Lateral Movement, fixed blade

[fedaykincmndr]

I posted something like this in the HI Cantina, but I wanted a larger opinion, as it were.

I recently "fixed" a kukri that lost it's handle in normal use. I used a peice of hickory ax handle, filled the cavity with as much JB weld as I could, and peined it onto the blade. Thusfar, it hasn't shown any signs of going anywhere, and this after beating the bat snot out of chopping seasoned hardwood (one log was probably 5-6" in diameter). Now the rub: the blade itself moves laterally </= .01in(?); that is, it's barely noticeable. I can only feel it after heavy chopping and when I shake the blade side to side (a small clicking noise happens). The endcap fit on the tang well, but I didn't have to hammer it on or anything. As I said the movement is minimal, and the other night I whacked the tang a few more times to try and tighten things up; the movement still persists. I can sometimes feel the tang moving in the handle when I'm really going at it, but it still seems fairly solid.

Question is, does this lateral movement compromise the integrity of the blade or will it not matter? Thanks in advance.

 

[CWL]

I'm surprised you even feel anything if it is that sleight. While I doubt that much movement will affect the function of a HI workhorse, there is a thin version of superglue that is designed to penetrate and fill gaps & cracks if that little bit of movement bothers you.

 

[fedaykincmndr]

Thanks CWL, I'm guessing at the measurement. I can see the crack in the JB weld near the collar (expected that), and it appears to my untrained eye about that much. I can also observe the peined over tang move approximately the same amount; again maybe less maybe more but barely enough to notice. Thanks for the suggerstion, I suppose it's more the clicking sound that unsettles me.