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Blade Grinds

The grind of a blade refers to the shape of the cross-section of the blade. Grinding involves removing significant portions of metal from the blade and is done when by the knife maker when they first sharpeni the blade. The best grind will depend upon what the knife is to be used for and the material from which the blade is made. The list below describes the most commonly found blade grinds.

Hollow Grind
The blade made with this grind is essentially "scooped" out each side, leaving a thin but very sharp edge. This grind really shines when it comes to slicing and can be made to slice/slash at high performance levels. The hollow grind is not necessarily the best for impact, chopping or hard outdoor use such as a camp knife might see. The thin edge which gives it the sharp slicing ability also makes it weak for these harder use chores.

Convex Grind (Moran Edge)
Opposite of the hollow grind which "scoops" out the sides of the blade, the convex grind actually has an outward bulge on each side of the blade, with a more oval like cross section. In this way the blade brings considerable strength and rigidity to the task and can handle rugged, impact prone work duty. A chopping stroke can be made with this type of grind more effectively and without the damage that would occur if done with a hollow ground blade. Although a convex grind can be made quite sharp, it does have an edge that rolls to a point and therefore is very difficult to resharpen. Resharpening a convex edge cannot be done with a simple rod and guide system without destroying the factory rolled edge.

Flat Grind
The flat grind is a continuous bevel beginning at the spine of the blade and continuing evenly through the width of the blade to the edge. The thickness of the blade decreases as the bevel nears the edge, but the decrease is linear and flat as opposed to the hollow grind which makes a concave surface on the blade. The flat grind is basically "in between" the convex grind and hollow grind. It does incorporate some of the best characteristics of each. The edge can be made quite sharp, like the hollow grind, but is also more resilient to higher levels of impact, like the convex grind. The flat grind can be outdone on each end of the spectrum by the hollow and convex grinds, but as a general use grind to handle everything, the flat grind is an excellent choice.

Sabre Grind
Similar to the flat grind, the sabre grind is essentially a flat grind that begins halfway through the blade. The top half of the blade width is left unbeveled and at full thickness. Approximately halfway from the spine to the edge, the sabre grind begins and proceeds like a flat grind with a linear decrease of blade thickness. Having a shorter distance to the edge, the sabre grind may sacrifice some sharpness for the sake of strength. Sometimes referred to as a "V Grind", the sabre grind is made with strength in mind and can be found on tactical and military knives.

Chisel Grind
This grind exists on one side of the blade only, like a chisel. Knives using this bevel can obtain extremely sharp edges while maintaining a decent amount of strength. Sharpening is easy as only one side needs attention, however some complain the chisel grind will not cut a straight line as the friction of the blade through the material is greater on one side of the blade and creates a pushing effect to the other side.

Scandanavian Grind
Like a flat grind, the bevel begins at the spine and proceeds downward in a linear fashion toward the edge. The difference though is the knife has no secondary bevel and the grind proceeds to a zero edge. These knives can be made the sharpest of all and are also easy to resharpen. When sharpening a Scandanavian grind, the blade is laid upon the stone without tilting or raising and the entire bevel is worked at once. The edge is more delicate as it is thinner, but the advantage in sharpness makes up for it unless harder use is needed.

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