Hollow grind vs. sabre grind difference. 2 x 42

B

blandies

Joined
Aug 18, 2011
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I have been asking around & searching & get so many conflicting answers I figure it best to ask here.

This first picture I was told is a sabre grind

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/200/33788585.jpg/

this second picture is a flat grind

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/148/49002087.jpg/

this last picture here, what is it? This is a neat knife I found on google....it looks like a sabre grind? Or is it a hollow grind?

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/215/brooklynbowie.jpg/

I would just like to know what my sears 2x42 is capable of making. I know it can not make hollow grinds, but what about sabre grinds? Sabre vs hollow kind of looks the same in my eyes. I don't like the full flat knives like the 2nd picture, they just look unfinished. Was hoping my 2 x 42 could make grinds like the 1st or 3rd picture.
 
Are there supposed to be pictures we're looking at, somewhere?

You can make a saber grind with just a file---all a saber grind means is that the primary bevel doesn't go all the way to the top. You can have saber flat, saber convex and saber hollow. Just keep the blade-to-be at a consistent angle and start removing steel. Now, doing it WELL is another matter--matching bevels from side to side along the whole length of a blade is pretty damned difficult without a jig, and even with a jig can be frustrating to say the least. There's a reason that the vast majority of saber grinds you see are from production makers where machines are handling the grinding. Even then, you see differences. Pick up a USMC fighting knife sometime, take a caliper along and see what I mean. Does one side being ground 1/16" higher than the other make a functional difference? No. But your average buyer of custom wares doesn't throw down hundreds of dollars for uneven grinds.

Anyway, yes, your grinder could undoubtedly produce such a grind--though it's going to take it a long time as the Craftsman 2X42 is really pretty underpowered for serious grinding of steel. I still have one laying around in the garage, and you really can't lean into it at all without pulling it almost to a stop. Still, though, it's do-able...and on your hundredth or so knife, they'll probably start looking pretty good! ;)
 
Well I didn't have $1000 for a "good" grinder. Everyone recommended the 2 x 42 saying it was good.
And yes, Click the links for the pictures. :)

That helped quite a bit. And from what you said I am guessing the 1st and 3rd pictures are both hollow ground.
Unfortunately the 2nd picture is all I can make from my 2x42...bleh!
 
Picture8.png
 
Ahah! Sorry--for some reason they weren't showing as links on my phone.

Don't get me wrong, the 2X42 beats no grinder at all, but get the best coarse ceramic belts you can, and go slow. That's not bad advice regardless of your tool, but especially important when you're lacking horsepower.
 
t1mpani said:
Ahah! Sorry--for some reason they weren't showing as links on my phone.

Don't get me wrong, the 2X42 beats no grinder at all, but get the best coarse ceramic belts you can, and go slow. That's not bad advice regardless of your tool, but especially important when you're lacking horsepower.
Click to expand...

I'm buying my 50 grit ceramic belt on Wednesday. I think 30 grit may be too much & 60 grit too little.
 
I don't understand how you think a grind that goes halfway across the blade width looks finished, but a full flat grind that removed steel across the entire width of the blade looks unfinished...:confused: :confused: :confused:

Most importantly the first knife has a pretty thin edge, which is a good thing. The second one is on the thick side, and that third one was very thick before they put that huge secondary bevel on it.
 
Check out 36 grit zirconia belts for rough profiling and getting the bevels started. I use them a lot on my craftsman and would say that 90% of my actual metal removal after cutting the very rough shape from a length of steel is with those. I skip from that to 60 grit and so on, but by the time I'm using 80 or higher I'm just putting a nicer surface on the knife and cleaning up the lines just a hair.
 
Agreed... I think you'll be surprised how slow stock removal is. I wear out more 36 grit belts than all others put together, and I just mod existing knives (so far). Good luck and have fun!
 
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