Question about integral bolsters

[kronckew]

my karaculak yataghan,or shepherd's knife from bulgaria has an integral bolster. way back someone mentioned it might be 18c. (photo) blade is not 't' section.

structurally, the blade is like a beam, if you drill holes in it on the neutral axis which generally runs down the centre of the blade and tang, you lose very little if any structural strength. the further away from this neutral axis, the greater the compressive and tensile stress that acts on the material. on blades without integral bolsters, they usually have a sudden reduction in blade width where the blade enters the guard, if any and separate bolster, in order to fit inside the dimensions of the grip. this produces a structural incongruity and especially if the 'corner' is square, will allow progressive cracking and failure at this notch due to the high stress that a notch causes there. an integral bolster neatly avoids this.

a khukuri does not have an integral bolster, many now sport 'habaki' style bolsters to guide it into the scabbard, but khukuris are mostly differentially hardened and tempered such that the spine and tang/blade juncture are left a lot less brittle that the cutting 'sweet spot'. a bent khukuri (or sword) can be bent back into shape, a snapped one cannot easily be mended in the field.