Why Distal Taper?

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I have kitchen knives that have distal taper. It makes sense to me there, because you are cutting with the tip and chopping near the handle (at least the way I cook). I can also see why you would have it on a sword for maneuverability, especially if it is for thrusting.

But, why have it on a machete, golok, or woods knife? I thought the whole idea was to have a forward point of balance for chopping. Isn't that why bolos and kukris have a wider blade at the tip? Clue me in, please.
 
not necessarily-that's just for a full arm swing. With Goloks, khukris, etc the most efficient way to chop is by rotating the wrist in short fast motions. Also, since the blade's width generally thickens towards the sweet spot in goloks and khukris, the taper can help offset TOO much weight forward.
 
The simple answer? Control of mass distribution.

Distal taper allows for a greater degree of variation in performance and handling characteristics between blades with similar profiles. If you want to start playing around with the point of balance, center of percussion, and pivot nodes, distal taper is really the best way to go about it. This makes the properties of a blade much more "elastic" in the hands of a designer, allowing them to play with these performance characteristics, not to mention blade rigidity (forte/foible management), shock mitigation, sweet spot boundaries, and rotational inertia. [/geek] :)

On machetes, distal taper allows for a long blade to remain stiff instead of going "floppy," or give you more reach without making for an ungainly tool (handy when tackling brambles etc.) As well as some other more subtle advantages, but those are the easiest to wrap your head around without experiencing it.
 
It all sounds fancy, but when you know to look for it all of those effects are relatively easy to spot/experience in usage. It's all subtleties in where different points or zones are, determined by how much metal is where. I'm far from an expert--I just pay attention to the little things. :p
 
42blades, does the distal taper make the blade, in essence, a very long triangle rather than a very long rectangle? Triangles are much stronger than rectangles in bridges, I would assume that making the profile distally tapered, ie a triangle, would make it much more laterally rigid. Correct assumption?
 
A Custom maker can really control the balance and how the knife feels.

There is nothing like using a knife that feels neutral in hand, it feels like air or almost weightless when using it.

Also with a Distal Taper and depending on how the blade is tempered it can have a certian amount of flex and that amount can be adjusted by the HT and tempering process.

And they just slice better. :D
 
medicevans said:
42blades, does the distal taper make the blade, in essence, a very long triangle rather than a very long rectangle? Triangles are much stronger than rectangles in bridges, I would assume that making the profile distally tapered, ie a triangle, would make it much more laterally rigid. Correct assumption?
Click to expand...

Depends on how you look at it...

To do some rough and dirty figures, imagine you have a blade that tapers from 2" to 1" (super thick, I know! But we're simplifying the numbers for the sake of easy comparison. :p) It will have MORE flex than an untapered 2" thick blade of the same profile, but LESS flex than an untapered 1" thick blade. So it's a "glass half full/empty" situation. :)

And Ankerson is spot on. In the hands of an expert, distal taper is a powerful tool. And when done well in a piece it's an experience you won't soon forget. :cool:
 
One other important thing that a distal taper does is spread any lateral flexing along the whole length of the blade rather than concentrating it all near the handle.

To a lesser extent distal taper combined with the blade profile also helps spread out the vertical flexing that occurs during heavy chopping. If these forces are not balanced properly then you get a knife that bounces around and smacks your hand when you bury it in a tree limb.
 
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