Blade swedges

3

30-30remchester

Joined
Nov 22, 2009
Messages
72
I am new here so be gentle with me. Im sure this has been discussed however I havent found it so here goes. What was the purpose of a swedge? I have always prefered a blade with a cut swedge but didnt know the purpose. In Knife World this isssue Tony Bose was commenting on old folders and said "when a maker put a swedge on a blade it was for a purpose" however he didnt say what that purpose was.
 
Penetration. You can have a reasonably thick blade, while still offering a decent point. Also, on certain types of traditional folders it helps with fit/blade alignment.
 
Now its marketed eye candy for the tactical / mall ninja crowed. Since you can stab someone with a stick, i would be skeptical of any performance claims as such.
 
winbag338 said:
Now its marketed eye candy for the tactical / mall ninja crowed. Since you can stab someone with a stick, i would be skeptical of any performance claims as such.
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it wont make any difference if youre stabbing a person... but if youre stabbing sometihng hard it will help give it a pointier tip.
 
The swedge also lightens the blade. By taking off more material you're always going to lighten.
 
As mentioned carry weight and balancing can be good reasons. They can perform the function of allowing for better penetration when stabbing something, as it is less surface area and thus less friction and resistance. The downside is no matter how you figure it you have a weaker blade as material has been removed which also may matter, particularly in terms of stabbing where thinner tips are more prone to break off when they hit something hard enough. Honestly though for the vast majority of uses and users I think it is probably more a function of trying to make the blade look cooler. That being said, I like many a blade that is swedged but no swedging is fine too. Thankfully there is a lot of variety in the knife world or else why would anyone want to collect them.
 
winbag338 said:
Please test that theory, see if there is a notable difference and report back your findings.
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I am unaware of any study backing your claims either.

So seeing as this is all an opinion based squabble, theres no point in getting our panties in a twist.


Utility use of my own swedged blades leads me to agree with this:

pinhead said:
As mentioned carry weight and balancing can be good reasons. They can perform the function of allowing for better penetration when stabbing something, as it is less surface area and thus less friction and resistance. The downside is no matter how you figure it you have a weaker blade as material has been removed which also may matter, particularly in terms of stabbing where thinner tips are more prone to break off when they hit something hard enough. Honestly though for the vast majority of uses and users I think it is probably more a function of trying to make the blade look cooler. That being said, I like many a blade that is swedged but no swedging is fine too. Thankfully there is a lot of variety in the knife world or else why would anyone want to collect them.
Click to expand...
 
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