I have a confession to make

AVigil

AVigil

Adam Vigil working the grind
Platinum Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2009
Messages
7,309
My name is Adam Vigil and I like hollow grinding:eek:

I always flat grind, I never really was attracted to hollow grinding but then that all changed.

I got a bug to make some small carry blades and decided to make my humble version of the Loveless Stiff Horn pattern. This is a fixed blade Bob made from a Jess Horn folder design, thus "Stiff Horn".

I decided to go with a hollow grind on such a small blade as the original is hollow ground.

I ground out to patterns I free hand drew from looking at pictures, so it is not from a template.

So, I made one and put it up for sale. 2 buyers hit me up for it within a few minutes of each other. One got it and the other was willing to let me finish the second blade for him.

So here are the twins. My first hollow ground blades:D

How many guys are avoiding doing hollow grinds like I did

HQ9CPyf.jpg


I took a somewhat better pict, my camera skills are lacking

NGCCiuR.jpg
 
Last edited:
Very nice. I think I am on the opposite end. I love to do hollow grinds. I seldom do flat grinds, I prefer hollow. I think I might have to do a more flat grinds just to get practice. Either way those two knives look great.
 
I'm a flat grinder. My wheel has sat mostly untouched.

Those look great Adam. I'm curious what size wheel you used for them?

-Clint
 
I rarely do hollow grinds because I do almost all fairly straightforward cooking knives, and have a whole arsenal of finishing techniques for flat grinds. Whenever I do, I'm like- That was really fun!
Nice work- what size wheel or platen did you use?
 
That was done on a 10" Wheel.

This shows the grind better

[video=youtube;_RLRfL-ufeI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RLRfL-ufeI&feature=youtu.be[/video]
 
That's funny as hell. I broke out my 12" for a knife early last week! Hollow grinds get a bad rap, but for some applications there's no doubt it's a great answer. Your's look great, man!
 
Hey Matthew just curious what gives hollow grinds a bad rap? I've also done mostly flat grinds but I do love the feel of using the 12" and 10" wheels that I have. And hollow grinds just look so good :)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
a hollow ground blade sure does look nice, no question about it.

Certainly appropriate for stiff horn design knife.

I admit it, I'm a flatgrinder...
And I'm ok with that :-)
 
Last edited:
I LOVE the look of hollow grinds. A well done hollow is really hard to beat, visually speaking.
Blessings,
Joshua
 
40- ish years ago when I began grinding blades everything I did was hollow ground. I do
flat grinds and occasionally get orders for them. With a well balanced disc flats are fairly
easy for me now. I still prefer hollow grinding though. As of late most of the flats on my
knives are finished with like 2000 grit by hand lapping, and the hollow is a satin finish coming to
a dual finish when finished. Very nearly a mirror on the flats and the satin in the hollow grind.
Those two knives and the grinds look great.
Ken.
 
Last edited:
Just the opposite here.

99% of my knives have been hollow ground until recently. I've been experimenting with full flat grinds lately, and I really like them. I may end up sticking with full flat grinds for a while.
 
I started knife making on an 8" wheel, and for whatever reason had a more difficult time transitioning to flat grinds. Now I can't remember the last hollow I did.

Maybe I'll pull that old contact wheel out and give it a spin...
 
Adam, You don't have to apologize for liking hollow grinds and there is no rehab. The more you do It the more you will like doing it. Those are nice looking knives. Larry
 
I used to only do flat because I honestly didn't know how to hollow grind haha! Now I really like doing them on certain designs because it seems easier to keep a nice crisp line. In addition, on a tanto, you can do a hollow main bevel with a flat ground tip for a nice compound grind.

H0a2G2s.jpg
 
Matthew Gregory said:
That's funny as hell. I broke out my 12" for a knife early last week! Hollow grinds get a bad rap, but for some applications there's no doubt it's a great answer. Your's look great, man!
Click to expand...

Yeah! They're not the solution for everything but they definitely have their place.
Used to be I only did them on straight razors and daggers.
 
Josh,
Nice interpretation of the stiff Horn by Loveless.
I personally think that the grind chosen, ether, Flat Hollow Convex or some combo of the three has more to do with the end function of the knife for me than what I think looks Kewl!;)

elementfe said:
I rarely do hollow grinds because I do almost all fairly straightforward cooking knives, and have a whole arsenal of finishing techniques for flat grinds. Whenever I do, I'm like- That was really fun!
Nice work- what size wheel or platen did you use?
Click to expand...

In about 20 years I've made about two Hollows, I've had 8" wheels here and only used them for profileing for the most part,

Great for Hunters, Small Practac blades and some meat cutters like Boning Fillet, But for most culinary apps Flats & Slight Convex work the best, IMHO.
LARRYZ10 said:
Adam, You don't have to apologize for liking hollow grinds and there is no rehab. The more you do It the more you will like doing it. Those are nice looking knives. Larry
Click to expand...

Hollow Grinder's Anonymous?
 
my first 140 or so knives were flat ground. i just finished #153. i had read long ago that a flat grind had better chopping penetration, and hollow grinds would cut with less effort, but only as deep up to where the bevel gets thick. wether that is correct or not, i favored bowies and that is what i went with. i had also read that flat grinding was more difficult than hollow grinding. so when i bought my first 10" wheel a few months ago, i did not think it would be easy, but it was harder than i expected ! especially the plunges. i love the look of the hollow grind, and its cutting action. i am a big fan of the hollow grind now. nice stiffhorns ! i am thinking of trying a city knife soon.
 
Good looking blades, sir!!! A few years back at Blade or one of the hammer-ins, some folks were having a discussion about what made Loveless knives unique and where some makers fall short in trying to replicate them. One fellow who had apparently handled a few said that it is the DEPTH of the grind on the Loveless knives. He said that they could be so deep that sometimes Bob would grind through to the other side. :D The good news today is that with all of the gear options we now have, you can do anything from a 72 inch old school "big wheel" grind a la Sheffield or Solingen circa 1880 using one of Nathan' platen all the way down to the 3 inch super hollow grind like Bruce Bump uses for the top "clip" on some of his fancy fighters. :thumbup:
 
Those Look great! a good job of following a classic pattern....

Personally, The look or ease/difficulty of a grind shouldn't be what decides what you choose, function and desired use should be....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top