Blade profile/grind style preferences?

[SwissArmyKnife]

I've got a few knife ideas in my head and am curious about your preferred grind for various activities.
What grind (flat, convex, micro-bevel...) do you prefer for:
Every day use
Batoning
Field dressing, cleaning game
Cutting material
Carving
Fine carving
Feather sticks/shavings
Holding an edge
Freehand Sharpening
Other uses not listed.

*EDIT*
Also, a brief summary as you why you like each type for a given activity would be appreciated. Thanks

[Iz]

I've got a few knife ideas in my head and am curious about your preferred grind for various activities.
What grind (flat, convex, micro-bevel...) do you prefer for:
Every day use
Batoning
Field dressing, cleaning game
Cutting material
Carving
Fine carving
Feather sticks/shavings
Other uses not listed.

Every day use: convex
Batoning: convex
Field dressing, cleaning game: convex
Cutting material: convex
Carving: convex
Fine carving: convex
Feather sticks/shavings: convex
Other uses not listed.: convex

[SwissArmyKnife]

Lol, I think there's a pattern there. Thank you. I'd also like to know a bit about why you like it better. I'll edit my first post.

[darkwolf777]

Every day use: convex
Batoning: convex
Field dressing, cleaning game: convex
Cutting material: convex
Carving: convex
Fine carving: convex
Feather sticks/shavings: convex
Other uses not listed.: convex

LMAO. Iz, do you like a convex grind or would you rather the Convex grind? We could always order you one with the conVex grind so you could have a selection. JK
Me, I like them all and can use most grinds for most chores: except fine carving and that's because I can't carve fine, but for everything else, whatever I have I make it work. Oh and Iz likes his a little on the anti-hollow ground side (sorry Iz, just had to, I'm still laughing a little).

[MtnManJoe]

Every day use: convex
Batoning: convex
Field dressing, cleaning game: convex
Cutting material: convex
Carving: convex
Fine carving: convex
Feather sticks/shavings: convex
Other uses not listed.: convex

uh - You are stuck in a rut .. have you ever considered trying a 'convex' grind?

[shonuffisthemaster]

this is an intresting post, really got me thinking.

Every day use -
I carry a Mora craftline robust daily, mostly because its cheep and I don't mind if it gets lost, damaged, etc., its also easy to maintain a good edge on a scandi grind. when I'm out in the woods though, I either carry a convex or FFG, mostly because thats what the slightly larger knives i like come in, i would say my preference is FFG with a single primary bevel and no microbevel, its easier to sharpen in the field without a microbevel.

Batoning -
for baton splitting I would go with convex for the slightly more robust edge and better wedging action, after that i would pick a saber grind for the same reasons. for baton cross cutting it would be FFG with a single primary bevel and microbevel, because it will bite in more redily but is still a bit sronger.

Field dressing, cleaning game -
I like a Mora because its easy to get a really good edge on it, otherwise i dont see much difference in this task, as long as its sharp

Cutting material -
anything will do imo

Carving -
FFG with small primary bevel, it makes for the best slicer and imo the best for carving too, second choice would be convex, i don't like scandi's all that much for carving as i feel there is a bit of wedging action that takes over the cut that I don't like, but they certainly will work. a thin ffg with a small bevel wedges into the wood less than either a scandi or convex, thus it makes more accurate cuts imo

Fine carving -
same as above

Feather sticks/shavings -
everything is about the same imo, except i would say a really thick blade with a scandi grind dosent work verry well because of the angle you have to hold it at to carve, and that angle tends to make it want to bite int. this is why i would say

Holding an edge -
really just depends on what your final angle is, not much difference really. this is a misconception i think people have about different grinds, they think this or that grind is "sharper" or "tougher" or cuts better, when in reality it just depends on the angles involved and the geomitry, even with a convex edge there is a final "angle", i think the tendincy is to profile different grinds differently, and that is why they get there different reputations.

Freehand Sharpening
definatly a scandi for ease of freehand sharpening, but its also the most labor intensive to sharpen due to the wide bevel / allot of steel to abrade, i would say followed closely by convex, very easy and natural to sharpen by hand, and Flat ground with a wider bevel is my third choice. i have found it pretty difficult to put an accurate "true" microbevel on by hand, especially in the field, and re sharpening a microbevel by hand accuratly is verry difficult

[MJGEGB]

Every day use: FFG good all around grind with a good balance of strength and cutting ability.

Batoning: Scandi or Scandivex, I find that there tends to be less binding as the bevel directs the wood away from the blade.

Field dressing, cleaning game: FFG a good slicer that won't chip easily.

Cutting material: FFG again good all around.

Carving: Scandi because the wide flat bevel gives good control or an FFG if that's what I have.

Fine carving: I wouldn't call my carving fine but we'll say same as above but smaller blade size.

Feather sticks/shavings: same as carving.

Holding an edge: This depends more on the steel/HT IMO but I give a slight edge to the FFG.

Freehand Sharpening: FFG I'm the odd man out here I only free hand and after years of doing blades with secondary bevels I am used to it where as a Scandi grind is rather new to me and I've only recently learned how to sharpen them. Because there is less material being removed I find the FFG takes less time.

Other uses not listed: If you had not figured it out I like the FFG it fits my keep it simple ideology and can anything well. I have come to apreciate the scandi grind but it doesn't cut it with some tasks such as slicing.

As for the blade shape I like I prefer a simple drop point nothing drastic; enough to get the benifits of a natural distal taper a strong tip and still keep a very useful point on the knife think Mora or ESEE.

[shonuffisthemaster]

Freehand Sharpening: FFG I'm the odd man out here I only free hand and after years of doing blades with secondary bevels I am used to it where as a Scandi grind is rather new to me and I've only recently learned how to sharpen them. Because there is less material being removed I find the FFG takes less time.

Other uses not listed: If you had not figured it out I like the FFG it fits my keep it simple ideology and can anything well. I have come to apreciate the scandi grind but it doesn't cut it with some tasks such as slicing.

As for the blade shape I like I prefer a simple drop point nothing drastic; enough to get the benifits of a natural distal taper a strong tip and still keep a very useful point on the knife think Mora or ESEE.

Thats pretty similar to my philosophy too, and i love the esee's! I learned how to sharpen on ffg and for a long time thats all i carried. Im a fairly recent (last couple years) mora convert too.

[SwissArmyKnife]

Forgive me for asking, what does FFG stand for? Also, since I thought a scandi was a flat grind (shows how much I still have to learn), what's the difference between them?

[MJGEGB]

Forgive me for asking, what does FFG stand for? Also, since I thought a scandi was a flat grind (shows how much I still have to learn), what's the difference between them?

Full Flat Grind; a Swiss Army knife normally comes with a FFG blade. A Mora (scandi) has no grind really just the edge bevel where as if you look at a SAK you will notice that it was first ground to a v shape (thiner near the edge thicker at the spine) then a secondary or edge bevel was put on to make it sharp.