flat or hollow grind on custom.

R

razorsdescent

Joined
Jan 16, 2005
Messages
2,938
Im planning on getting two custom knives made in the next few months. they are going to be the same model and the only difference will be handle color, they are going to have 5 inch blades and about 3/16 inch thickness. One will get carried by me and the other will get carried by one of my best friends who is also my team mate in afghanistan. my question is simply this, the maker offers hollow grinds as standard is there any reason that i should put in the extra money and effort to get us both flat grinds over hollow grinds? The knives will be used by us both extensively and even more so when we return to the u.s, He hunts alot and i spend a fair amount of time in the woods. i dont have any hollow ground knives so i dont really know too much about their performance. id imagine they are better slicers but they also seem like they would have less strength. ive been reading what i can and since im used to flat ground blades i figured i might as well go for it, but on the other hand if it doesn't offer a substantial gain i dont see any reason to jack up the price and wait time.
 
A hollow ground will be a great slicer. If you are scared about strength then just put a microbevel!
A full flat wouldn't last through as many sharpening also, but that means in the LONGGG run.
I'd just go hollow.
 
I really like hollow grinds for their looks, and keen edges for general purpose cutting. That said, I feel that a soldier and hunter would be well served by a full flat grind both for it's slicing ability and the extra strength that is inherent with the design. I have knives with both grinds and while the cutting difference is not large, the extra beef behind the FF edge will help to minimize chipping out and rolled edges.
 
A.P.F. said:
I really like hollow grinds for their looks, and keen edges for general purpose cutting. That said, I feel that a soldier and hunter would be well served by a full flat grind both for it's slicing ability and the extra strength that is inherent with the design. I have knives with both grinds and while the cutting difference is not large, the extra beef behind the FF edge will help to minimize chipping out and rolled edges.
Click to expand...

This is about what i expected to hear and kind of reaffirms what i believed, and thank you for the time you took to reply. id welcome any more responses though if anyone has any dissenting views id love to hear them.
 
The real difference lies in the total blade strength -- FFG blade is stronger "by-design" than a HG. IMHO, an FFG will suit you well in Afgan provinces where you will encounter "extremes" in terms of cutting ability. Both, FFG and HG can take a "bleeding edge" if sharpened correctly -- notice that the sharpening is important here, and not the blade geometry.

So FFG, and good luck mate.

-Amarendra
 
You might also ask what size wheel is used for his hollow grinds , a 8" wheel will give a deeper hollow , where a 14" wheel will give you a much less deep hollow , almost flat looking grind , depending on blade width of course.
 
For what you describe I think a full flat grind would serve you well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top