Knife tip grinds and parts of a knife grind

uyotg

uyotg

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Sep 5, 2010
Messages
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Hi knifemakers, I posted this in general but never got a reply.. I'm thinking putting it in a smaller forum would get it more attention :thumbup: hope you can help, and thanks even if you don't :D

In #1 and #2, you'll see the "ridges" are not the same despite (I think) having the same grind, scandi or saber. #1's is parallel to the edge from handle to tip while maintaining a consistent distance from each it, while #2's is straight from the tip to the handle. To emphasize what I mean by the ridge, I've sketched #3, a full-height convex grind, which has no ridge at all. To the left of the blades, I've also sketched what the geometry looks like looking straight on at the tips of the blades (though I messed up and forgot to draw the edge on #2).
Image%252520%25252822%252529.jpg


  1. What is the name for that "ridge?"
  2. Is there a name for the ridge grind in #1? And what are the advantages and disadvantages of the point geometry?
  3. Is there a name for the ridge grind in #2? And what are the advantages and disadvantages of the point geometry?
  4. Is there a name for the part of the grind from the "ridge" to the spine?
  5. Is the whole grind different whether or not it's beveled? In #1 and #2 in the pictures, you can see they're beveled. Does them being beveled technically make the spines into swedges?
  6. How about if they're convexed, but the spine is not sharpened but still thin--is that still technically a swedge?
  7. How about if the spine is thin but also zero edged such that there is are no hard angles? Is that still a swedge?
  8. If you do take into account that the part in #4 is beveled such that the spine has been thinned and the "ridge" is zero edged, what grind is that called? Full convex?

See, there are tons of resources about the grind of a knife out there, but only about the primary grind and below, and not about the grind above and how the grind resolves at the knife tip.
 
uyotg said:
Hi knifemakers, I posted this in general but never got a reply.. I'm thinking putting it in a smaller forum would get it more attention :thumbup: hope you can help, and thanks even if you don't :D

In #1 and #2, you'll see the "ridges" are not the same despite (I think) having the same grind, scandi or saber. #1's is parallel to the edge from handle to tip while maintaining a consistent distance from each it, while #2's is straight from the tip to the handle. To emphasize what I mean by the ridge, I've sketched #3, a full-height convex grind, which has no ridge at all. To the left of the blades, I've also sketched what the geometry looks like looking straight on at the tips of the blades (though I messed up and forgot to draw the edge on #2).
Image%252520%25252822%252529.jpg


  1. What is the name for that "ridge?"
  2. Is there a name for the ridge grind in #1? And what are the advantages and disadvantages of the point geometry?
  3. Is there a name for the ridge grind in #2? And what are the advantages and disadvantages of the point geometry?
  4. Is there a name for the part of the grind from the "ridge" to the spine?
  5. Is the whole grind different whether or not it's beveled? In #1 and #2 in the pictures, you can see they're beveled. Does them being beveled technically make the spines into swedges?
  6. How about if they're convexed, but the spine is not sharpened but still thin--is that still technically a swedge?
  7. How about if the spine is thin but also zero edged such that there is are no hard angles? Is that still a swedge?
  8. If you do take into account that the part in #4 is beveled such that the spine has been thinned and the "ridge" is zero edged, what grind is that called? Full convex?

See, there are tons of resources about the grind of a knife out there, but only about the primary grind and below, and not about the grind above and how the grind resolves at the knife tip.
Click to expand...

OK, here we go. I think this is correct.
1. the ridge is called a grind line. it is where the bevels stopped and the spine began.
2. The ridge grind in number one is usually called a partial flat grind. if it continued all the way to the top, it would be called a full flat grind.
3. the grind in the second one is a dagger grind and both the top and the bottom are usually beveled and sharpened.
4. if left alone, the ridge to the spine is called the flat of the blade. if it is beveled, but not to an edge, it is called a swedge. if it sharpened, it is a sharpened swedge.
5. the grind usually has the same name with the exception of the dagger grind.

I am not an expert on convex, nor do I see a number 4, so I will let someone else answer your questions. in general, just take your best guess and you will probably be OK.
 
Thanks for the ton of answers, TG! By "#4" I actually meant the part named in #4, which is the flat or swedge as you said, so that was a bad on my part for being unclear. In general I guess you could come up with a ton of different designs that don't really have official names, but I'm just a bit OCD about getting names right and things documented correctly.
 
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