Why Hollow Ground Knives?

B

Bo-Ri-Do

Joined
Oct 21, 2014
Messages
38
So what is the point of owning one of these grinds? They are so popular and I find them perplexing. I tried to research them but nothing really came up. I want to know the pros and cons of having this blade grind. Please help. Things
 
Yes I would like to know this information also. I am very new in the knives collecting hobby
 
So when you dump in google the following searchterm:
purpose of different blade grinds

you dont get any searchresults?????
 
Pros: Very thin behind the edge. This makes them great slicers. They are also easy to sharpen to acute angles since there's not a lot of metal to clear away from the edge.

Cons: Can bind up when pushing the entire blade through thick material (cardboard, etc). Perhaps not the best grind if you're gonna be prying or something, but why use a knife for that?

Overall, I like them a lot. I don't do a lot of cardboard cutting or anything like that, so I like having a good slicer.
 
Pros: You can get a super fine edge on a hollow-ground blade - more so than other grinds. Actually, most straight razors (used to shave a man's face) are hollow ground blades. I also find hollow-grinds fairly easy to maintain. Straight razors are typically stropped in between each use to maintain the super fine, super sharp edges. Other EDC type knives (CRK Sebenzas come to mind), are easily touched up on a fine ceramic rod. Also, the hollow-grind is aesthetically pleasing to many folks.

Cons: The two biggest cons are (1) achieving a proper hollow grind is more complicated and, thus, more expensive for manufacturers to accomplish, and (2) due to the fact that there is less mass (less actual steel) directly behind (i.e. supporting) the edge, hollow-ground edges are not as tough and durable as, for example, a standard V-grind or convex grind (in fact, the full convex "zero grind" geometry is probably the strongest and most durable because it is the opposite of the hollow (concave) grind and, therefore, has the most amount of steel mass behind the edge).

I'm sure others will chime in with their thoughts. The above is just what immediately came to my mind.
 
Chris Reeve says that hollow grinds also allow for longer sharpening life because as you sharpen back, it doesn't thicken up as much as a traditional v grind would
 
Definitely not my favorite as they have a very sharp, but weaker edge. They make great skinning knives, but I find I can skin with other blade styles as well and still do other chores with the same knife.
 
Good for shallow cutting until the deflection becomes too great and causes binding. Cheap to manufacture on automated equipment in large volume due to minimal grinding involved in low-bevel-height examples. In the case of small blades like those found on traditional folders a full-height hollow allows the blades to cut very well while remaining sufficiently stiff due to the thicker spine.
 
snippy said:
Good point. I can imagine that long before knife makers had belt grinders (to make a flat grind), they only had round wheels. Never thought of that before!
Click to expand...

They would use the flat face of the wheel for flat grinding. :)
 
Hollow grinds are just another way of grinding a knife. They can be as thick or thin as any other grind, depending on who grinds them. I've had hollow ground knives that were thicker than my Benchmade folders, back when Benchmade was noted for its thick grinds. When thoughtfully employed, they allow for a fast edge that is thin and still supported by a full thickness spine. They are very convenient to do if all you have are round grinding wheels, and they provide a relief for knives and razors that are sharpened by laying them flat to the stone. Only the outer edge is in contact with the stone, instead of having to grind/polish the entire flat bevel.
 
They work better on materials that self-separate after cutting like meat, rope and CARTA testing gel.
 
Divo said:
So when you dump in google the following searchterm:
purpose of different blade grinds

you dont get any searchresults?????
Click to expand...

I do but they are not really meaningful and do not really answer the questions I haste about them.
 
For me it is mostly aesthetic. Especially if paired with a decent satin or mirror polish. From a functional standpoint I like the fact that you can have a very thin cutting edge yet retain the majority of your rigidity by keeping the spine thick.
 
Hollow grinds are great and a joy to use.

The Busse TGLB even has a hollow grind and it's not flimsy at all and cuts decently for it's design (seen on the right)

COLBBladecutaway3.jpg




Also:

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