Full tange Versus half tang.

[Ash_Saber]

Hi all! I'm not as blade literate as the majority of you guys here, so this may come across as a pretty stupid question, but... i have a certain sword... It's pretty big. so.. i'll discribe it.

It's a battle ready replica of an anime sword... not my first choice, but i can't find a non-anime version of it anywhere.

alright, first off, let me just say, i have no idea how much it wieghs...i'd estimate around sixty to seventy five pounds. the blade itself is a little more then four feet long and the handle is about one and a quarter foot. the blade is about a half inch thick, and it's width is what makes it awsome... it's about six inches wide, the blade. and knowing all this... it's only half tang... i was told by a friend that a blade this size would NEED to be half tang... i can't for the life of me think why... wouldn't that make it snap the handle off in one swing?

 

[Big Bob]

Your friend's concern is that the half tang would break away from the handle since it doesn't go all the way through the handle.

I have an idea of the sword you're describing. I know its supposed to be massive, but 60-75lbs...damn.

Bob

 

[BrianB]

Well, you probably bought it as a decoration, so I'm not going to toss out that "it's not a sword" line at you. Just don't swing the thing around, if the tang snaps, it could be dangerous.

 

[hank_rearden]

compare a midget with a full-sized man. nearly all "working" swords seen in museums have half tangs. i don't understand how stupid sword makers were back then.

so a knife with a 2" blade could have a full tang only because there's no sense in removing that much steel from the handle of such a short knife. on the other hand a long sword could have a half tang and still outlive the user.