How bout a full hollow grind blade?

[Jeff Tanner]

I just love the singing fine edge you can get from a good 7/8ths to full hollow grind design. It just disappears into the cut...and you can sharpen it forever before the edge gets too fat and useless.

Soooo, how about it? 3 1/2 " blade or so, VG10 steel, ball lock, sculpted micarta handles...




Oh, I dunno...just feel free to go ahead and surprise me.

[scout]

I'm all in for a full hollow ground or high hollow ground blade. I guess now that I think about I'm kinda a big fan of the hollow grind. I've been culling the Spyder herd lately, but have kept most hollow grinds. I must have more! :D
Wegner
Lum folding tanto
Vesuvious
Viele
Rookie
Salt1

[araneae]

A full hollow grind would be great. My 2nd favorite grind behind full flat.

[Cannon916]

Man, I don't know about a full hollow grind for a working knife. I shave with straight razors, and the edges can get pretty thin, and flkexible There would be very, very little strength to the blade. My ex-wife tried to use one to split a pill. It was a nice 7/8" spike point,,, now it has a huge chunk of the blade missing.
Anyway, a true hollow grind has a thickened portion right before the edge.

[araneae]

Welcome to the forum.

I use a full hollow grind knife on occasion and have no concerns about strength. A well done hollow grind does not mean a weak blade. You can put a thin edge on most grind types. Comparing a straight razor to a work knife is kind of an apples to oranges comparison IMO.

[Shike]

Like this?

http://www.greatlakescustomknives.com/M ... Hunter.htm

[cobrajoe]

I would be interested to use one, but it's not really at the top of my list. I guess I could just find a used straight razor and give that a try too :D

(Granted, it wouldn't work as hard as a spydie)

[SimpleIsGood229]

Tom Krein can always put a full hollow grind on whatever you send him. Personally, I tend to prefer full flat, but hey, I can see how a full hollow grind would be better for certain things.

[Agent Starling]

Oh, why the heck not? It's refreshing to hear talk of another blade type...I am a fan of flat grind, but I like all different types for variety...glad you brought it up! :spyder:

Agent Starling

[The Mastiff]

The flat grind remains the best design for most of my cutting work. I like sharpening it better than most other styles also. I still like my Endura, but the Caly 3, jr, and the stretch models have really spoiled me. Joe

[Bolster]

Oh, why the heck not? It's refreshing to hear talk of another blade type...I am a fan of flat grind, but I like all different types for variety...glad you brought it up! :spyder: Agent Starling

That about sums it up for me, too. I could get interested in this.

[Jeff Tanner]

You don't seem to see full hollows too much on production blades...which seems kind of strange, given that it would seem to have good qualities for most knife tasks. Perhaps the grind is difficult to execute economically, or something.

The blade spine could still have a pretty thick spine and yet support an *extraordinarily* fine edge that should last well into the first 1/3rd of the grind height. A nice light blade for it's size, I would imagine, and a long lasting edge that is quick to sharpen and maintain.

@Shike...yeah, something like that...fixed, folding, whatever, That's a nice high grind on that blade. Nice polish on the steel. I am kind of partial to drop point profiles, too...they seem to do so many things well.

[scout]

Shike, that's the ticket!

[Shike]

I am glad you guys liked that pic. That is a Bob Loveless blade, a true master knifemaker. The prices that his knives fetch are crazy! If you get a chance look at some of his other knives there. Specially the Big Bear subhilt fighter. Double edge hollow ground and just an awesome knife.
Enjoy!
By the way as far as handmade knives go. A hand rubbed mirror finished flat ground blade is more time consuming that a hollow ground one as the later is all done with belts and buffers.

[El Tigre]

The full hollow is the easiest grind to sharpen.
Not for hard use but I like it so much.
"El Tigre"

[MountainManJim]

I'm a fan of the hollow grind. Clearly it's the best for maintaining a sharp edge.

I believe the issue of full or partial comes down to the width of the blade and the diameter of the grinding wheel. The maximum width of the grind is a functional of the grinding wheel diameter. On a wide blade like many of the Spydies, the grinding wheel will form a partial hollow grind 'cause the blade needs to hit the wheel at a tangent at the edge (you don't what the edge to turn up). To increase the ground width, the wheel diameter must be increased.

I think with the wide Spydie blades, the full hollow grind wheel diameter needed will approach a flat grind. The flat grind is easier to produce. But, also on wide blades the full flat grind gives you approximately the same performance as the full hollow grind with probably some added strength to the blade. I believe that's why we see the full flat grind on wide blades (Manix model) and a hollow grind on narrow blades (Police model).


But, then again, this is just my guess. Lord knows I'm not a knife maker, just a knife fan :)

Jim

[Joshua J.]

I'm a fan of the hollow grind. Clearly it's the best for maintaining a sharp edge.

I believe the issue of full or partial comes down to the width of the blade and the diameter of the grinding wheel. The maximum width of the grind is a functional of the grinding wheel diameter. On a wide blade like many of the Spydies, the grinding wheel will form a partial hollow grind 'cause the blade needs to hit the wheel at a tangent at the edge (you don't what the edge to turn up). To increase the ground width, the wheel diameter must be increased.

I think with the wide Spydie blades, the full hollow grind wheel diameter needed will approach a flat grind. The flat grind is easier to produce. But, also on wide blades the full flat grind gives you approximately the same performance as the full hollow grind with probably some added strength to the blade. I believe that's why we see the full flat grind on wide blades (Manix model) and a hollow grind on narrow blades (Police model).


But, then again, this is just my guess. Lord knows I'm not a knife maker, just a knife fan :)

Jim

Like the Rock Salt?
http://www.spyderco.com/catalog/details.php?product=291

IIRC it costs less to hollow grind a blade, because grinding wheels last longer than belts.
Though a full hollow grind may offset the cost.

Regardless, I like the idea as well. I'd love to see a high end version of the Centofante IV with carbon fiber and ZDP-189 blade. A full hollow grind would definitely complete the package.
Any other models would be pretty good too.

Maybe, as usual, the Endura or Delica would be a good test bed?

[MountainManJim]

I think the Rock Salt is probably a good example of how far you can hollow grind a blade.

The funny thing is I have heard that it's more costly to produce a hollow ground blade. The reasoning went something like this ... it takes more skill and time to grind a good hollow grind than it does to simply put a flat grind on the blade. Labor is usually the most costly part of any product, so .... To further the thought, many cheap Chinese knives are flat ground, at least the ones on my dresser are :)

I too think the Delica and Endura would be perfect in a full hollow ground.

Jim

[Cliff Stamp]

In regards to skill and cost, it would be hard to argue for one over the other. I also would not compare a straight razor vs a full hollow ground blade :

http://www.cutleryscience.com/reviews/aj_paring.html

That is a full hollow ground blade, 1095 at 66 HRC.

Heavy cutting :



General utility :




-Cliff

[Jeff Tanner]

So Cliff...you're saying a full hollow really smokes, huh?