Are folders technically "tang-less"?

S

St33L

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Dec 18, 2013
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This is a bit of a random thought while I was contemplating batoning with stick tangs vs. full tangs vs. narrowing tangs, etc.

I don't see why it usually won't be (there may be exceptions), but are folders technically without a tang?

The blade doesn't go much into the handle... in other words, can I call most folders a tang-less knife?
 
Friction folders have an extended tang that is worth mentioning. Then again, most friction folders are more like short ranged fixed blades with folding handle extensions, so maybe they're different.

But I've wondered this before. I like the"pivot tang" moniker :D.
 
If half of the edged blade breaks, [e.g. two pieces: tip to half of edge (tip-half), and half of edge to pommel] is the bottom of the tip-half technically a tang, since it could potentially be fastened onto a handle?
 
Folders have a tang, on locking folders that's almost invariably where the lock engages. I say almost because of oddities like Mr. Onion's stud lock. :)
 
St33L said:
If half of the edged blade breaks, [e.g. two pieces: tip to half of edge (tip-half), and half of edge to pommel] is the bottom of the tip-half technically a tang, since it could potentially be fastened onto a handle?
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Sure. Why not. You could glue antlers to a pigs head and call it a moose too.
 
From AG Russell

Tang: That part of the blade that is either fastened between scales to make the handle or goes through a hole in the handle material. Also the part of a pocket knife blade that is between the handles.
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That's definitive.
 
Here's another one of my random curiosities... I was thinking about creating another thread, but this is already similar in thought to the more generally themed question inferred here: does a tang-less blade w/ handle exist?

There are axes with full tangs, but does a traditional axe have a tang, as in the example image below?

(1) If yes, can you please point it out?
E.g., if the cutting edge is facing left, is it the area of the axe head from and to the right of the cheek?

Or...

(2) If no, is a traditional axe tang-less due to:
(a) the nomenclature of axes (so it does have a tang, but it isn't referred to as a tang by convention)
or
(b) the inherent construct of an axe doesn't allow for a tang, since the blade doesn't go into the handle, but rather the handle goes into the blade (eye of axe head).

traditional-multi-purpose-axe-4d37feec.png
 
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No, because it's an eyed tool. The handle goes into the head--the head does not go into the handle. Likewise a socket-handled knife technically doesn't have a tang. It has a socket. This often gets referred to as a tang, but more from the standpoint of simplicity's sake rather than one of technical accuracy. This is something encountered with other tools as well. Hoes commonly come in both eyed and tanged varieties, various types of forks come in tanged and socketed varieties...etc. etc. A tang is a different means of attaching a tool head to a handle--either by lashing/clamping to a handle or by passing into or through the handle itself.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
No, because it's an eyed tool. The handle goes into the head--the head does not go into the handle. Likewise a socket-handled knife technically doesn't have a tang. It has a socket. This often gets referred to as a tang, but more from the standpoint of simplicity's sake rather than one of technical accuracy. This is something encountered with other tools as well. Hoes commonly come in both eyed and tanged varieties, various types of forks come in tanged and socketed varieties...etc. etc. A tang is a different means of attaching a tool head to a handle--either by lashing/clamping to a handle or by passing into or through the handle itself.
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Ah I see, so tang-less blade tools do exist, and the opposite of a tanged construction is an eyed construction, such as some axes, hatchets, hammers, etc. I've heard many people state traditional axes as having a tang, so that clears it up.

With that said, are folders tang-less then since the handle and its pivot goes through the eye of a blade (in which the folder blade's eye is merely perpendicular to the eye of an axe)? Or, is a folder tanged because part of the blade (when open and most of the blade when closed) is technically through the opening of the handle as a requirement to secure the blade? It seems like folders are a hybrid, so folders are both tanged and eyed.
 
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O good lord such complications, multiple shades of distinction. Hmmm...
Yes, folders are tangless. There is no tang with scales, handle etc.
 
St33L said:
Ah I see, so tang-less blade tools do exist, and the opposite of a tanged construction is an eyed construction, such as some axes, hatchets, hammers, etc. I've heard many people state traditional axes as having a tang, so that clears it up.

With that said, are folders tang-less then since the handle and its pivot goes through the eye of a blade (in which the folder blade's eye is merely perpendicular to the eye of an axe)? Or, is a folder tanged because part of the blade (when open and most of the blade when closed) is technically through the opening of the handle as a requirement to secure the blade? It seems like folders are a hybrid, so folders are both tanged and eyed.
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No. Folders have a tang. A hole for a pivot is not the same as an eye. The tang of a folder is the region below the blade which is used for affixing it in the handle.
 
St33L said:
Ah I see, so tang-less blade tools do exist, and the opposite of a tanged construction is an eyed construction, such as some axes, hatchets, hammers, etc. I've heard many people state traditional axes as having a tang, so that clears it up.

With that said, are folders tang-less then since the handle and its pivot goes through the eye of a blade (in which the folder blade's eye is merely perpendicular to the eye of an axe)? Or, is a folder tanged because part of the blade (when open and most of the blade when closed) is technically through the opening of the handle as a requirement to secure the blade? It seems like folders are a hybrid, so folders are both tanged and eyed.
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Is that all you're looking for is something with an edge that you can call tang less? Is this a bet or something?

How about a box cutter...
 
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