Patent ID: 8819944

Claim:
A bladed tool comprising: a blade including a surface-engaging edge and a blade-retaining shank extending rearwardly of the surface-engaging edge; and a handle comprising (i) an elongated handle body having longitudinally opposed body front and rear ends, (ii) at least one side wall extending between the body front and rear ends and including an outer surface configured for gripping by a user and an inner surface that defines an interior access channel extending from the body rear end toward a forward channel wall located to the rear of the body front end, and (iii) a handle core extending between the body front end and the forward channel wall and defining a shank-retaining slot extending between a forward slot-opening in the body front end and a rearward slot-opening in the forward channel wall; wherein (a) the shank extends rearwardly through the shank-retaining slot such that a protruding shank portion extends to the rear of the forward channel wall and forward movement of the shank relative to the handle body is prevented at least in part by a bend formed in the shank such that the protruding shank portion is misaligned relative to a remainder of the shank and cannot pass through the shank-retaining slot: (b) the shank comprises first and second shank tangs laterally separated by a tang gap, each tang having an inner tang edge defining a portion of the tang gap and an outer tang edge laterally opposite the inner tang edge; (c) the shank-retaining slot is bifurcated by a wedged bulkhead that increases in width toward the rearward slot-opening such that, when the tangs are forcibly inserted into the shank-retaining slot during fabrication of the bladed tool, the wedged bulkhead is driven into the tang gap between the first and second tangs in a manner tending to laterally separate the tangs; and (d) a protruding tang portion of at least one of the tangs extends to the rear of the forward channel wall and constitutes the protruding shank portion.