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David Edelen
Location: Alabama, U.S.A. Joined: 28 Jul 2004
Posts: 11
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 Posted: Thu 29 Jul, 2004 5:28 am Post subject: What is "Hollow Ground" and..........? |
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Hey Y'all,
'Scuse my ignorance on the subject y'all, but what do they mean by hollow ground when they say a something has a "Hollow Ground" blade? What other types of grinding is there? I thought you just ground something on grinder or a grinding stone or what have you. What other way is there? And again, what is "Hollow Ground"?
thanks,
Dave
Bi d́leas dhut fhèin agus cuimhnich oir na daoine o'n t'thàinig thu!
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R. Laine
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| Posted: Thu 29 Jul, 2004 5:39 am Post subject: |
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The term "hollow ground" refers to a blade cross-section (usually flattened diamond) with concave flats. The Albion Regent (http://www.albionarmorers.com/swords/albion/n...xviiia.htm) is a good example of a hollow-ground sword.
There is an illustration of a hollow-ground cross-section (among others) in the attachment. It seems to be somewhat flawed, though; most hollow-ground blades I've seen have been flat right at the edge, instead of concave. (Ugh, now that was a great explanation... Sorry, but my absolutely perfect English kinda got in the way. *g* Hopefully someone can explain that better...)
Sincerely,
Rabbe
 Attachment: 21.47 KB
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David Edelen
Location: Alabama, U.S.A. Joined: 28 Jul 2004
Posts: 11
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| Posted: Thu 29 Jul, 2004 5:54 am Post subject: Thanks Rabbe |
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Thanks Rabbe. I was confused as to what that meant. I like the wide blades with long wide fullers such as is found on Nordic swords personally.
Thanks,
Dave
Bi d́leas dhut fhèin agus cuimhnich oir na daoine o'n t'thàinig thu!
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Craig Johnson
Industry Professional
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| Posted: Thu 29 Jul, 2004 6:51 am Post subject: Blade Cross Section |
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David
In addition to the types Rabbe illustrated there are literally innumerable variations to this. The cross section of a blade can take many forms and have throughout history. If its possible to imagine and accomplish it in the constricts of physics man has designed and tried it many times. Why do we have the majority of replicas concentrated in a few? Money and efficiency. These blades types are very good all around performers and few modern customers are interested in spending the resources needed to do some of the more time intensive shapes.
Best
Craig
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Steve Fabert
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| Posted: Thu 29 Jul, 2004 6:59 am Post subject: Re: Blade Cross Section |
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| Craig Johnson wrote: | . . . few modern customers are interested in spending the resources needed to do some of the more time intensive shapes.
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Oddly enough one of the cheapest swords I ever bought has a reasonably executed hollow ground blade. It's a Pompeii Gladius by Rittersteel, very much overweight but interesting to look at. They apparently chose to hollow grind the blade to keep it from being even heavier. So it can be done at low cost, and it's not just production cost that keeps most swordmakers from selling hollow ground blades.
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Craig Johnson
Industry Professional
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| Posted: Thu 29 Jul, 2004 7:42 am Post subject: Hollow Ground Mechanics |
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Mornin Steve
Blades like that are a bit different as they are done usually on a bed or upright grinder and have a wheel that moves along and everything is true to a center line and little or no distal taper. Thus the high weight. It involves just placing a blank in the jig hit the run button and flip when needed i.e. pretty cheap.
Now if one tries to add the distal (this being just a straight taper distal) you cock the whole deal a few degrees on an axis along the face of the wheel. Only issue is now you will get a bit of over grind that will need to be corrected. Thus more hand labor and cost and it goes on from there.
The cheap well made blade that actually puts a few coins in the pocket of the blade maker is one of those elusive things where much is commented about but so far no one has been able to produce a product that matches the ideal that so many customers think is out there. In the realm of the sword buying public in the US choice and value for your dollar has never been higher than right now. My guess is that prices from all makers will continue to rise and in fact I think I can make a very convincing argument that the market is still under priced at the current level and will be for some time.
Best
Craig
PS sorry to get off track of the cross sectional thread
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Steve Fabert
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| Posted: Thu 29 Jul, 2004 8:00 am Post subject: Re: Hollow Ground Mechanics |
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| Craig Johnson wrote: |
Blades like that are a bit different as they are done usually on a bed or upright grinder and have a wheel that moves along and everything is true to a center line and little or no distal taper. Thus the high weight. It involves just placing a blank in the jig hit the run button and flip when needed i.e. pretty cheap.
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You are correct in describing the method apparently used on my Rittersteel to produce a hollow ground, zero distal taper straight edged blade. The radius of the hollow ground portion appears to be a very shallow circular arc that was produced solely by the action of machine tools. Only the tip and the edge look like they received any hand work. It is probably harder to make a flattened diamond that looks really smooth than it would be to produce this simple hollow ground blade. The result is a cheap but eye-catching blade that often draws a comment when a much more expensive blade with carefully proportioned distal taper is overlooked by an uninformed visitor.
Demand is in the eye of the beholder. If people who buy swords want something flashy, that's what will sell. Some of us really appreciate the fine details of complex blade geometry and will pay accordingly. Hopefully there are enough of us to keep Peter Johnsson's designs profitable.
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Nathan Robinson
myArmoury Admin
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This is a standard topic