What's the matter with a hollow grind.

I

itrade

Joined
Jul 3, 2002
Messages
645
Many folks swear by the flat grind or even convex (thanks to the Frink rotary platen). I know it's a religious argument with some, but I wonder if I need to be more flexible.

Most of the makers I admire, are in the camp that swears by the strength and finish you can get with a flat grind. So, I too held those axioms.

Well, I've finished my second hollow grind and .... well .... I think I like it better from a looks point of view. Not for every knife, but on narrow blades you can create grind lines that really look attractive without sacrificing cut ability (making such a thick cross section).

I hope I don't get kicked out of the V-grind clique, but

I like a hollow grind.

There, I said it.

Steve
 
Steve,

Yeah, you might get penalized for that one. However, I'm certainly not the one to do it. Everyone has there strenghts and weaknesses. I can't make a flat grind to save my life. Always comes out with a waivering grind line and gouges mid blade. Even with this said, I haven't messed up a hollow grind, yet. Everyone of my hollow grinds has been symetrical and well balanced, and much easier to polish.

Sure wish I could learn those flat grinds. As you said, there a grind for every knife design.

Dan
 
Hello, my name is Michael and I am a hollow-grinder.

:D

There isn't anything at all wrong with hollow-grinding unless you make a massive, thick chopper with small angle hollow grinds.
 
Big surprise! Almost all the old classic Bowies were hollow ground.
I don't know where hollow grinding got such a bogus reputation, except that certain'writers' started comparing apples to oranges.

There are many degrees of hollow grind, from the almost flat grind appearance of a 14-20" wheel, to the radical hollow of a 2-6" wheel.
Not to mention the various thicknesses of steel.

They all have their place.:eek: :D
 
I ahave to be honest and admit I've yet totry a hollow grind. Something else on the list to do.
 
Steve-

I hollow grind all of my daggers. Truth be told, many of the really stuanch supporters can do one grind, but not the other....so their grind becomes "the best and most difficult to do."

Personally, it seems to me if you can do one, you can do the other.

They all have their place. A closed minded person will tell you different. :)

Nick
 
Love hollow grinds, they have a more dramatic/artistic look to them. Other grinds are fine, but hollows are a fave.
 
Way back in the day, when folks didn't have Trizac belts, pyroceram platens, or adjustable single-phase motors, pretty much everything was hollow ground. They used nothing but big ol' grinding wheels, often powered by waterwheels. Sometimes they used wheels so large that the degree of curvature on a blade was slight, but it was still, technically, a hollow grind.

Seemed to work just fine for, I don't know, a few hundred years?
 
I'm primarily a hollow grinder...it is just easier for me...but I am lately grinding flat grind blades...thanks to pyrocerum!
 
I also hollow grind, never tried flat grinding. One day I am sure I will, but like others have said, each type of grind has its place. I just wish I knew what they were.;)
 
with a hollow grind you will be able to sharpen that blade back
farther before having to regrind the blade,
you in essence have a thinner blade with a strong
back bone keeping the width down
but in turn you lose heft and strength for say
chopping in general the right tool for the right job.
I like Hollowing just because I think it looks nice
but In think a big knife like a bowie looks better
with a flat grind
the old time grinders used I believe up to a
6 foot stone to grind with (hollow grinding.)
I do either one but tilt to the Hollow side.
 
I am just too slow! Dan said everything I was saving up - good show there Dan! :D Loveless swears by hollow grinding for just the reason Dan said - the blade is thinner for more of its depth, meaning you can keep a thin sharp edge through many more sharpenings than you could with a flat or convex blade. Hollow grinding also gives you more options for design, in so much as you can use the grind line as a design component.

But personally i think the full V grind is the cat's meow. It's strong and that flat is just so beautiful and awe inspiring... So I pretty much only make knives for which it's appropriate. Except of course that occasional dagger like Nick and Sean mentioned; then only a hollow grind will do. (I have done a double flat ground dagger - it was a lot of work and it was boring. Enough said.)

I'm waiting for the day when I can afford a Bader Space Saver (or maybe by then, Rob's equivalent) and I'll have a 30" wheel on that bad boy - and then you'll see some hollow grinding! That'll be the day my V grind becomes an "option"... :D But don't hold your breath, that's gonna be quite some time, alas.

Dave
 
You mean there's other grinds beside the hollow grind. Just kidding, but it is the only grind I've ever used. 8" and 10"
 
I agree A Agressive hollow grind just looks sweet :) and a smooth flat grind looks great as well Each grind has its place... Besides chisel grinds Leave them on the chisel's It looks like crap and is a half assed way of making a knife Imo..... Japanese choppers are one exception
 
I've only done a couple of hollow grinds, but to me they were easier than flat grinding.

But in use I've noticed that a convex edge on a flat grind or full convex works better on slashing type cuts and were you cut completely through the material. On hollow grinds the blade cuts better on shallow cuts but tends to bind up the deeper up the blade you go. Also convex blades are a lot stronger at the edge, for say hammering through steel banding.:D

The differance is very slight and not realy noticeable though, and hollow grinds on some knives just look right.

They all have there place.
 
Since my working method is "draw filing" it's bit difficult to make my blades hollow. They tend to be flat or just little convex. This is good for me since most of my work is nordic style or Finnish Puukkos. In time one finds out that the control is better when you work with wood with flat or convex blades. The blade does not bite so easily. Then again, hollow grind is better if one uses it for cutting leather, meat and such. For hunting knife hollow is better in my book.
 
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