What's your preferred edge grind and why?

[Evil D]

I've been reading a lot more about blade grinds, steel types and basically educating myself on knife info more lately and i never really gave much thought to blade grind until recently. I can't really say what i prefer since i haven't owned every option, but what i like and prefer to have is at least some area on the blade that is a constant thickness (like as in a flat ground saber blade). The reason for this is because i use a Smith's Precision sharpening kit to sharpen with, because honestly i'm just not good enough with my bare hands to use a stone or rods and this thing will put a serious edge on when used correctly. If i tried to use it with a full angle ground blade it just wouldn't work. I do have some hollow ground blades but they too have a flat surface to mount the sharpening kit to so that works for me also.

[npueppke]

I like a flat ground blades because I really like the way they cut. For the typical things I cut with an EDC knife, I always have problems with hollow ground blades getting stuck, even high, thin hollow grinds.

[ChrisR]

I use my knives mainly for slicing (fruit, veg, cheese) and cutting (opening packets, cutting card or paper etc.) so full, flat grind in best for me too :)

[Evil D]

Yeah i can see how a hollow grind would be kind of wedgie. The Delica i just got is a flat saber...i haven't sharpened it yet but wouldn't it have nearly the same cutting ability as full flat grind? Seems like the blade would be stronger too since it's thicker throughout more of the blade.

[The Deacon]

I prefer the full flat grind for several reasons. It's the middle ground between hollow and flat saber grinds. It's a bit stronger than the hollow and slices thin material almost as well and thick material better. It gives up a bit of strength to the flat saber, but outperforms it for just about any type of cutting. I also like the way it looks.

[dbcad]

Hello again Evil d.
For the past few months I have doing the same as you, reading and learning about different grinds and edges and trying to figure out what will work best for me. It's definitely a personal choice about what works best for you and your cutting needs. I too have one of those Smith's sharpening kits, but have never had the patience to get it to work very well for me. Probably operator difficulty. I would recomend a Spyderco Sharpmaker if you can get one. If you can't get a Sharpmaker you should still be ok by reading and understanding about edge angles.

My black D4 gets used fairly frequently. Primary grind is a flat saber grind. I've had to sharpen it or touch it up quite few times. I've taken it to a 30 degree inclusive angle, pretty close to what it came from the factory with. Touched it up again this morning, and it's screaming sharp at 30. Vg-10 is a very good steel and seems to take it well. When I touch it up next I'm going to experiment with a microbevel of 40 degrees and see if there is any performance difference.

Again, it's all about what the knife is used for. If I was cutting tougher stuff than paper, cardboard and tubing of varoius types all of the time I might make the angle a little steeper.

Using a sharpie or other marker to color the edge before you sharpen has been very useful and informative for me. That trick should work well regardless of the sharpening tool. Look and pay attention to what you're doing to the edge while sharpening.

You're working with a great quality of steel and heat treat with :spyder:

A lot of folks here know far more than I about this kind of thing, but I can identify with your self education process as I have been doing the same thing myself.

Have fun on your journey.

Charlie

[npueppke]

+1 on FFG looking good.

Yeah i can see how a hollow grind would be kind of wedgie. The Delica i just got is a flat saber...i haven't sharpened it yet but wouldn't it have nearly the same cutting ability as full flat grind? Seems like the blade would be stronger too since it's thicker throughout more of the blade.

It would be interesting for someone who has both saber and FFG delicas to compare this. I think that there would be a difference but I'd imagine that the difference is less than the difference between full flat and hollow. The only difference between an FFG and saber ground blade is the steeper angle (and maybe reduced friction due to reduced surface area), but hollow ground blades have a totally different cutting feeling to them.

[chuck_roxas45]

I've been reading a lot more about blade grinds, steel types and basically educating myself on knife info more lately and i never really gave much thought to blade grind until recently. I can't really say what i prefer since i haven't owned every option, but what i like and prefer to have is at least some area on the blade that is a constant thickness (like as in a flat ground saber blade). The reason for this is because i use a Smith's Precision sharpening kit to sharpen with, because honestly i'm just not good enough with my bare hands to use a stone or rods and this thing will put a serious edge on when used correctly. If i tried to use it with a full angle ground blade it just wouldn't work. I do have some hollow ground blades but they too have a flat surface to mount the sharpening kit to so that works for me also.

Is the smith's clamp different from a DMT clamp? To use a DMT clamp on FFG you pinch the jaws together with your fingers while tightening the adjustment screw so that the clamp takes on the angle of the blade. I guess the smith's has a similar adjustment screw. Sorry for the crappy pics.

[img][IMG]http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/6804 ... stment.jpg[/img] Uploaded with ImageShack.us[/IMG]

[npueppke]

On a side note, how about this for an idea? A run of 9cr18MoV (or whatever that steel was) Mules with different grinds to have the opportunity to compare them on similar knives: saber grind, FFG, hollow grind, scandi grind, and convex grind. Don't know what the market potential or feasibility of producing so many variations would be but I think that would be an interesting project.

[Evil D]

The Smith kit is probably not as nice as that one...i'm not sure but it might be able to be adjusted enough to clamp onto a full flat grind enough to work...the issue is that it has to stay in the right place so you're applying the right angle to both sides.

Now that i think about it more, i probably could make it work. I may have to find a buddy with a full flat grind and see how it does. That might change my whole opinion on this subject. I do know i've pretty much given up on sharpening by hand because this thing works that good. It's idiot proof. The down side is you only have 2 angle options...20 and 25 degrees. If the angle was fully adjustable it would be perfect.

I used it and a diamond sharpening file to grind down and sharpen the tip of my spyderedge Native so it can be sharpened from both sides and it worked awesome. I'll try to post pics if i can.

[chuck_roxas45]

I also find that putting masking tape on the spot that the clamp holds makes for a better hold.

[Evil D]

Now that i think about it i'm pretty certain it should work fine for a FFG blade...i just never thought far enough into it. I'm not sure how it would effect the sharpening angle though.

Here's a pic on the web showing how they're set up, though this looks like a newer model than mine http://smithsedge.com/!userfiles/produc ... beauty.jpg

For me it just takes the guess work out of sharpening. I've achieved a really nice edge by hand on a honing stone before but it took a lot of work and i'm not good enough to do it consistently enough to rely on it so a kit like this works great for me. Before i started using it, i often carried one of those folding carpet knife deals because i hated dulling down my knives and never being able to sharpen them good enough.

[chuck_roxas45]

Buying a guided system was one of the best things I ever did for knife maintenance. My first chinook 3 came with a really dull spot for about an inch beginning from the tip. It would have taken me a really long time on the sharpmaker. With the DMT kit i thinned out the edge and sharpened it at about 24-28 degrees(I can't be more precise). It just took me less than an hour. I touch it up with my SM in the 30 degree angle with rubber bands on top pf the rods making for a more acute angle. Since I'm still learning to freehand sharpen, I have to rely on these systems to keep my knives sharp. :D . I was going to get that smith's but some knife nuts sold me out on the DMT.

[Evil D]

Here's a crappy cell pic of the tip of my Native. It's scratched up now from use but it holds a nicer edge than it did when it was chisel ground like the serrations.

[chuck_roxas45]

I don't mind scratches on a user knife. BTW nice job.

[THG]

If i tried to use it with a full angle ground blade it just wouldn't work. I do have some hollow ground blades but they too have a flat surface to mount the sharpening kit to so that works for me also.

I've been thinking about putting some mounting tape further down the blade where it ramps downward to even it out for the clamp. Since the tape is soft, it will be able to press down and conform to the angle it needs to be.

Yeah i can see how a hollow grind would be kind of wedgie. The Delica i just got is a flat saber...i haven't sharpened it yet but wouldn't it have nearly the same cutting ability as full flat grind?

No way

Seems like the blade would be stronger too since it's thicker throughout more of the blade.

That's true The FFG Delica is paper-thin toward the tip. Use it for cutting, and cutting only.

Is the smith's clamp different from a DMT clamp? To use a DMT clamp on FFG you pinch the jaws together with your fingers while tightening the adjustment screw so that the clamp takes on the angle of the blade.

I've tried this, and it doesn't really work. The problem isn't the angle that the clamp is clamping. It's that there isn't enough surface contact area due to the FFG.

[chuck_roxas45]

I've tried this, and it doesn't really work. The problem isn't the angle that the clamp is clamping. It's that there isn't enough surface contact area due to the FFG.

I also find that putting masking tape on the spot that the clamp holds makes for a better hold.

have you tried this? My millie and my chinook are both FFG, works fine with them. Without the masking tape, the clamp does move around.

[THG]

have you tried this? My millie and my chinook are both FFG, works fine with them. Without the masking tape, the clamp does move around.

Actually, I had just posted on BF a couple hours ago that I'm going to try putting some mounting tape (thick, foam tape) on the blade where it ramps downward to try to get better grip on the clamp.

So no, I haven't tried it yet, but I've been wanting to lol

[AKWolf]

The Gayle Bradley is a perfect grind of the best steel Spyderco has ever made
and that's my opinion. I just love the blade :spyder: :spyder: :spyder:

[Redeye]

I generally prefer full flat grinds for folders, mainly because I do a lot of food prep with these knives. If durability is an issue, I'll take a thicker blade and a flat grind over a sabre grind anyday.

I only use fixed blades for outdoor activities so I like a convex grind best of all, but I'll happily use scandis and FFGs too. Hollow grinds are a definite no-no on a fixed blade for me as I don't like to use this grind for cutting wood.