, all the way.

For a real slicer, I like the Dozier hollow, thing is wicked deep and cuts like a lightsaber.

Moose
 
To me, a hollow grind looks like a knife should look. As for cutting better, a hollow grind will go through material that 'binds', better than a FFG, in theory. In practice however, I am not so sure.
 
I like different grinds for different jobs
GRINDS.png
 
Franz_N said:
I like high hollow because it can have a thick spine (3mm is my preference) and tip while keeping a thin and slicing edge.
Click to expand...

My preference is the opposite. The edge is only supported by the metal directly behind it. A thick spine can't enhance edge toughness.

A.P.F. said:
To me, a hollow grind looks like a knife should look. As for cutting better, a hollow grind will go through material that 'binds', better than a FFG, in theory. In practice however, I am not so sure.
Click to expand...

I find that thick, deeply hollow-ground blades bind worse than any other grind. They've got large shoulders where the flat(spine in the case of fully hollow-ground) and grind meet.
 
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