Grinding help ?

[Alain M-D]

When you hollow grind a blade, do you start by thinning the blade first (thin à the point and thick at the ricasso...) and then make the hollow grind or make the opposite (start with the hollow grind and finish with thinning the blade ?)

Thank you for your assistance!

Alain

 

[Bruce Bump]

Alain, I like a distal taper in my blades so I taper it first leaving it thick at the ricasso and gradually tapering it to the tip. With hollow grinds you will want to leave the tip a little thick though because the hollow will remove quite a bit of metal out.

 

[L6steel]

I only taper the blade on flat grinds. To thin the point down on hollow grinds I pull the tang back a little just as the contact wheel gets to the tip. It's a very subtle move that takes a little practice to get used to but it's not hard to learn.