First Hollow Grind Attempt...Need Critiques

CDHumiston

KNIFE MAKER
I made my first real attempt at a Hollow Grind today. Please take a look and give advice/recommendations. Everyones input is appreciated, don't hold back...
 
Last edited:
That's mighty fine for your first one! Wish my first one looked that good.
Gonna be hard to use that knife without a handle!
Dan
 
Chris,

Yup, I know what your thinking. "Looks good" is nice to hear but isn't really going to help me improve my grinding.

Fact of the matter though is it does look pretty good as long as it's what you had planned.

I'm making the assumption that you've still got some meat on the edge. If this is the case then you don't need to worry about the low area on the belly of the edge. It'll get removed when thinning down the edge.

I used to always worry about having these dips down by the edge while grinding but I now welcome them because it means if I made my error there then my grind line is still in good shape :D

ALWAYS err toward the edge and NEVER err toward the grind line is my policy.

And as with all things, with practice it becomes less of an issue.

Plunges... Ahhh plunges, LOL. They have been known to kick a few in the rear myself included.

I don't work the plunges at all with a rough belt. I will hang the rough belt over the wheel 1/16 or so just to keep from digging in with the edge of the belt while getting my bevels "set". Once I'm done "Hogging" to around 95% of the grind height I'll go to a 220 Jflex and hang it off the wheel a little more than half the thickness of the stock. Now I'll use this belt to get my plunges gound in and evened up.

Think of the grind like a see-saw.

You can be sitting in the center and evenly grinding straight into the bevel removing material from the entire surface of the grind. (balanced)

Or Lean to one side and your removing steel from the grind line but not the edge.

Lean the other way and your thinning the edge but not touching the grind line.

I use a variety of the leaning techniques to get to the point your at now.

Now here is why your grind indeed looks good to me.

Your grind lines are basically symetrical although not perfect. I struggled with this concept for awhile-

-They dont need to be perfect now- It'll be nice if the day ever comes where I can grind and have it look nice throughout the entire process but it just isn't necessary. This is why we've still got 5% of our grind to take care of.

I attempt to have my blade looking like yours then HT. Now for the finish grinding I've got a nice deep hollow that makes it easy to "get in the groove" without making mistakes.

Now I've got a little extra on the edge and the grind line so no more (or very little) leaning type grind is needed or wanted. Take it slow and easy from here on out with even pressure that thins the edge and refines the grind line at the same time.

Aside from working the plunges a bit It appears you've done a good job of setting your blade up to come out great.

Boy that's alotta typing, LOL :eek:

Hope you don't mind listening to a fellow newb, Josh :D
 
Josh,

Thanks a million, this is what I was looking for. I appreciate people saying it looks nice, but I need to make sure I'm really on the right track. And it looks as though I am.

I am still going to cut out a couple more test blades and make sure it wasn't a fluke! When I grind the "real" blade for my contest knife i want it right!

Thanks Again,
 
Back
Top