What's the general consensus on skeleton tangs?

I took a survival class where they used Pukko's (sp) and battoning the blade (using a branch to hit the blade and drive it thru branches etc). I would question the strength of the tang if too much lightning is performed as I believe, stress fractures could form easily. For lightning I would suggest tapering the handle leaving more mass inside for strength.
Also my instructor said you needed to be careful with the holes being too close to the edge as in heat treating cracks could form more easily.
 
A few 1/4 inch holes for balance and adhesion along with G-flex epoxy and your knife will hold up well in my experience. I have never had one returned for failure yet. Larry Lehman P.S. I build some of my own knifes from 3/16 thick stainless and leave them heavy because I like them that way. I think they look cool and feel good. Holes will help with strength though in my opinion. LL


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Hi thanks for your comments I'll make sure I don't drill too close to the blade in that case :)

Larry you mentioned something interesting. Could you please elaborate on the holes making the tang stronger part please. Do you have any hole placement advice for me when I do mine?

Thank very much for your help :)
 
Dragsters used to have large holes in their frame rails for strength from top to bottom and to save weight. The strength increase in a knife tang is marginal but the holes make for better balance and better grip of the epoxy. Larry
 
Ah right ok thanks! I think I get the idea let me go and do some homework on that :)
 
Kaizo, I actually saw a demonstration where a piece of flat metal was set on edge and weights added until it bent and then the same type metal was substituted with holes in it and it held more weight before bending. I think it works kind of like drilling a hole to stop a crack. The circular edge spreads out stress because of the length of the arc. Ask any engineer about the value of holes in structural steel. Larry
 
Thanks for the info again Larry :)

From the sounds of it the holes are distributing load... and yes I will thanks! :) As fortune has it I belong to the engineering department so I have a few colleagues that I can go to. ;)

Thanks for your help again I'm going to carefully plan out the holes after what you said!
 
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