The primary grind is where a

knife A knife ( : knives; from Old Norse 'knife, dirk') is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least 2.5 million years ago, as evidence ...

first begins to narrow into a cutting edge from the thickness of the main stock of the

blade A blade is the portion of a tool, weapon, or machine with an edge that is designed to puncture, chop, slice or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they are to be used on. Histor ...

. The cross-sectional shape of the blade of a knife or sword is made up of different planes, or grinds. The sharp, cutting edge of the blade is often further ground at a secondary, or 'edge', bevel. This allows the blade to have more functions than otherwise possible with a strictly wedge or chisel shape. The Swiss Army Knife is an example of a knife with a primary bevel and an edge bevel. By contrast, a blade composed of a single flat grind from stock thickness to the cutting edge is known as a 'full flat ground' blade. The cutting properties of a blade are determined by the type of metal, the hardness of the blade, and the grinding pattern (e.g. convex, concave, teardrop).

References

Knives {{metalworking-stub