Vivi wrote:What things do you cut that you find saber grounds offer superior performance to full flat grinds?
Flats cut well but I can slice or cut with a saber, scandi or hollow just as well. All other grinds look better than a flat.
The look of a hollow grind is universally appealing
Not to me. At all. I'm completely opposite. Hollow grinds, especially hollow grinds deep enough to add some kind of aesthetic difference, only serve to wedge or bind the knife in any kind of real work. But that's my personal experience and won't begrudge anyone for having different experiences. I'd rather have a knife that works than one that doesn't but looks good.
Sounds like you need to sharpen them if they are not getting the job done, nudge nudge :-) I guess we all get used to using what we cut our teeth on. I don't have any real problem with flats, for me they simply are not as eye appealing as hollow grinds. I can use either and get the job done with equal effort. When it comes to where the rubber meets the road, we all want to get it done, some of us what a little style while we are doing it.
For me what pleases my eye is what appears to be functionally correct for me. Generally. After the function has been met then the pure aesthetics can come into play. Hollow grinds wedge and bind far too much for me to really find useful for anything that may need to make deep cuts, which is pretty much any knife I carry. A straight razor would be better with a hollow grind and has been found to be so through many years of trial and error.
So to look at some kind of EDC with a hollow grind detracts from the looks for me because I can see obviously that it will perform at a lesser level than something else.
I'd find a broad sword with a deep hollow grind to be visually unappealing as well as a straight razor with a saber grind because I know their performance would be less than it should be. But that's based on what I know to be true for myself. Maybe you could find a good use for a saber ground straight razor? Or maybe you could find a saber ground straight razor to work better than a hollow ground razor? That's up to you and I won't hold anything against you for it. But I'd hope you wouldn't try to do something immature like hold my preference against me.
They who dance are thought mad by those who do not hear the music.
Grind and selection of steel cannot be argued about in isolation, it all depends what you are using it for. Let's for a moment take a step sideways and consider another material: wood. In order to work wood we have tools like chisels, planes and saws. Chisels and plane blades will work best with a mirror like sharpening while we all will agree that saws will be pretty useless when we do not have teeth on them. Similarly we would want something thick for a chisel and plane blade (saber grind?) while for a saw we want something thin (flat grind?). Or in the preparation of food: for bread we want something with teeth and thin while for chopping we want something with a mirror finish and thick. If I am thrusting I want a thick knife, if I am filleting I want a thin knife and the list goes on.
Vivi wrote:So is your preference based on appearances?
No, my preference is based upon performance first and appearance secondly.
I've used hollow ground knives with many different geometries for most of my life, long before FFG was ever on the level of production for anything other than kitchen cutlery or slip joint pocket knives.
I know how to use and finesse any hollow ground blade to perform just as well as a FFG. There are no normal cutting tasks that can not be preformed with either one.
For some people, flat is the go to simply because less skill or effort may be required for certain tasks or maybe they have have only used ffg, they are used to it, comfortable with it so that is what they prefer. Good for them, go with what you know.
I've been involved with bush craft in one form or another my entire life, fishing, hunting etc. etc. and you know what, we survived all these years, we got the jobs done and didn't use FFG. Vivi, if you're attempting to tell me that FFG out performs other blades, I'll listen to what you present.
I used to get poo pooed by the bush crafters for not always using a scandi blade. Truth is, I can use a scandi but I can use a hollow grind much more proficiently because it is simply a preference. Anything a FFG can do a hollow grind can do.... the hollow grind just looks better do it.
I agree that either grind can be used for any task. I have a preference for FFG but I buy and use all types of grinds. In my experience cutting thicker materials that exert lateral pressure on the blade like double layered cardboard, apples and drywall, hollow grinds tend to bind more than FFG.
Mine are T42 and M35, but no one produces those.
The proven ones that have been produced are M2 and M4.
The unproven ones are K390 and Maxamet.
I'm currently carrying the unproven ones, until they are, or not.
