What type of blade grind is best:?

golok

golok

Joined
Oct 20, 2000
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There must be at least five types of grinds for blades.

There is the flat grind, followed by the hollow grind. Then there are others.

What type of grind is best for normal use? And what type of grind is the easiest as far as maintenance is concerned?

Is there any particular grind favoured by custom makers?

I understand that different grinds achieve different cutting results.

Normally, collectors just buy knives for their design and other variables like handle material and blade types. I reckon few of us actually study the blade grinds or have a deep understanding of its keen edge which follows a certain geometry.
 
The way I see it, I like the flat grind best for good cutting, particularly deep cutting. It's common on good kitchen knives because it cuts so well.

The hollow grind is very popular on utility knives because it is easy to sharpen repeatedly without having to back-bevel. It also leaves the spine thick which gives the blade good toughness. And I also suspect it's a little easier to manufacture than a flat grind.

The sabre grind is very tough, so it's the choice on a large "abusable" blade like a K-Bar.

The chisel grind I don't like very much on a knife because it's not symetric (however, it's great on an actual chisel). I think it's advantage is ease of manufacture. It also has some specialty applications like in the KISS knife where the grind helps protect and conceal the edge.

The Bladeforums FAQ has some more detailed information about this question including the reasons the different grinds have different attributes and how they perform on shallow vs. deep cuts, etc.
 
Thin stock, fully flat ground with a slight convex edge is pure heaven to use.
 
I agree with Crayola! Most of my hard uses of knives has been on skinning and butchering wild game in the field. Moose, deer, caribou, bear mostly. I like the convex grind like on the new Marbles. With only a light touch up with a ceremic stone as needed.:D
 
by all i mean full flat, hollow, convex and saber. I have seen a few knives with multiple grinds on them in different areas of the blade that get different types of use.

How about Flat saber on the belly with a convex edge for choping, that becomes a full flat grind for finer cuting, with a hollow ground swedge.

If i had to pick one, i like Crayola, would pick a full flat grind with a convex edge.

I also agree that chisel grinds are silly (except for the KISS, and a chisel) but they tell us that they are good on tactical knives because they make horrible wound channels, i dont buy it, i think they are just lazy.
 
I don't think that the grind is as important as the geometry for the intended use of the blade. That being said, I prefer a flat, hollow, or convex ground high on the blade with a relatively thin edge. A thinner edge works best for me. Your mileage may vary.

Paul
 
Originally posted by John Chong


Hear! Hear!

Now, who makes such a kitchen knife?
Click to expand...


The Fellkniven kitchen knives are convex ground and the Chef's Choice Trizor(sp) are triple ground, sort of a cheap version of the convex grind.

Ben
 
John Chong,

Funny you ask that. I have 4 kitchen knife sets ready to finish. They are a paring blade and wharncliffe utility (about 4.5") long blade pair. 1/16" thick, flat ground 440-C. I got them back from heat treat, and all I need to do is clean them up, put on some handles and put on a nice convex edge! If interested in chatting, please shoot me an e-mail.
 
bensano...

Thanks for the lead on Fallkniven. I know their outdoor knives are convex ground, the kitchen knives too? Great!

Crayola...

Sounds like a great set! But I'm looking for a larger chef's style knife (7" - 9") and perhaps in a more "exotic" steel like BG-42, VG-10 or S30V (this part is purely the knife knut in me :)). Will keep yours in mind if I turn to a small blade set.
 
Flat-grind for me! Excellent for maintenance in the field as well as its ability to cut most things.. :D

Sam
 
Sounds good man!

I'll be makign a Chef's knife or 2 this year of 440-C, by sumemr time. One is a wedding present. Look for pics then!

Man, knives are cool. I can't imagine how well an S30V chef's knife would do in the kitchen. Emeril would look like a wuss if you had an S30V chef's knife!
 
I could be wrong...but is'nt convex bulging outward and concave curved inward?
If so, I think you guys are talking about a flat-to-slightly-concave blade.

Allen.
 
allenC...

Yeah, convex bulges out so a convex edge is tapered out. Concave would be like a hollow grind.
 
Originally posted by John Chong
bensano...

Thanks for the lead on Fallkniven. I know their outdoor knives are convex ground, the kitchen knives too? Great!
Click to expand...

My Fallkniven may have BEEN convex, but I don't have a slack belt handy to sharpen them... thus CONVEX grinds are pretty sorry to use as they are hard to sharpen. I LOVE my Fallkniven kitchen knives, but now they are conventional edges ala EDGEPRO.
 
For my money, the kind of full height convex grind Marbles puts on their knives. I love my Fieldcraft.

The thin flat grind on older slip joints also cuts very well.
 
Originally posted by fracmeister
My Fallkniven may have BEEN convex, but I don't have a slack belt handy to sharpen them... thus CONVEX grinds are pretty sorry to use as they are hard to sharpen. I LOVE my Fallkniven kitchen knives, but now they are conventional edges ala EDGEPRO.
Click to expand...


Why would you need a slack belt to sharpen a convex edge? The convex edge knives I have are much easier to sharpen than the conventional v-grind knives I have.

I sharpen them on either a strop loaded with cro on top of a mouse pad, or with 600 grit wet dry on a mouse pad, and can easily get them hair popping sharp with very little effort.
 
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