Fuller (weapon)

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Fuller (weapon)

A fuller is a rounded or beveled groove or slot in the flat side of a blade (e.g.

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A fuller is a rounded or beveled groove or slot in the flat side of a blade (e.g. a sword

Sword

A sword is a long, edged piece of metal, used as a cutting, thrusting, and clubbing weapon in many civilizations throughout the world. The word sword comes from the Old English language wikt:sweord, cognate to Old High German swert, Middle Dutch swaert, Old Norse sver? Old Frisian and Old Saxon swerd and Dutch langua...
, knife

Knife

A knife is a handheld sharp-edged instrument consisting of a handle attached to a blade that is used for cutting. Knives were used at least Stone Age, as evidenced by the Oldowan tools....
, or bayonet

Bayonet

A bayonet is a knife-, dagger-, sword-' or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit on or over the muzzle of a rifle barrel or similar weapon, effectively turning the gun into a spear....
). Contrary to popular belief, the term "blood groove" is a misnomer: the fuller was not designed to allow blood to flow from a stabbed person. A fuller is actually used to strengthen and/or lighten the blade

Blade

A blade is the flat part of a tool, weapon, or machine that normally has a cutting edge and/or pointed end typically made of a flaking stone, such as flint, or metal, most recently steel....
, much in the way that an I-beam shape lends strength to a steel rod. In this respect, its effects are conclusively proven (i.e. removing metal from a blade is guaranteed to make it lighter). Many blades use fullers, even when they are so short that the physical effect is negligible.

Physics

The basic design principle is that bending

Bending

In engineering mechanics, bending characterizes the behavior of a structural element subjected to an external Structural load applied perpendicular to the axis of the element....
causes more stress

Stress (physics)

In continuum mechanics, stress is a measure of the average amount of force exerted per unit area. It is a measure of the intensity of the total internal forces acting within a body across imaginary internal surfaces, as a reaction to external applied forces and body forces....
in material near the edge or back of the blade than material in the middle, due to lever

Lever

In physics, a lever is a rigid object that is used with an appropriate fulcrum or wiktionary:pivot point to multiply the mechanical force that can be applied to another object....
age. The diagram at right shows stress distribution in an ideal blade with a rectangular section, with only a small amount of shear stress present at the neutral axis. Fullers remove material from near this neutral axis, which is closer to the blade's spine if only one edge is sharpened (see photo above). This yields stiffer blades of a given weight, or lighter blades of a given stiffness

Stiffness

Stiffness is the resistance of an Elasticity body to deformation by an applied force. It is an intensive and extensive properties....
. The same principle is taken to an extreme in the I-shaped cross sections of most steel beam

Beam (structure)

A beam is a List of structural elements that is capable of withstanding Structural load primarily by resisting bending. The bending force induced into the material of the beam as a result of the external loads, own weight and external reactions to these loads is called a bending moment....
s. Some even contend that this concept was borrowed into architecture from weapons design.

Japanese blades

In Japan

Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
ese bladesmithing

Bladesmith

Bladesmithing is the art of blacksmithing that relates specifically to creating knives, swords, daggers and other blades using a forge, hammer, anvil, and other smithing tools....
, fullers have a rich tradition and terminology, enough that there are separate terminologies for the top (hi, usually pronounced as bi when used as a successive word) and bottom (tome) ends of the feature. A listing follows:

Bo-bi: A continuous straight groove of notable width, known as katana
Katana

A Japanese sword, or , is one of the traditional bladed weapons of Japan. These are categorised in several types according to size and method of manufacture....
-bi on tanto
Tanto

A is a common Japanese single or, occasionally, double edged knife or dagger with a blade length between 15 and 30 cm . The tanto was designed primarily as a stabbing weapon, but the edge can be used for cutting as well....
. With soe-bi, a secondary narrow groove follows the inner straight length of the main one. With tsure-bi, the secondary is similar but continues beyond the straight length.
Futasuji-bi: Two parallel grooves.
Shobu-bi: A groove shaped like the leaf
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
of an iris plant
Iris (plant)

Iris is a genus of between 200-300 species of flowering plants with showy flowers. It takes its name from the Greek word for a rainbow, referring to the wide variety of flower colors found among the many species....
.
Naginata-bi: A miniature bo-bi whose top is oriented opposite from the blade's, and usually accompanied by a soe-bi. Seen primarily on naginata
Naginata

Naginata is a pole weapon that was traditionally used in Japan by members of the samurai class. It has become associated with women and in modern Japan it is studied by women more than men; whereas in Europe and Australia Naginata is practiced predominantly by men - this is however only simply a refection of the martial arts de...
s.
Kuichigai-bi: Two thin grooves that run the top half of the blade; the bottom half is denoted by the outer groove stopping halfway while the inner one expands to fill the width.
Koshi-bi: A short rounded-top groove found near the bottom of a blade, near to the tang.

Tome

Kaki-toshi: The groove runs all the way down to the end of the tang.
Kaki-nagashi: The groove tapers to a pointed end halfway down the tang.
Kaku-dome: The groove stops as a square end within 3 cm of the tang's upper end.
Maru-dome: Similar to the kaku, except with a rounded-end.

The kukri

The Nepal

Nepal

Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia and is the world's youngest republic. It is bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by India....
i kukri

Kukri

The kukri is a curved Nepalese knife used as both tool and weapon. It is also a part of the regimental weaponry and heraldry of The Royal Gurkha Rifles....
has a terminology of its own, including the "aunlo bal" (finger of strength/force/energy), a relatively deep and narrow fuller near the spine of the blade, which runs (at most) between the handle and the corner of the blade, and the "chirra", which may refer either to shallow fullers in the belly of the blade or a hollow grind

Grind

The grind of a blade refers to the shape of the cross-section of the blade. It is distinct from the type of blade , though different tools and blades may have lent their name to a particular grind....
of the edge, and of which two or three may be used on each side of the blade.