Delica 4: Why buy saber ground over full flat grind?

Says who? :D

Yeah! :D:D

delicatrade008.jpg
 
True, but many hollow ground blades will thicken up evevn slower than flat grinds, and you see few people on the internet today demanding more HGs. ;)

As the Saber grind is sharpened and the edge moves ever so slowly up the blade, the edge will become thicker and thicker do to the steep angle that only goes approximately half way up the blade.

Will most people use the knife in their lifetime enough for this to be an issue: probably not, unless their using it for extremely abrasive tasks.

The relative thinness of the Full Flat Grind's blade profile does make it the sharper of the two grinds, a better slicer, as well as being longer lasting.

Aesthetically , or as NutnFancy says, ASSthetically, the FFG blade is clean and functional looking. Minimalism at its best.
 
Got me JNewell. The Bradley is one of the few Spyderco HGs that I know of, although my knowledge of their knives is not as encyclopedic as some.

I can't explain the seemingly higher demand for flat as compared to hollow grind. My preference is do to the clean look of a the flat surface.
 
^^ My native and centofante are both hollow ground, IIRC. Of course, they have quite shallow hollow grinds.
 
My reason is simple, I would have broke a FFG delica many times over with the way I use it. I'm not abusive but I do use that little knife for anything.

I had a G-10 endura but sold it mainly because of its thin FFG. It cut nice but I was always worried about breaking it because it would flex with just finger pressure. The blade never seemed tough enough compared to the handle, the new brown E5 has caught my eye though ;)

Sal, will the new E/D5 be ground the same way as the G-10 models?
 
In my opinion--which could be wrong, but it's been my experience--full flat grind or hollow grind beats a saber grind in terms of cutting ability in many more tasks than just slicing.

Even a dull SAK will cut relatively well because of the thin stock compared to a thick saber grind. My Caly 3 cuts like a laser, and my hollow ground Mini Griptilian out-cuts any of the other blade styles I've owned. The same goes for the Leafstorm: even with a thick blade stock, the hollow grind makes it an amazing cutter.

Your mileage may vary, especially if you have superior sharpening skills to my dismal ability, or and re-profile your factory edges.
 
In my opinion--which could be wrong, but it's been my experience--full flat grind or hollow grind beats a saber grind in terms of cutting ability in many more tasks than just slicing.

Even a dull SAK will cut relatively well because of the thin stock compared to a thick saber grind. My Caly 3 cuts like a laser, and my hollow ground Mini Griptilian out-cuts any of the other blade styles I've owned. The same goes for the Leafstorm: even with a thick blade stock, the hollow grind makes it an amazing cutter.

Your mileage may vary, especially if you have superior sharpening skills to my dismal ability, or and re-profile your factory edges.

I agree. My Stretch in VG-10 keeps cutting longer than my ZDP-189 Endura 4 I believe because of the thinner blade profile (including the grind.) Even though the edge gets much duller, the VG-10 Stretch's flat-ground blade continues to cut through material longer.

I recently flat/convex-ground my Delica (and brought its bevels to ~10° per side), and it cuts both smoother and longer than my saber-ground D4 Wave, again despite the edge dulling quicker.

This has been my short-term experience with flat-ground knives. I'm sure I'll find out more as time goes on.
 
Got me JNewell. The Bradley is one of the few Spyderco HGs that I know of, although my knowledge of their knives is not as encyclopedic as some.

I can't explain the seemingly higher demand for flat as compared to hollow grind. My preference is do to the clean look of a the flat surface.

I won't pretend to be able to answer "why" with any authority - maybe Sal will chime in :D - but I wonder if the tip being thinner, and consequently more prone to being broken, helped move both buyers and Spyderco away from the HG blades on knives like the D3 and E3.

Personally, I still really like the saber grind for the D3 for general use and don't see any disadvantage (in my use, anyway) compared to a FFG. For slicing food or things along that line, FFG would obviously be better, but I have kitchen knives for those uses most of the time.

I also wonder how representative opinions at places like BF, SF, USN, etc. are on questions like this. That's another Sal question, though - I don't have any idea about general market vs. "affi" buyers.
 
Hi Harry,

Replacement is not a question at this point. We'll release the FFG versions soon and watch the market. We work for the market.

Mumbles,

In the knife world, you will find the word "better" posted often. Often, as education finds its way into the question, the word 'better" seems to become less important.

All steels, grinds and grips were created because there was a need for the particular properties available from that steel, grind or grip. The thought that has worked for me for many years is; "all good, just different".

In the case of the sabre / FFG. Thinner knives slice better, thicker knives take more abuse, but do not pass though matrerial as easily as a thinner blade. There is always a trade off.

We added some radius to the tips of the End /del's becasue our customers were breaking tips, but we still wanted a sharp tip for piercing. Many of our knives are in the field for 20+ years and the thicker saber has served us well.

The Stretch was an early entry into the FRN everyday work knife with a full flat grind.

Most of our knives are used as reliable tough every day carry pieces. We can also make FFG thicker to gain strength. There are a number of FFG Tough knives out there. The comparison will be interesting.

sal



Sorry Sal but I think you are missing the point. In a knife like the Delica, utility is more important than strength. The FFG Delica in FRN will be one of the best decisions you have made in a long time.

I have not bought a new Spyderco in a while because nothing was hitting my buy button. The FRN Stretch made me look twice and I almost bought one until I heard that the Delica and Endrua were going to be made in FFG.

I think you will see a be return to these models now that they have FFG and FRN. I am going to buy the FFG Delica as soon as I can.

I never warmed up to the D-4 even though I thought the D-3 was one of the best knives Spyderco ever produced. You didn't ruin the Delica with the D4 but the changes made were a mixed blessing. I loved the new handle and four way clip. I like the feel of it but the weight and thickness of the blade made it a turn off. I owned a few and ended up selling or trading them all because I just never liked them as much as my Centofante 4 or D3s. This new FFG Delica will be worth my money for sure. As long as the blade is not any thicker than the standard D4 and the weight is slightly less, it should be perfect.
 
Hi Harry,

Replacement is not a question at this point. We'll release the FFG versions soon and watch the market. We work for the market.

Mumbles,

In the knife world, you will find the word "better" posted often. Often, as education finds its way into the question, the word 'better" seems to become less important.

All steels, grinds and grips were created because there was a need for the particular properties available from that steel, grind or grip. The thought that has worked for me for many years is; "all good, just different".

In the case of the sabre / FFG. Thinner knives slice better, thicker knives take more abuse, but do not pass though matrerial as easily as a thinner blade. There is always a trade off.

We added some radius to the tips of the End /del's becasue our customers were breaking tips, but we still wanted a sharp tip for piercing. Many of our knives are in the field for 20+ years and the thicker saber has served us well.

The Stretch was an early entry into the FRN everyday work knife with a full flat grind.

Most of our knives are used as reliable tough every day carry pieces. We can also make FFG thicker to gain strength. There are a number of FFG Tough knives out there. The comparison will be interesting.

sal

Sal's right - The word "better" on this forum gets thrown around alot! Each grind has it's own advantages/ disadvantages.

Sal, great job on the new Stretch 2. I just got my ZDP-189 version and its one hell of a work horse and a damn good slicer! :thumbup::thumbup:
 
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