Flat Grind or Hollow Grind?

Buck_110 said:
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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I have seen that on some of my newer folders. DEEP grinds, seems to constanly pull its self deeper into the media. Good when cutting through, but not so good when fine whittlin'.

Great observation, Buck.

Moose
 
RandomAyes said:
I like different grinds for different jobs
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Flallowvex?
 
My experience has led me to appreciate flat grinds better than hollow. This could easily be explained by the fact that I often cut cardboard (work) and when I was younger and less experienced I also favored thicker blades. It didn't take long to realize that a thinner blade didn't bind in the cardboard. I moved to thinner blades and flat grinds at about the same time so it is possible that I give too much credit to the flat grinds. I do have several kinves that are hollow ground that I use but it seems that the flat ground ones are usually my favorites. I freely admit this might just be a case of personal preference more than anything else. I do agree that I think a FFG looks better to my eyes anyways.


Grizz
 
elkins45 said:
Flallowvex?
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I don't think I've ever come across a knife with this grind. Anyone know of an example?

@Dan Oliver- best way to tell would be to hold something straight, like a ruler, against the blade from spine to edge and if it touches all the way, it's flat and if it is concave, it's hollow.
 
knarfeng said:
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".
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Really?!?!

Buck's advertising of "Edge 2000" never mentioned hollow grind as far as I've seen. Their Edge 2000 Technology, according to their marketing copy, was a thinner and more acute edge bevel. Presumably thinner and more acute than Buck had previously used. I don't recall anything mentioned about the primary grind style.
 
i think you limit yourself with the hollow or flat grinds. It comes down to what your cutting and how deep you cut into the media your cutting and blade thickness. i guess i could try to come up with some examples. a ffg folder like a D4 might make perfect work of slicing an apple, a ffg CS Trailmaster might just make apple sauce. a hollow ground gayle bradly will make its way threw an apple pretty well but kinda see some drag going deeply threw hard cheese. i dont like hollow grinds for heavy use blades as theres not much edge support, im at a stage where all my heavy use blades are going to Convex ground blades. with a convex you have more edge strength and the blade shape overall makes less drag threw material than flat or hollow ground blades of similar size. flat grounds have more edge strength than hollow ground. All is going to add up to what the intended use will be. Id pick a FFG over saber or hollow ground in a edc folder due too better slicing ability in a long deep cut. if your cutting thin material a hollow grind would be ok . . Hollow grinds are not a result of looking for a better cutting edge but a result of mass production technology. They can run blade stock threw a machine grinding both sides at the same time accuratly and cheaply with compromised blade performance. there performance is largely based on blade thickness and height of the grind and thickness at the edge. while this maybe true too with other grinds most dont have such a fast transition at the end of the grind which does cause bind or drag. Flat grinds benifit from a constant transition but also have allot of drag, this is where you see some used in bushcraft, batoning etc lubing the blades with spit or wd40 because a FFG will stick. Anyway, when alls said and done i go FFG in a folder because there light use generally speaking and smaller thin ffg blades do slice well threw average edc materials. Waiting to find a folder with a convex grind.
 
I like full flat grinds when the cutting work requires a little more effort - like yard work.

I like the hollow grinds when I have to cut up lots of cardboard / paper / open packages.
 
Full flat ground blades will ALWAYS out cut any other type of blade. Hollow grinds look wiked kool and stuff, but a full flat grind will ALWAYS CUT BETTER. All the pro cutting competitions in the past few years show that. The blade design that slices and dices the best is the design that really should (theoretically). I'll admit that different edges have their advantages: hollow ground = fine slicer, convex ground = great splitter, chisel ground = extremely tough edge, etc... but all around, full flat ground can't be beat.
 
Ive been using slicers for quite some time and convex is the grind I prefer.

Any knife I get that has a hollow ground will get an acute convex.

My misono sujihiki has a very wide convex bevel, it's very sharp but will hold an edge in a busy sushi bar for over 50 hours of service.

Hollow just feels low quality and snags on material IMO, my convex 'glides' like silk through material, but could be carbon content...

But even my German knives get a convex.

And as for looks, my convex bevel bends light ever so slightly, hard to keep your eyes off it's shimmer (thanks for 8000 grits).
 
In my experience it doesn't matter. It all comes down to blade thickness, edge thickness behind the bevel, grind angle etc. Blade geometry is key. I have FFG's that out slice some of my hollows and visa versa. I don't have any full convex knives to compare to, it seems to be the trending grind out there right now. No wait I do. I have a vic executive (the medium sized blade) I have full convexed from sharpening with sandpaper over time. I don't think I've ever noticed a difference between it and a factory. So back to my original statement. The grind does not matter, the blade geometry does. Even if you had 2 knives with the same edge angle blade stock and everything, I don't think you'd be able to tell a difference in grinds in normal edc. When you get to specific uses then there are grinds that are better suited, such as a chisel for planing or a high deep hollow for shaving for example. For edc though it does not matter what anyone says, a hollow will do just as good as a convex or a FFG. They all slice paper or will open a box or pop a zip tie and cut a stray thread if the edge is sharp and thin.
 
Hollow, flat or convex, I like them all.


They all have they're place in my knife world.


My high hollow ground Dozier's are edge slicers of the 1st degree.

My flat ground knives do it all with ease.

And you know I like those big convex Bark River choppers.


Different horses for different courses.




Big Mike
 
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