Tang tapering, wedges, etc.
In looking at pictures of razors, i have noticed that on some the tang is tapered from the plunge cut on back with chamfering on the bottom side of the tang where it meets up with the plunge, which means that the spacing at the pivot is narrower than the widest point of the blade. Obviously, wedges cause the gap between the scales to narrow even more at the butt end. Are these both done primarily in order to provide a "stop" so that that razor will only close so far? That seems to be the obvious purpose of using a wedge, but I am not sure about the tang and why it would be narrowed between the lunge and pivot than of that reason. I have also seem razors where there appear to be little taper to the tang in that regard and some that do not have a tapered wedge spacer. How do they work? Is that only done with really thin full hollow or frameback razors where the spine is the stop? I guess the underlying question is what are the construction techniques that have been developed over the years that that essentially allow the scales to perform the function of a stop pin for lack of a better way of putting it? I appreciate your comments.