GSO 3.5 (2nd Generation)

That's exactly why we need Guy/Ellie or whomever to address this very issue. Seems to be a lot of moving pieces at this moment, I believe this is a pretty straight forward issue they should address. I'd prefer to hear it in this thread vs. other threads or on Instagram or facebook.
 
Silver Needle said:
I think I've been confusing myself. This is from their website:


If Millit is doing all grinding from now on, I really hope they figure out how to apply a true flat saber grind to these knives.
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I would imagine production grinding is where the primary grind is applied correct (whomever that is)?
 
Only slightly on-topic while we wait for the IG update, but this pic from back in June throws me a bit, they are ground 2.7 blanks... Flat or hollow? ;)

19120387_1957089344538355_8860937270211903488_n.jpg


I know that the 2.7s are all flat-ground, I handled and tested one and can say for certain. It is just funny to me that i cannot tell so easily in this particular image due to the way the light/glare comes off those lower blades.
 
I believe I read in another subforum thread - an exchange that also included Nathan of CPK - that "millet [sic] isn't equipped to flat grind knives" or something to that effect. Pretty sure they meant Millit.
 
Oyster said:
I believe I read in another subforum thread - an exchange that also included Nathan of CPK - that "millet [sic] isn't equipped to flat grind knives" or something to that effect. Pretty sure they meant Millit.
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How lovely.
Yes animportant if you could find something out that would be great. The only true way I could ever clearly tell if it were a flat grind is looking linear down the blade from the point end and of course feeling it in hand.
 
Here is one post that I found:

jdm61 said:
Millet did some very shallow hollow ground kitchen blades for Adam Simha, but they are not really set up to flat grind. Plus, they may not have the excess capacity that they once had as they are now doing their own line of knives much like Halpern IIRC. Capacity may to be a potential issue for a number of these providers with the current state of the mid-tech and small batch production biz.
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So many (most?) production knives are flat ground. Can anyone explain the difficulty to those of us that don't know enough about the process?
 
email response from Jordyn:

"At this point we are still working with Millit on the grind for the GSO-3.5. Nothing is definitive at this moment. We just received a few sample blades back from grinding which look amazing, but have a slight hollow grind. Guy is now working with Millit to change over machines to make the grind as flat as possible. All of our GSO models will still have a saber grind, but in the end might have a slight hollow grind that most people probably won’t notice. As always, we will never put anything out that we are not 100% satisfied with. We will be sure to keep everyone up to date on the changes that are made."
 
Oyster said:
So many (most?) production knives are flat ground. Can anyone explain the difficulty to those of us that don't know enough about the process?
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Change is bad.
Edit: Okay, that was pretty cryptic. Most people are uncomfortable with changes that they did not anticipate. This is particularly the case when dealing with luxury goods like these.
 
Thanks for sharing this sryt95. It at once confirms and dissipates our concerns.
For my part, I'm probably fine with it on the 3.5 - even if it does feel like a compromise.
 
Fancier said:
Change is bad.
Edit: Okay, that was pretty cryptic. Most people are uncomfortable with changes that they did not anticipate. This is particularly the case when dealing with luxury goods like these.
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Not sure if this ^ was in response to my question. I'm not at all happy about the change as it doesn't comport with my understanding of the S!K series of knives.
I meant: what is the difficulty in producing a flat grind?
 
There were apparently a significant number of grinding defects in the previous production runs.
I know that there were a lot of seconds and uglies sold, because I bought a few of them. ;)
Those off spec knives turned out to be pretty darn nice, but I think that they required a fair bit of shop time to get them that way.
There were also unrecoverable off spec materials, but we only saw pictures of those because they were scrapped.
All those issues drive up cost and slow things down.
I think that the compromise is between sticking with the familiar and accepting the higher defect rate and trying something new that might be different but have a lower defect rate. Somewhere in the past couple of days I said this before (and I'll risk saying it again) but I trust Guy to produce a superior product.
We'll just have to see where this goes over the next few months.
 
Oyster said:
Not sure if this ^ was in response to my question. I'm not at all happy about the change as it doesn't comport with my understanding of the S!K series of knives.
I meant: what is the difficulty in producing a flat grind?
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Right. There are a couple of different ways to do a flat grind. One is to use a flat abrasive and the other is to pass a round abrasive over the surface in a controlled fashion so as to create a flat surface (surface grinding). You can also "machine" (cut with tools as with a "milling machine") a flat surface but that isn't what we are talking about in this context (for a good example read some of the CPK WIP threads).
There is an instagram post of Guy creating perfectly flat platens so that his "grinder" (technically a belt sander) can create a flat grind by hand.
There are often problems getting both sides of the grind completely even.
To create a curved surface you can use an abrasive wheel with a particular radius. The bigger the wheel the flatter the grind.
Equipment exists that can create both hollow (curved) grinds in one fairly smooth process once you get it set up correctly.
If you flood the part with enough fluid while you grind it you get good heat control as well, although there is some debate about how important this might be.
So, apparently, hollow grinds are easier and more reliable to automate.
I hope this helps.
 
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Oyster said:
Not sure if this ^ was in response to my question. I'm not at all happy about the change as it doesn't comport with my understanding of the S!K series of knives.
I meant: what is the difficulty in producing a flat grind?
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I think it is a matter of different machines for different grinds. A flat saber grind needs a machine with a flat grinding surface whereas the hollow grind uses a wheel. If Millit only has the machines for hollow grinds.... there's our destiny.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong!
 
I hope Millit can get it right.

If some flat grinds are needed, maybe there's another group who can take on the SK! midtech load? cough ... NC ... cough ... JTM (JC)
 
Thanks both for the explanation.
Like I said, I'll grudgingly accept a very (!) "slight" hollow grind on the 3.5

For anything bigger (e.g. the 4.1 and 6 I have on order) I'd sooner pitch in an extra $20-$30 per knife to help pay for the machinery to create a flat grind (how much can it be?).
These knives ARE a great value for the quality. But they're still not exactly "cheap" and that kind of compromise just defeats the purpose of the rest of the design and materials. To me. YMMV
 
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