Surprising that the spine impacts with the mallet resulted in so little damage to edge or spine on the concrete, considering how brittle and weak the blade seemed under any lateral stress. I don't think I've seen that combination of characteristics before--almost as if the internal structure of the blade was somehow oriented to be strongest in cross section across the blade's width at the expense of lateral strength. What the heck did I just say?
Bottom line, it seems strange that impact is resisted well, but not lateral stress loading. Makes me wonder why that would happen.
Thanks Noss!