Noob question - Why a tapered tang?

I'm sure some better responses are on their way, but to lighten the tang and provide better balance. Looks good too.
 
Balance in weight and style. I believe Blade magazine had an article about a year ago discussing the merrits of a tapered tang, I'll see if I can dig it up if you're interested.


-Xander
 
I do it just for aesthetics. I think I can provide better balance easier by drilling the tang. But tapered tangs just look a little better.
 
Balance, and to show that you can do it. To me, it's just another thing you can do to show craftsmanship.
 
Honestly, I'm not always a fan of the tapered tang look. Sometimes it just looks "off" to my eye. I guess that goes to show you I have no class or sense of style :D. The already mentioned functional reason is that it provides balance.

--nathan
 
The Loveless style hunter is my adopted, blade making, training knife. Before I made one I didn't understand what is so special about his design.

The first time I hollow ground the blade, and when the tang was tapered, it amazed me the transformation the blade took, that's when I began to realize the genius of Bob Loveless design. I don't think you can totally appreciate his design until you make one.

Bob wasn't the first to do the tapered tang though, Scagel did it before him and who knows before that.
 
i don't much like it either. my personal tastes run to a full tang of the same thickness as the spine of the blade... but that's preference
 
markb said:
The Loveless style hunter is my adopted, blade making, training knife. Before I made one I didn't understand what is so special about his design.

The first time I hollow ground the blade, and when the tang was tapered, it amazed me the transformation the blade took, that's when I began to realize the genius of Bob Loveless design. I don't think you can totally appreciate his design until you make one.

Bob wasn't the first to do the tapered tang though, Scagel did it before him and who knows before that.
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Mark,

I'am with you on that.

Rick
 
In use, the tang gets more stress the closer you get to the blade. Therefore a straight tang is over built and adds extra weight. Most of the classic chef knives which are forged from stainless round bar stock have tapered tangs and tapered blades. The forged bolster, between the tang and the blade, is round or oval in cross section and is the strongest part of the knife. It is also located at the balance point (fulcrum) of the knife. So the whole package is constructed to distribute the strength where it is needed with out adding unnecessary weight.
 
silver_pilate said:
Honestly, I'm not always a fan of the tapered tang look. Sometimes it just looks "off" to my eye. I guess that goes to show you I have no class or sense of style :D. The already mentioned functional reason is that it provides balance.

--nathan
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Patrice Lemée;10730918 said:
Thanks Nathan, I thought I was alone like that. I can appreciate the work that goes into it and the skill level to do it well. But that is about it for me. :(
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I agree with both of you; I have a hard time appreciating tapered tangs on guardless knives.

markb said:
The first time I hollow ground the blade, and when the tang was tapered, it amazed me the transformation the blade took, that's when I began to realize the genius of Bob Loveless design. I don't think you can totally appreciate his design until you make one.
Click to expand...

Or hold one, or at least a well made copy!
 
markb said:
The Loveless style hunter is my adopted, blade making, training knife. Before I made one I didn't understand what is so special about his design.

The first time I hollow ground the blade, and when the tang was tapered, it amazed me the transformation the blade took, that's when I began to realize the genius of Bob Loveless design. I don't think you can totally appreciate his design until you make one.

Bob wasn't the first to do the tapered tang though, Scagel did it before him and who knows before that.
Click to expand...

I believe all traditional blades have tapered tangs. I know for the fact that traditional katana were all tapered. If you ever swing a modern mass produced katana without tapered tang, it feels dead in your hand. The dynamic of a tapered one is far more more lively.
 
Couple reasons I don't do tapered tangs. One, I'm not good enough! :D Plus, I ground an angled piece off the tip of my pinky the first and only time I tried and am now scared to try again. ;)

I don't really love the look of it, either. I appreciate the skill required to do it properly, but I'm fine with a heavily skeletonized full tang.
 
Some may be offended by this...

I taper tangs that will never be seen through my handle wraps..... why? I can only speak through my own experience but I have found a tapered tangs to be less susceptable to failure(second only to a full, untouched tang, of course), either through stress risers from HT or absence of material in critical areas. I have broken many blades and found the skeletonized tang to be a weakness however unlikely perceived stress in that area is. I find the tapered tang to be the more logical approach in lightening for balance, while still fulfilling MY desired attributes in a blade.
 
Rick Marchand said:
Some may be offended by this...

I taper tangs that will never be seen through my handle wraps..... why? I can only speak through my own experience but I have found a tapered tangs to be less susceptable to failure(second only to a full, untouched tang, of course), either through stress risers from HT or absence of material in critical areas. I have broken many blades and found the skeletonized tang to be a weakness however unlikely perceived stress in that area is. I find the tapered tang to be the more logical approach in lightening for balance, while still fulfilling MY desired attributes in a blade.
Click to expand...



As Much as I hate to agree with Rick, his logic is very sound.


Sure you can skeletonize a tang to emulate the balance of a tapered tang knife,

...but it's the re-rooting of the stresses in the tang around the cut out areas that create areas of elevated stress (stress risers),

...in contrast, the tapered tang, thicker in the high stress blade interface area and thinning toward the lower stress area, create no such focal points for stresses to build.




Big Mike
 
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