Here is a sword.
Underneath the handle of that sword is an area of steel called "the tang".
Here is the important thing. And this is where the "full" comes in.
In order to be a full tang sword the sword has to be one complete piece of steel. This includes the blade and the tang going all the way through the handle and sticking out the pommel where it is secured in some way. The important thing is that it is one continuous piece of steel with no welding, no extra steel added in any way. The dashed line shows the complete single piece of steel.
This next picture shows a sword I made. You can see here that the blade and the tang are cut from the same piece of steel.
This next picture is not a full tang sword. This is something called a rat tail tang. A steel rod has been welded onto the partial tang of the sword.
Let's take a closer look.
What we have above is a very small tang with a steel rod welded to it. That steel rod is what runs through the handle and out the pommel. This is called a rat tail tang. And it is not safe for swinging a sword around. That weld can break. And if it breaks while you are swinging it the sword blade will go flying. That can be very dangerous.
It is ok to buy a rat tail tang sword. As long as you understand that it is just for display and for hanging on the wall. You can take it down and show it to friends. But you really should not swing it.
If you want a sword you can swing. One of the important factors is that you get a sword that is clearly marked and sold as a "full tang" sword.
How to Make a Real Sword -
The sword in the first four pictures in this tutorial is an actual sword that I made. Want to learn how to make a sword? Here is the tutorial with an included video: . How to Make a sword
 
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