That is not a "fuller" groove either.

I know what it is, and you don't, so pay attention.

It is not a blood groove, the idea that the grooves along the length of a blade will make it easier to withdraw is simply ludicrous. The proposition that the grooves somehow allow the injury of a stab wound to bleed better is nonsense as well.

The idea that perhaps the groove can stiffen a blade is nonsense as well, ask any engineer if somehow removing material from a shape can make it stronger, the answer is, "Absolutely NOT".

Ahhh, then people want to compare their theory to the shape of an I-beam. They say that removing the channels made it stronger, and they are wrong. The correct way to view the physics of an I-beam is to compare it to a flat bar.

Then some say that the groove lightens the blade, without appreciably weakening it. There may be some truth to that, however if a blade needed to be lighter, there are other ways of doing that, like making it shorter, narrower, thinner, etc.
I do not subscribe to any of the above theories.

Have you ever tried to sharpen a sword?

LOL

OK, this is what the groove is. The groove is a "FOLLOWER" groove.
Not a fuller.

Pronounce "follower", then "fuller" several times!
How easy would it be for someone to hear fuller, when the word is meant to be follower.

Now what the groove is for, is simply an aid to sharpening the edge of the blade. It is really that simple. I have sharpened several swords and numerous knives and assorted edged implements. I KNOW how difficult it is to maintain a constant angle for a length of 30 or so inches. Double that as each side of the edge needs to be done, then double THAT for a double edged blade.

Hah, so how does that groove help??

Easy to understand once the concept is made clear, take a stone, reasonably suited for sharpening, flat and fairly rectangular on at least one side. Now attach that stone to some metal, wood or bone piece with a knob or protrusion on it that fits in that groove. As the stone is swept along the length of the edge, the height of the knob maintains an angle with the edge, the groove keeps the knob aligned to the center of the blade, ensuring the angle remains constant as well, as the apparatus is moved along the blade with the stone moving in small sweeping motions the entire edge is honed to a very close approximation of a constant angle along its entire length. YES, the original Lansky sharpening system, without all the high tech hooplah.

How many ways can be thought of to attach a stone to something that would fit in that groove?? How about the simplest way of all, just a stone, with a knob protruding from one end of it?? Sure it would tend to wear the groove deeper as it was used, but not by a lot. If that knob loaded up with iron, and not cleaned, it would glide along that groove nicely without any further appreciable wear to the groove, or knob.

Then the tip of the blade, depending on where the groove ends in relation to the tip, the edge bevel at that area could be made shallower, for slashing, or deeper for thrusting strength. If the groove ends further from the tip, the stone angle would be shallower, and if the groove ends closer to the tip, the stone angle would be deeper.

Have an artisan build a hollowed bronze or brass stone holder, with the correct size and height of knob, and then one could change stones, from coarse, medium and fine. Even a short tubular holder, with the knob on the side, could hold rods of stone.

I wonder how many of these items have been found on battle sites, burial sites and in weapons caches in various archaeological endeavors, and set aside as another puzzling artifact of mysterious origin and utility.

Until you have actually tried to sharpen a 30" length of steel, you have no idea how essential it must have been to devise some way of reliably maintaining that stone angle.

There you have it, the "mystery" of the groove has been solved at last.

Yes, this is MY work, NO I did not hear of this from anyone else. Once I realized what that groove was for, I did an internet search and realized that no one ELSE knew what it was.

5-16-2011

45 Mike