What Type Of Grind For Blade

T

TIM FROST

Joined
Nov 21, 2005
Messages
28
In General What Type Of Grind Should I Do On My First Knife Blade?
I Would Like To Keep It Simple As Possible. Flat/hollow/convex? I Am Using A Kmg Grinder, I Have 8 Inch Contact Wheel And A Flat Platen And The Platen Could Be Removed To Use The Slack Portion Of The Belt. Whatever Type Of Grind I Use I Think I Should Keep The Belt Speed Slow. I Would Like The Finish To Be Satin Like. The Steel Of The Knife Is 0-1.
I Would Appreciate Any Advice I Could Get!!!! T.frost.......
 
It depends on what type of use the knife will see. I have started with the flat grind on the kmg, and use it on nearly all my knives. It is a good place to start, and I look at it as a nice medium between concave and convex edges. As far as knife use, normally camp knives and knives that are going to see heavy use will have a convex grind, while a hollow grind will give a much finer edge, but not hold up to the abuse. I like flat grind, cause that is what I am used to and I havent had any problems with the edge retention as of yet.
 
As Derkins says, it really depends on what the intended use of the knife is. I've seen it written that hollow grinding is the easiest to learn to do correctly, but I can't speak from experience, as I have flat or convex ground all of my blades to date. It's interesting to note that all of the knives used in the world championship cutting contest last year were flat ground with a convex edge. This is the grind I've been using lately on all of my knives. I stop the flat grind fairly thick and convex the edge for a chopper, and I flat grind it pretty thin and convex the edge for small slicers. In between size knives get an in between grind. I have found, through experience and testing, that hollow ground blades cut really well on thin material, but tend to bind/drag in thicker material, and it seems that the smaller the contact wheel used to do the grinding, the worse the drag.

I hope that helps,
Todd

edited to add: The hollow grind testing was done on meat and cheese only, and is only meant to give my personal impression of such grinds, and is limited to my cutting that material. Others probably have different and equally valid opinions/results.
 
I'll say go with flat. That is what I do and I think it will teach you better than starting with convex. If wanting convex I would suggest learning flat first. Flat will be less forgiving than convex and will give you a better foundation upon which to learn other grinds. Hollow I have not yet done and therefore can not comment upon.

RL
 
Whatever you decide I hope you realize how fortunate you are to be starting out on a KMG vs. what most of us used. This will put you way ahead of the game using quality equipment right out of the gate. If you are also able to work (friendly observer over the shoulder) with someone that has some experience you will take a year off your start-up time. I’m going to vote for the flat grind as well.
 
I'm with everyone else and say go flat first. I do mainly convex because that's what I like best and it's my favorite grind type. I go convex with all knives and feel it's an effective grind even for knives used for slicing. If I want a pure slicer I use 1/8" stock and grind it to zero edge. Convexing is all about the amount of pressure while moving the blade along the belt. If you decide to hollow grind, get a 10" wheel. It will cover a broader range of blade widths.
Scott
 
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