Suitable knife for a woodworker????

[Barry H]

I am a custom woodworker that has carried a vast assortment of pocket knives in the last 30 years. I am in-between knives right now and am looking for opinions. My last knife had a hollow grind, CPM 440 blade. And though it worked well on packing foam, filament tape and cardboard and soft wood, like pine, it didn't work so well trimming hard maple. So I am wondering, would a flat ground blade function better cutting harder woods? How about chisel ground?
Thanks for any comments and suggestions!
Barry H.

 

[Roger Blake]

I would think that for marking out stuff a chisel grind would be best but not for any thing else. Overall I would take the flat ground but its not that important for wood. The problem with chisel grind is that they don't cut straight. The only advantage to hollow grind is for shallow cuts which come to think about is probably what you would be using it for. I still like flat ground cause its a little stronger.

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Roger Blake

 

[Clay Kesting]

Barry,

I teach woodwork in a high school and use my knife often in the workshop, although usually for softwood. My current favourite knife for this purpose is a Centofante Jr. The flat grind gives a thin edge which slices beautifully and the blade shape is perfect for jobs like cleaning up the bottom of dovetail joints. Lately I've been using an old Aluminium handled one which I prefer to the current G10 model. Of course YMMV

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Take care,

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Clay

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