Sabre grind vs full flat grind Beckerhead insight wanted

[Silverthorn]

Can someone who knows their stuff fill me in on the plusses and minuses of both?
I know that Sabre grind is good stuff because Ethan is no fool, and his knives are almost all sabre ground, but Sabre vs Full flat seems to be a highly contested point among knife people.
I would love to hear what people think about it and why.

 

[clich]

Different strokes for different folks, and the same goes for grinds and what they excel at. In my opinion a full flat grind is the least useful of them all. I feel that in order to cut well, a blade needs shoulders. Think of it this way, when you cut something you are separating one side from the other, and all grinds do that. However with a full flat grind whatever your cutting is in contact with the blade the entire time until the spine. With a sabre or convex the shoulders of the grind push the material away from the blade causing less friction. When batoning or cutting through wood, less friction is the key to getting through and to not getting stuck in a log. My favorite grind is the convex since it bites real deep and is easy to sharpen as well, but the sabre is a close second. Hope that helps

 

[ocnLogan]

Saber grinds are generally stronger than a FFG of the same size, simply because there is more steel behind the edge. On the other hand, FFG's can help the angle of the edge behind the edge be shallower, which can make it slice better.

Like clich said, there are good things and bad things about each, and everyone values things differently.

 

[KevinOubre]

Different strokes for different folks, and the same goes for grinds and what they excel at. In my opinion a full flat grind is the least useful of them all. I feel that in order to cut well, a blade needs shoulders. Think of it this way, when you cut something you are separating one side from the other, and all grinds do that. However with a full flat grind whatever your cutting is in contact with the blade the entire time until the spine. With a sabre or convex the shoulders of the grind push the material away from the blade causing less friction. When batoning or cutting through wood, less friction is the key to getting through and to not getting stuck in a log. My favorite grind is the convex since it bites real deep and is easy to sharpen as well, but the sabre is a close second. Hope that helps

I've heard several times on the forums that sharpening a convex grind is easy but I have found that it's really hard to get a convex with a freehand technique on benchstones. Is it easy to put one on and maintain because you use a strope or belt grinder? Or am I just doig something wrong? After all I've only been sharpening freehand for about 9 months.

 

[Battle Creek Knives]

maybe some feel sabre grinds are more aesthetically pleasing?? as it draws the eye... it definitely looks more battle worthy I will say that..

from my experience a full flat grind excels greatly in battoning, a high flat or (sabre) grind gets stuck in the wood more frequently, I've paired them both in the bush and this is my finding with oak, hickory, and black jack.....

I really don't think one is stronger then the other It mainly depends on your edge geometry... each edge has its own rewards and though I used to be sold on convex (for every knife), not so much anymore... again depends on the knife and its intended purpose..

I like a big knife with a convexed edge whether it be flat or high it will perform its tasks, and for my bush knife I like scandi.. but that's just me..

 

[ocnLogan]

Easy on a belt sander and a strop, because both naturally deflect some, giving you that nice convex edge.

Plus, most people have a hard time keeping the same angle with their hand, so it can frequently end up like a convex after time anyway.

Personally, I'm on the fence about them.

 

[Moosez45]

Wow, tough call on this one.

I love both of them, but I prefer the saber grind, over FFG. On certain knives.

For my hard use beat'em up, bust'em blades, Saber is my prefered, I find it doesn't stick or bind in wood as easy as FFG does (IMO, ya'll), and it lends itself to be a better chopper.

For smaller or thinner knives, FFG is the only way to go, slicing, crafting, stuff like that, FFG really shines, and it can take some punishment as well.

And to agree with BCK, saber grinds are some good lookin' grinds, that just kinda look better than that full slab.

Its different for each person, and I don't honestly think that you can say, one works better than the other, the just both work.

Moose

 

[Shotgun]

Different strokes for different folks, and the same goes for grinds and what they excel at. In my opinion a full flat grind is the least useful of them all. I feel that in order to cut well, a blade needs shoulders. Think of it this way, when you cut something you are separating one side from the other, and all grinds do that. However with a full flat grind whatever your cutting is in contact with the blade the entire time until the spine. With a sabre or convex the shoulders of the grind push the material away from the blade causing less friction. When batoning or cutting through wood, less friction is the key to getting through and to not getting stuck in a log. My favorite grind is the convex since it bites real deep and is easy to sharpen as well, but the sabre is a close second. Hope that helps

I wonder if this is more of an issue for you when dealing with coated blades where the coating on a FFG would contact it more and be more grabby. On a blade with no coating I've found that the shoulders work against you given a knife of the same width and thickness. You're reaching the full width of the grind early sort of like a scandi grind which makes passing through material more difficult. Take a thick(1/8" plus) scandi grind and cut an onion. If you don't throw the knife out of frustration I'd be surprised.

On wood, I haven't noticed any difference.

So IMO FFG is a better well rounded blade profile but I do like full convex more.(No corners) If you just want something to pound through wood I say there's little difference between any of the grinds assuming the same level of sharpness.