Hollow grinding a knife

Hollow grinding a knife
Hollow grinding a knife freehand can be a difficult task. Mastering it can help you hollow grind blades with a lot of freedom and you are not limited to your grinding jig. Franco demonstrates how he grinds a blade with a 17" wheel on a belt grinder.
Our knives have a unique grind, Franco blends 2 grinding surfaces into one smooth grind surface. This allows Franco to create a much larger hollow grind. Arno explains this on a white board of how much more of a lifespan you get on the cutting edge by following Franco's technique.
If you just started making knives I would highly recommend learning by free hand. Free hand gives you more control than a hollow grinding jig. It is more difficult to learn but you won't regret it.
Franco's motto on hollow grinding is practise, practise and practise.
Let us know if you have any questions and we will try to answer them as best we can.
Follow Arno Bernard Knives on:
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Official Website: arnobernard.com
About Arno Bernard Knives: We are 4 brothers from South Africa making knives in our small shop. It has been our passion for the last 20 years ever since our dad started making knives in the 90’s. We design and handcraft our knives using a superior quality steel in combination with authentic South African materials to create unique handles. Our designs are simple, yet beautiful. Our knives are tough enough to use yet nice enough to collect. We are not professional chefs and our channel will focus mostly on knife making. With the food and travel videos you will learn more about us and our beautiful country whenever we get a chance to slip away from our workshop in Bethlehem.
#knifemaking #hollowgrind #toughenoughtouse

[@made_by_jon]

I think I leanred more about hollow grinding in thia video by simply watching Franco work than any other 10 videos combined.

[@arnobernard-knivesfoodafri1804]

Thanks and glad it helped you.

[@philiprome7236]

Thanks. Great video. I have one of your folders and it is a thing of beauty.

[@micahned]

Those gloves are a national treasure

[@arnobernard-knivesfoodafri1804]

They surely are. Franco makes sure he gets the most out of them😀

[@hanikaram3351]

Your grind is a full step above average hollow grind and with the method of heat treat you mentioned to prevent warping due to the oil not consistent gradual cooling per short time period makes an even edge that hold its sharpness , a Master Craftsman you are Boys all the best to you and big thanks for the info and fun video

[@arnobernard-knivesfoodafri1804]

Thank you

[@alexchin6074]

Franco, a real artisan!

[@arnobernard-knivesfoodafri1804]

Thank you Alex

[@Casafraga344]

Boa tarde essa lixa e de cerâmica ?

[@jerrylong3689]

Great video! I now understand why my knife is so sharp. I appreciate it more now that I have seen the art and craftmanship you put into the knife. I also watched the knife sharpening video, it is very enlightening. I've been sharping my knives on a whet stone my grandfather gave me in 1965. The stone has a valley in it from use from so many years. He taught me how to sharpen my pocket knives and it has worked fine all these years. HOWEVER, I would not even think about using that old stone on my Arno Bernard knives. That might border on abuse. :-) I doubt that it would work as your blades are so much harder. When the time comes, I will use a new set of diamond stones I recently acquired.

[@arnobernard-knivesfoodafri1804]

Arno and Franco have set very high standards especially when I knife is to be quality controlled. This was mentored to me and Juan the younger 2 brothers when we joined the family business. Wow that whet stone has a lot of sentimental value though. Thank you for your kind comment.

[@outbackladas]

Very skilful, really good precision grinding. Thoroughly enjoyed watching your video, keep up the good work. Regards from Down Under.

[@arnobernard-knivesfoodafri1804]

Franco grinded a lot of blades. Even those gloves did a few 1000.

[@gregawallace]

Outstanding video very informative. I love your knives a sable is my everyday carry knife, kudu is my hunting knife, and I just ordered a gecko for my sons 10th birthday present, he’s going to love it it’ll be his hunting knife.

[@arnobernard-knivesfoodafri1804]

Thank you Greg. We appreciate your support. Hope your son enjoys the knife. The gecko is a perfect first time knife.

[@steveknapp7993]

Great Video !

[@arnobernard-knivesfoodafri1804]

Thank you Steve

[@ck7629]

Dang! Get that man some new gloves!

[@arnobernard-knivesfoodafri1804]

Franco likes to push things into the red🤣

[@messerdepot]

Arno the teacher :-) ...awesome Video...greetigs from Germany to Southafrica

[@arnobernard-knivesfoodafri1804]

Thanks Sven. Arno did a good job!👍

[@messerdepot]

@@arnobernard-knivesfoodafri1804 ohhh yes 👍👍👍

[@DTKcustomknives]

Subbed and liked,nice to see the minipulation of the transition,not done a hollow grind yet but have done some practice and it went well,so will put one together soon. Thanks for sharing Regards Davy Thomas

[@arnobernard-knivesfoodafri1804]

Thank you Davy for the support and let me know when you did the hollow and how it went.

[@MrCharlesO1960]

Great video. Question: It looks as if the radius of the wheel is less than the knife bevel at the end of the grinds? Is Franco blending both bevels by moving the knife up and down on the wheel since the bevel is now a different radius than the wheel. This would actually help a lot to know this. Sometimes I start out with an 8" wheel and half to move to a 10" because I blew past the radius of the 8". If I can blend the bevel and stay on one radius that would be great. Thanks

[@arnobernard-knivesfoodafri1804]

Hi Charles. Franco is does not grind the blade up an down. He grinds one bevel on the edge of the blade and one at the top. He then blends the bevels by grinding multiple bevels between the top and bottom one. It takes much practice, but it can be done.

[@arnobernard3357]

Baie cool pappa

[@randomguy2709]

damn wish i could grind as smooth as that,just have this anxiety when i step up to the belt grinder😂

[@arnobernard-knivesfoodafri1804]

😄Thanks Tommy.

[@francobernard6803]

Tommy, it was the same for me when I started grinding. But after a few blades, muscle memory starts kicking in. Practice makes perfect👌

[@griffithshandmade-knives]

I learned to hollow grind on my 10” wheel. I’ve now started experimenting with my Radius Platen which mimics a 36” wheel. I think it’s going to be a nice compromise between a Hollow and a Flat grind. We will see.

[@arnobernard-knivesfoodafri1804]

It sounds like it will work and be a super functional blade🤞

[@Don_Filo_Official]

Where can I find a wheel like that? What brand and model is it?

[@arnobernard-knivesfoodafri1804]

This wheel was a custom made one. I am not sure where you will find a standard one like this. But there might be one, I am not sure.

[@Genesislights]

How did you keep the blade straight after Heat Treat?

[@arnobernard-knivesfoodafri1804]

They do not always keep straight. Some keep straight and some don’t. We have to calibrate them when we receive them back

[@jloughra2323]

Can this technique been done with a 12” wheel?

[@arnobernard-knivesfoodafri1804]

It depends how high your grind is. It will be more difficult to do on a 12” but it will be possible. You will have to play with your angles.

[@buddyblankenship4186]

What is your target thickness bte on average ?

[@arnobernard-knivesfoodafri1804]

Franco tries to keep it consistent at 0.4mm

[@amo757]

I used my AB knife on a doe last year, the hollow grind excelled in field dressing and butchering.

[@arnobernard-knivesfoodafri1804]

Hope it kept an edge through the process.

[@amo757]

It did keep its edge.

[@максимчуб-ь2с]

Можно тэст ножа Elephant, Zebra

[@gregawallace]

I’d love to see a video on making a Rinkhals.

[@arnobernard-knivesfoodafri1804]

👍Hopefully in the future

[@kitwannen]

Incredible. Thank you. Ordered two last week. What is the best thing to do when it’s time to resharpen? Of course your edges will last longer than others. I don’t have a belt just Whetstones. But I don’t trust most knife sharpeners to handle an AB knife unless their last name is also Bernard. Thanks!

[@kitwannen]

Oops. Looks like you posted a sharpening episode. I’ll check that out. Thanks.

[@arnobernard-knivesfoodafri1804]

Thank you Kit. Arno said he will send you an email to assist you with the sharpening question but yes you might learn something from that video🙂

[@arnobernard-knivesfoodafri1804]

👍

[@amo757]

I would try a diamond stone instead of a whetstone. The edge on a AB knife might be too hard for a whetstone.

[@arnobernard-knivesfoodafri1804]

Diamond stones usually works the best.

[@southerncross100]

👍

[@henningolivier7346]

Van waar is julle manne?

[@arnobernard-knivesfoodafri1804]

Van Bethlehem in die Vrystaat

[@lxemergency]

25"wheel, good Lord....feel like a pauper with my 8" wheel

[@arnobernard-knivesfoodafri1804]

It actually was a 17" wheel🙂 Arno converted from mm in his mind to inches.

[@dwightweatherford4937]

You need to buy Franco some new gloves!!!!!!!!!!

[@francobernard6803]

😂 Dwight it’s like an old t-shirt you don’t want to throw away. They wear better than new ones, but will get myself some new ones at the end of the year👍🏻

[@likebernard250]

𝕤𝕦𝕡𝕖𝕣 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘

[@arnobernard-knivesfoodafri1804]

Thank you Líke.