Flat Grind VS Hollow Grind

[Kdavis0069]

I am sure this has probably been talked about on here a time or two but once more wont hurt nothing. What blade grind do you prefer and why? What are the pluses and minuses to each grind? Im just curious which people prefer and for what reasons. I have blades in hollow grinds and flat and full flats and havent noticed much difference really. Then again maybe I just havent put them thru enough cutting tasks to notice much difference? Thanks in advance for any responses. I look forward to everyones opinions. Thanks again. Kyle.

 

[marcinek]

Prefer for what?

 

[Kdavis0069]

What grind do you like more i guess. Does the grind of a blade sway your purchase decision at all? Also I wondered what the differences in them were, the benefits and trade-offs? Sorry for any confusion

 

[marcinek]

You may find that people prefer different grinds for different applications.

 

[fielder]

Purely on aesthetic grounds I prefer flat or sabre grind. Let alone any strength advantages.

 

[ocnLogan]

You may find that people prefer different grinds for different applications.

^this.

I prefer Scandi grind for whittling/carving.

I prefer full flat for food prep, and overall general use.

I prefer saber for heavy work.

 

[highestpoint]

I prefer Scandi grind for whittling/carving.

I prefer full flat for food prep, and overall general use.

I prefer saber for heavy work.

:thumbup:

 

[MatthewSB]

There are good and bad knives ground both ways.

Hollow grinds allow a knife to have similar thickness behind the edge as it is sharpened down. Something like Spartan Blades Harsey Hunter, where the spine is very strong and 3/16" thick all the way to the tip but there is very little thickness behind the cutting edge (thanks to the deep hollow grind) making the knife a wonderful cutter. Chris Reeve Sebenza 25 and Nyala have a 'shallow' hollow grind that is almost like a flat grind, but not quite.

I prefer knives with great designs, made by great people who knew what they were doing, out of adequate materials. Whether they are flat or hollow ground, I couldn't care less so long as the knife turns out "good".

 

[Kdavis0069]

Has anyone found that a good Hollow grind excels at certain cutting tasks but lacks at others where a good Flat grind may be better at the tasks that a hollow grind doesnt quite perform as well? Like I have seen where people have re-ground a blade to make it a better slicer or whatever.

 

[asdf12345]

I prefer a flat saber grind with a zero edge. Strong AND sharp, at the expense of precision.

 

[chiral.grolim]

Has anyone found that a good Hollow grind excels at certain cutting tasks but lacks at others where a good Flat grind may be better at the tasks that a hollow grind doesnt quite perform as well? Like I have seen where people have re-ground a blade to make it a better slicer or whatever.

Hollow grind gives you a thinner primary for the thickness of the spine = better penetration to a certain depth, less weight, less metal to remove when restoring the edge. Because of that last part, it works very well in straight-razors. It can reduce friction and wedging in slicing a variety of materials that would otherwise drag along the blade-face during the cut. A lot of axes have a hollow grind to give better penetration on each chop.
A flat grind with the same spine- and edge-thicknesses will be heavier, more prone to wedging, and require more metal removal when sharpening. It will also be stronger with more material to support the primary grind against lateral stress.

Depending on how thin your blade is, the difference between hollow and flat may be miniscule. If you want a slicer, thin wins be it hollow or flat. For example, I bought a recent production of the Buck 301 which has a hollow primary, but the grind is so thick that it hampered performance substantially. I took the blade to a grinder and thinned it flat - you can see in the 3rd image the remnant "trough" of the hollow-grind amidst the primary, but the edge is substantially thinner and the blade now cuts with ease and sharpens quickly:

Before:

After:

 

[ocnLogan]

Has anyone found that a good Hollow grind excels at certain cutting tasks but lacks at others where a good Flat grind may be better at the tasks that a hollow grind doesnt quite perform as well? Like I have seen where people have re-ground a blade to make it a better slicer or whatever.

A straight razor is a good example of a hollow ground blade that excels at one specific task, but is quite bad at many others. A FFG kitchen knife slices a lot better than the straight razor when you have to cut all the way through the media.

[EDIT] Looks like someone beat me to the straight razor example .

Its all about what you want the knife to be good at .

 

[Charr]

I like most types of grinds for one reason or another, but it also makes a big difference what the rest of the knife is like and what I intend to use the knife for as well.

If I am getting a knife with a steel that will require more sharpening over its lifetime, then I would prefer a well-done hollow grind, but on more modern, high-carbide steels, I tend to prefer a full flat grind with a decent blade thickness (but not too thick).
If you have a fixed blade for wood working, then give me a nice scandi grind any day, but I prefer a honzokuri grind for most other fixed blades because it is extremely durable for anything while still being fairly easy to take care of.

If you're trying to make a blade out of thick blade stock, you better keep the grinds shallow enough to keep the blade useful, and I really hate having a stupidly deep hollow grind on a blade that is .20" thick, since it makes slicing with the blade annoying with the thicker blade causing more drag towards the spine. Though, to be honest, I usually find anything that thick that isn't a larger fixed blade a little ridiculous.

 

[Shotgun]

I prefer a flat saber grind with a zero edge. Strong AND sharp, at the expense of precision.

Are we not calling it scandi grind anymore?

Thin convex is my favorite. Like Chiral was saying above though, a THIN edge has been the deciding factor on how a knife cuts IME. Regardless of the type of grind.

 

[PURPLEDC]

I prefer a hollow grind. Mostly for looks because when polished it just looks so darn good. I also really like how chris reeve does his hollow grind to maximize longevity of the cutting edge width. But i also love a well done ffg for utility.

 

[bdmicarta]

For aesthetic reasons, i.e. the custom hunting knives in my collection, I prefer a high hollow grind. For the folding knives that I carry and use, most have a flat grind.

 

[EChoil]

My background is more in fixed blades and outdoor harder use so I prefer full flat, scandi, saber, etc. in most of my knives, fixed or folder. I like the Emerson chisel grinds too.

I don't find myself doing a lot of 'slicing' other than in the kitchen and I already have knives there for that. Some of the hollow grinds do LOOK good though.