[SteveS]

Just about anything anyone says on this subject gets shot down with counter examples. But I'll give you my 2 cents anyway.

Hollow grinds (like mentioned) look cool.

Edge thickness plays a major role in cutting ability. Imagine a piece of steel 3/8" thick with a 20 degree edge on it (like an axe.) It just won't slice tomatos, yes it can shave but sucks at slicing chores. Now picture a piece of 1/16" steel with a 20 degree edge.

So edge thickness is a major factor in cutting. In fact you want the thinnest blade possible that will support edge for it's intended use.

As you sharpen and re-sharpen a knife the edge gets thicker and thicker. A hollow grind doesn't suffer from this as much as a flat grind knife. That is the main advantage of a hollow grind in my book.

There's a belief that the hollow ground knife is 'sharper' than the flat grind. Not true, scandinavian knives are flat ground, but the bevel and edge angle are the same and go all the way to the edge. Extremely thin edge in that case. So either can be sharp.


On a small blade like a pocket knife I like a hollow grind. You get a stiffer spine and a very thin edge. However, a flat grind that goes all the way to the edge is also very good. What I don't like is flat grinds and thick edges. They don't cut well and after many sharpenings they just get worse.

BTW One note on historic knives. Many american blades were hollow ground, but on BIG stones (like 3 or 4 feet). So techincally, they are hollow, but it's almost flat.

Steve