A tang or shank is the back portion 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. Historic ...

component of a

tool A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ba ...

where it extends into stock material or connects to a

handle A handle is a part of, or attachment to, an object that allows it to be grasped and manipulated by hand. The design of each type of handle involves substantial ergonomic issues, even where these are dealt with intuitively or by following tra ...

– as on 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 evidenced ...

sword A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...

spear A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fasten ...

arrowhead An arrowhead or point is the usually sharpened and hardened tip of an arrow, which contributes a majority of the projectile mass and is responsible for impacting and penetrating a target, as well as to fulfill some special purposes such as sign ...

chisel A chisel is a tool with a characteristically shaped cutting edge (such that wood chisels have lent part of their name to a particular grind) of blade on its end, for carving or cutting a hard material such as wood, stone, or metal by hand, stru ...

file File or filing may refer to: Mechanical tools and processes * File (tool), a tool used to ''remove'' fine amounts of material from a workpiece **Filing (metalworking), a material removal process in manufacturing ** Nail file, a tool used to gent ...

, coulter,

pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

scythe A scythe ( ) is an agricultural hand tool for mowing grass or harvesting crops. It is historically used to cut down or reap edible grains, before the process of threshing. The scythe has been largely replaced by horse-drawn and then tractor mac ...

screwdriver A screwdriver is a tool, manual or powered, used for turning screws. A typical simple screwdriver has a handle and a shaft, ending in a tip the user puts into the screw head before turning the handle. This form of the screwdriver has been repla ...

, etc. One can classify various tang designs by their appearance, by the manner in which they attach to a handle, and by their length in relation to the handle. ''Nakago'' is the term in

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

, used especially when referring to the tang of the

katana A is a Japanese sword characterized by a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands. Developed later than the '' tachi'', it was used by samurai in feudal Japan and worn with the edge f ...

or the

wakizashi The is one of the traditionally made Japanese swords (''nihontō'') worn by the samurai in feudal Japan. History and use The production of swords in Japan is divided into specific time periods:

Full vs partial tang

A full tang extends the full length of the grip-portion of a handle, versus a ''partial'' tang which does not. A full tang may or may not be as wide as the handle itself, but will still run the full length of the handle. There are a wide variety of full and partial tang designs. In perhaps the most common design in full tang knives, the handle is cut in the shape of the tang and handle scales are then fastened to the tang by means of pins, screws, bolts, metal tubing, epoxy, etc. The tang is left exposed along the belly, butt, and spine of the handle, extending both the full length and width of the handle. Partial tang designs include stub, half, and three-quarter tangs, describing how far the tang extends into the handle of the tool. The most common partial tang design found in commercial knives is on folding knives, where the tang extends only as far as the pivot-point in the handle.

Scalpels A scalpel, lancet, or bistoury is a small and extremely sharp bladed instrument used for surgery, anatomical dissection, podiatry and various arts and crafts (either called a hobby knife or an X-acto knife.). Scalpels may be single-use disposab ...

, utility razor blades, and a number of other knives are commonly designed with short partial tangs that are easy to fasten and unfasten from the handle so that dull or contaminated blades may be quickly exchanged for fresh ones, or so that one style of blade may be exchanged for another style while maintaining the same handle. Hollow-handled knives also incorporate a partial tang. Many inexpensive knives and swords designed for decorative purposes incorporate partial tangs and are not intended to be used for cutting applications. A full tang knife or sword generally allows for increased force leveraged through the handle against the resistance of material being cut by the blade, an advantage when used against harder materials or when the blade begins to dull. A full tang also increases the amount of stock metal in the handle of the tool which can be beneficial in altering the

balance Balance or balancing may refer to: Common meanings * Balance (ability) in biomechanics * Balance (accounting) * Balance or weighing scale * Balance as in equality or equilibrium Arts and entertainment Film * ''Balance'' (1983 film), a Bulgaria ...

point of the tool since the blade of a knife or sword is often quite heavy compared to the handle. Adding weight to the handle of a knife or sword to offset the weight of the blade moves the rotational balance point back toward the hand where it can be more easily manipulated to great effect, making for a nimble, agile tool. In general, a forward-balanced blade excels at chopping but sacrifices agility and ease of manipulation; a centre or rear-balanced blade excels at agility but sacrifices raw chopping power. Knives and swords intended for specific purposes will usually incorporate whichever design is most suited to how the tool will be handled for that specific purpose. A partial tang knife or sword is generally not able to leverage as much force against the resistance of material being cut as a full tang design would allow. This limits the amount of force which a user should apply to the handle of such a weapon. Such designs may be optimal in light-weight knives or swords designed to be kept extremely sharp and used to cut less-resistant materials. Scalpels and Japanese samurai swords are perhaps the most well-known examples of such tools.

Common tang styles found in swords and knives

Most of these design styles can be used with full or partial tangs and the use of one does not exclude the use of another. For example, a sword may have a hidden, encapsulated, rat-tail tang. :A ''push tang'' is inserted or pushed into a pre-made handle and fastened in place. :An ''encapsulated tang'' has the handle material molded around the tang itself and fastened in place. :A ''hidden tang'' is fastened within the handle such that neither the tang nor the mechanism by which it is fastened is visible on the surface of the handle. A hidden tang may be accomplished in a number of ways. The simplest way to accomplish a hidden tang is with

epoxy Epoxy is the family of basic components or cured end products of epoxy resins. Epoxy resins, also known as polyepoxides, are a class of reactive prepolymers and polymers which contain epoxide groups. The epoxide functional group is also coll ...

. A more sophisticated method is to construct the tang with a small protrusion (or a protrusion may be welded onto it) which fits into a notch in the handle, preventing the blade from being withdrawn from the handle. Another common method is to cut bolt-threading into the end of the tang whereby a pommel-

nut Nut often refers to: * Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, or a collective noun for dry and edible fruits or seeds * Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt Nut or Nuts may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Co ...

screws into place. Inexpensive decorative knives and swords occasionally feature a hidden false tang consisting of a separate thin bolt welded to a stub tang on the blade, the bolt is then inserted through the handle and fastened in place by a pommel-nut. :In a ''stick and rat-tail tang'' the transition from blade to tang involves an abrupt decrease in the amount of stock metal such that the tang is narrower than the rest of the tool, more so when the transition resembles that between a rat's thick body and its thin tail. This style of tang is often used in decorative swords and blades, which are never intended for actual use and therefore do not require a strong, functional tang. :In a ''tapered tang'' the width of the tang gradually decreases in one or more dimensions along its length. Tapered tangs may feature thinning along the spine from blade to pommel, thinning from spine to belly, or even hollowing from the edges toward the midsection of the tang-stock. This is an uncommon but sophisticated design used to reduce the amount of material (and thereby the weight) in the handle of the tool without significant sacrifice of strength. :In a ''skeletonized tang'' large sections along the tang are cut away, reducing the amount of stock material to a basic framework while still providing structural support. This is another sophisticated, modern method of reducing the material weight of the tang without sacrificing significant material strength or support. Skeletonized tangs are also commonly utilized to provide storage space in the handle of the tool. :In an ''extended tang'' the tang extends beyond the grip of the handle. In knives, the extended tang may function as a hammer-pommel. :With a ''through tang'' the tang extends the full length of the handle, but does not extend the width enough to be exposed on its back, front, nor either of its sides. :In a ''slab tang'' the tang extends the full width and length of the handle so that it is exposed on its bottom, back, and front. The handle scales are fastened to either side of the tang.

References

{{reflist Blade weapons

Full vs partial tang

Common tang styles found in swords and knives

See also

References