Newbie with a question

Hi everyone,

Obviously, when you read my question you will see that I'm new. I just ordered my first knife kit and am waiting on it to get here.

In the mean time, could someone explain the difference between flat ground blades and hollow ground blades?
Thanks a lot.

Welcome to the forums. Feel free to ask any questions you have.


A flat groud blade is basically a blade that is flat from the cutting edge up towards the spine. If you lay the blade on a counter the steel would touch the counter all the way up as far as the grind goes. It is ground on the platen of a grinder (usually). A flat ground blade is shaped kinda like this \/

A hollow ground blade is when the steel is ground on a wheel, it therefore has a dip in the steel. If you lay the blade on a counter the steel would only touch on the edge and the spine with the steel rising off the counter in the center. A straight razor is a good example of a hollow ground blade (if you are old enough to have seen or used a straight razor. A hollow ground blade is kinda shaped like this )(

BOY, that is bad art for the example but hopefully it is enough to get you to understand. If not, let me know and I will draw and post a picture for you.

Bob,

thanks for the reply. I understand the difference now. Is one "better" than the other, or is one more easily learned?

I would think that a flat grind would be easier for a newbie, but I am many times wrong....

Is one better? Not really, it depends on the use intended for the knife. If you want a bowie or a camp knife, a flat grind is great. For hunting knives and utility type knives both are good. For folders and small knives that need that razor edge, hollow grinding works well.

As for how hard they are to learn, both can vary depending on your equipment. Hollow grinding is all but impossible without a belt grinder. You could do it but it would take so much time you would probably get discouraged. Flat grinding is a lot easier to do without major tools. You can file a flat ground blade. It is pretty difficult to get stuff truly FLAT and you really have to pay attention to get it flat, but it is not real hard.

Since you are just starting out, unless you have a belt grinder, I would recommend you look at flat grinding first.

Just a quick note on the grinding methods. There are online video clips available for both hollow and flat grinding at the URL below. They sell the full videos, but the clips are very informative and quite long. They can be downloaded and stored or watched directly online. Enjoy.

www.knifeshop.tv/

-Dave

harley jeff, if you look to the top and click on the tutorials link-- find the one by don cowles --a little about knives---- it will not only tell you but also show you a diagram. :-)