Spyderco Forums

Let's make 2021 and beyond the decade of high hollow grind.

Full flat grind has its place, but with better steels than ever and greater emphasis on thinness BTE, we can do even better with a good high hollow grind.

The GB2 with its high hollow grind is a sheer delight to use, zipping through materials like nobody's business. The Dragonfly Salt also cuts way outsize its footprint, which I feel is thanks to great ergos and a high hollow grind.

I would love to see high performance variants of existing models with a really thin HHG.

Apparently Sal's already ahead of us, but I'm interested to see who else is hot for the HHG?

sal wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 12, 2020 8:23 pm

vivi wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 10, 2020 8:37 pm

That's unexpected. I wonder if this will be the start of a "performance series" of knives with thinner blade stock?

Hi Vivi,

No, The model you are speaking is is a Delica with a very thin high hollow grind. It's currently on hold due to other models ahead of it.

sal

Yes! Let's make this a thing in 2021!

definitely enjoyed it on my Zulu. I miss that knife.

Right now as we speak I'm playing with one of my C-60 Ayoob models ( 2011, G-10 Sprint Run). It has a nicely tapered hollow grind. But I'm not sure if you would consider that a "High Hollow Grind"??? I would have to say that it probably is.

But I can tell you that all my C-60 Ayoob models take a really wicked edge. And even with VG-10 blade steel it's a super good knife for a wide range of uses.

Well with the new Sprint Run of the C-60 Ayoob model coming up I hope it qualifies :cool:

I'm trying to find a good picture of a true high hollow grind, but mostly what I am finding is a something close. In my opinion, a hollow grind requires the use of grinding wheels and cannot be made using a flat belt for stock removal. Some use a belt over a wheel/pulley and that is the functional equivalent of the grinding wheel. In some pictures, the grind only goes to the mid point, which to my mind is not a high hollow grind, but a hollow saber grind.

Big Chris customs has talked about using a 11" or 12" wheel on his knives and regrind.

CRK does a pretty high, deep hollow grind on the Sebenza.

The highest hollow grind I’ve ever had on a knife was on my old (and long-discontinued) Kershaw Liner Action drop point. The hollow grind on that went all the way to the blade spine. It was the first modern one-hand-opening folder I ever bought, not long before I got my first Spyderco, back in 1997.

The CRK Sebenzas are also high hollow grinds, the center of which are actually ground thinner than the area near the edge.

Off the top of my head, the Spyderco I have with the highest hollow grind is my Dragonfly Salt. My Tim Wegner is pretty high, too, but not as much for its blade as the Dragonfly Salt’s is for its blade.

Jim

James Y wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 21, 2020 11:38 am

The highest hollow grind I’ve ever had on a knife was in my old (and long-discontinued) Kershaw Liner Action crop point. The hollow grind on that went all the way to the blade spine. It was the first modern one-hand-opening folder I ever bought, not long before I got my first Spyderco, back in 1997.

The CRK Sebenzas are also high hollow grinds, the middle of which are actually ground thinner than the area near the edge.

Off the top of my head, the Spyderco I have with the highest hollow grind is my Dragonfly Salt. My Tim Wegner is pretty high, too, but not as much for its blade as the Dragonfly Salt’s is for its blade.

Jim

Yeah I almost forgot about those Wegner models. I wish that Spyderco and Tim Wegner had done more collaborations together. Even the OCELOT was a great design ( minus the paw prints). You can still get that same model through Tim Wegner's company i.e. Blade-Tech. I had one of those with S30V and it was one blade I had with S30V that I kind of liked.

Interesting to also note that most of Spyderco's Hawkbill blades have hollow grinds that could qualify as "high hollow grinds".

High or full hollows are always welcome.

Back in the day, Dozier built a name for himself with his bare bones highly functional blade designs with high hollow grinds. Of course back then it didn't hurt that his D2 heat treat was second to none.

This is why I love my GB2, the hollow grind. It really was a mean slicer out of the box and even now, months after having it, I still have to sharpen it yet it still makes curvy cuts in paper (not that I haven't used it in other EDC purposes). If the detent was only stronger and I didn't have to deal with the crazy lockstick, the GB2 would have been my be-all knife.

Another plus is, although this might not matter to many, but it makes for beautiful knife photos, the way the light transitions into a beautiful light-dark gradient on the blade.

I think many people would love it if Spyderco makes HG versions of their production models. :)

Count me in for a full hollow grind.

I have been using the Gayle Bradley 2 for a week now as my only knife and it's an absolute joy. Cardboard, plastic, wood, weeds, harvesting veggies and fruits, everything was effortless. In the kitchen: made a big pot of apple sauce, sliced potatoes and eggplants, diced onions really finely, chopped herbs for salads, push cut the bread, good as a steak knife.. and it is also fun to slice cheese at last.

After the GB2 I will be using the Swayback exclusively for a month. The grind is maybe about 2mm higher on that one - can't wait.

Lastly, according to YT, the grind on some CRK models is not too deep (Inkosi iirc), almost ffg.

ffg vs hg: https://youtu.be/tfuGcZaOp_s

I would buy some more Spydercos again if we get some high hollow grinds. I just got tired of almost everything being offered in a FFG.

The Meat man wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 21, 2020 11:36 am

CRK does a pretty high, deep hollow grind on the Sebenza.

Yes sir one of the best. I think I read somewhere a while back the Sebenzas are done on a 10” hollow grind wheel and the Inkosi has a 20” hollow grind. Amazing slicers.

The H-1 salts would be great candidates. H-1 has to be hollow ground for production efficiency, so it might be not too difficult to go higher. H-1 being soft behind the edge might be a problem for lateral stability, though.

Has Spyderco ever done a hollow grind that goes into the opening hole? If the hollow grind stops before the opening hole starts, it’s a hollow sabre grind in my mind.

James Y - I still have a Liner Action here somewhere, that did have a beautiful grind. Pity mine is partly serrated and the lock now hits the opposite scale.

PSquared wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 21, 2020 11:24 pm

Has Spyderco ever done a hollow grind that goes into the opening hole? If the hollow grind stops before the opening hole starts, it’s a hollow sabre grind in my mind.

Swayback is the most recent one that comes to mind

skeeg11 wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 21, 2020 11:44 pm

PSquared wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 21, 2020 11:24 pm

Has Spyderco ever done a hollow grind that goes into the opening hole? If the hollow grind stops before the opening hole starts, it’s a hollow sabre grind in my mind.

Swayback is the most recent one that comes to mind

Yup and the Southard as I discovered when I started looking at mine.


And some nice high hollows 'cos the thread needs pics :