Balance questions

[Maskwa]

When a throwing knife is said to be balanced, does this mean balanced in the center so it rotates evenly after it is thrown?

Also are there any tip heavy throwing knives made? How well do they work? I would assume that they stick into a target more times than a neutrally balanced blade (without regard to skill level; as a dart does).


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[Patte Gauche]

Center balanced usually means the center of balance is within one inch either way of the center lengthwise of the knife overall length. All knives rotate evenly. In the case of an off center balanced knife the diameter of the circular path the ends of the knife prescribe are not equal in an off center balanced knife.

A dart is a projectile in that it does not rotate end over end where as a thrown knife does so this comparison probably is not a valid one.

A tip heavy knife thrown by the light handle should work just fine. Some of the best distance throwers turn out to be handle heavy but thrown by the light blade for 0.5, 1.5, 2.5 etc. turns.

Skill (read practice) will always make the difference no matter what you throw in any still.

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The Sticking Point
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[matthew rapaport]

There is a discussion of balance in
<a href="http://www.crl.com/~mjr/choose.html">this article</a> off the
<a href="http://www.crl.com/~mjr/thrower.html">thrower page</a>. Just by the way things work out (handles being typically wider than points), most throwing knives that aren't balanced in their centers are slightly handle heavy. There are a few exceptions, and they throw just as well as the others, you just have to get used to them. Over all weight is more important than centered-ness of the balance. If the knife is heavy enough, even non-centered knife will throw fine from what would otherwise be the weaker side...