Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2008 15:41:57 GMT
Brotherbanzai: I found a producer for even stronger stuff then you are working with which is said to be virtually unbreakable, do you think that a thick enough piece of this stuff could be used as a staff or as an impact grade weapon? What thickness are the sheets you are working with? I might have to go and have a look at the place that sells this stuff as I would love to find a way to make myself a pair of tonfa and a few other things if this stuff is as good as they make it out to be. Heck I could probably turn it on a lathe and make myself a kubotan out of it, or training knives, if this stuff is this good then the sky is the limit. Have you done any heavy impact tests with your wasters yet?
|
|
|
Post by brotherbanzai on Mar 19, 2008 20:44:32 GMT
Hey Bloodwraith, They had a rod made out of what looked like nylon where I got my stuff and I recall thinking that if I was into any short staff or stick fighting it would have been awesome. The HDPE I'm using is 3/4 inch thick but I believe it's available in a number of different thicknesses and colors. I put a 3/4"x 1/2"x 6" piece in the vise and hit it a few times with my small sledge hammer. I did manage to bend it along the 1/2" axis. Can I post a vid from photobucket or only from youtube? I'll try to post a quick impact test vid. Now my wrist is sore.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2008 1:45:37 GMT
There are some amazing plastics out there, I found a plastic that has a rockwell hardness of 84 which is pretty impressive and one that is resistant to breaking even if hit with a sledgehammer, how many steels can boast that?! So I might look into the economic viability of these sorts of things, I think something like 1 and 1/4 inch thick dowel or possibly 2 inches would make quite a brilliant sparring weapon, especially if a sledgehammer can't break it. They have been making police night sticks out of plastics for years and look at how effective those things are. I will keep you all updated, best thing about plastics is you can work them with wood working tools.
Bro B: nice impact test, looks very good and even looks good for some heavier sparring sessions or for making weapons that are not readily available in steel, time to make a bat'leth!
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2008 9:52:03 GMT
Bloodwraith, if you decide to make some wasters out of plastic please keep us posted, I would be very interested to hear about the materials, their sources, the methods and tools you use.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2008 18:47:35 GMT
Just an FYI, I'm having our esteemed "Brotherbanzai" send me one of these modified to my asking specs - you can't argue with that! Mine will have a slightly larger slug in the pommel, an OAL of 47", a blade length of 35 3/4", a POB of just over 4" from cross, and an overall weight of just shy of 3 lbs.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2008 18:48:52 GMT
Pic of larger pommel:
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2008 2:21:45 GMT
I am still thinking polycarbonate is a better option due to the fact that it has a higher specific gravity to it, is 250 times stronger than glass, it is also quite literally sledgehammer proof and a few other really cool factors. Besides as I said police nightsticks have been made out of them for years, although I will have to look up and see if there are any health warnings with this stuff. My choices at the moment are either polycarbonate or ultra high density premium grade polyethylene, decisions decisions.
|
|
|
Post by brotherbanzai on Mar 22, 2008 3:21:02 GMT
Hey Bloodwraith, does the polycarbonate have any flex to it? How about machinability compared to the hdpe?
Thanks for the plug rigomootis!
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2008 4:23:41 GMT
Bro B: I am pretty sure polycarbonate has flex in it and its machinability is just as good as hdpe, they make many things out of everything from water tanks through to safety glass. I'm going to see if I can get some of both and see which one is better. The other thing about polycarbonate and UHDPGPE is that I can use it for the shaft of fire twirling staves because their melting point is ridiculously high.
|
|
|
Post by brotherbanzai on Mar 22, 2008 14:12:12 GMT
Fire twirling staves ay? And I thought I had some unusual hobbies. They have lots of different colors available too. I think that there are probably a number of different polywhatchamcallits available that would work very well. There are probably even some that are hard enough that you could put an edge on them and cut with them if that happened to be what you were after.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2008 14:16:17 GMT
I found a plastic with a rockwell hardness of 118! That is pretty impressive, I think our plastics are getting advanced enough to do just that brother banzai. Also yes, my favourite past time is fire twirling, it kind of goes along with one of my favourite weapons being the staff. That isn't my most unusual hobby I am still looking into what would be best but polycarbonate is basically glass but 250 times stronger, I have always wondered if you could put an edge on polycarbonate, after all glass would be great for cutting with if it wasn't so fragile and didn't splinter into slivers when you hit something.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2008 4:17:08 GMT
Hey, Darnit, quit making me wish the waster I just ordered was made from polycarbonate!!! . . . . . . LOL J/K.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2008 4:29:10 GMT
Rigor: Well polycarbonate or HDPE you still got a damn good product, personally though if I am buying stuff to put myself into I would rather use the highest quality product in my own opinion. Having said that there is a group on the internet called with intent wasters which are also made out of what I believe is HDPE.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2008 18:48:12 GMT
Yep, WI is only an hour from me. I agree - though, I'm very curious to see what you'll come up with. You know you're committed to the search for the ultimate material now - don't you?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2008 6:54:12 GMT
Rigor: Yep I am committed to building a bigger better waster at this point in time I am short of the cash to do it which really sucks but oh well. I will keep you all informed, I wonder what a buster sword made of polycarb would be like?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2008 15:34:07 GMT
Well, perhaps you'll be the one to make my arming sword waster in the not-too-distant future! Time & $$$ will tell...
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2008 15:50:11 GMT
Possibly mate, the reason I want to find a material to make my own is because I think there is a niche for these kind of wasters but in all sorts of different shapes and even some fantasy stuff. One of my house mates told me he would pay money for a good bat'leth so I might have to see what I can do with that as well.
|
|
|
Post by brotherbanzai on Mar 25, 2008 21:43:30 GMT
Have no fear rigormootis, I suspect these different plastics will end up being similar to the debates which sometimes occur over the different types of steel for making a sword. There may be personal favorites but as far as a functioning sword goes there is no real difference to the sword user if his blade is 1060, 1075, 5160 or what have you.
For what we're using these plastics for (wasters) we aren't even scratching the surface of the conditions for which they were designed. In other words, it might make a big difference if you're designing a long wearing high stress bushing, but no so much for a waster. Though there is a very noticeable difference moving from wood to plastic, I think moving from one plastic to another will be negligible. The goal (in my mind) is to find the plastic with the best balance of cost, weight, flexibility, and toughness. All the plastics in the running are likely going to exceed our toughness needs. Similarly, if you want a wooden waster you need to be sure it's hardwood but whether that hardwood is hickory or one of the other good hardwoods doesn't really make a discernible difference.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2008 3:25:08 GMT
Agreed with brotherbanzai, well said mate. In my case though I don't know much about plastics so trying out different ones is a good idea. Also I am not sure hardness and things will come into the equation but what might is the specific gravity. The better the density of the plastic the easier to balance it accordingly.
|
|
|
Post by brotherbanzai on Mar 29, 2008 18:13:22 GMT
Here are a couple pics of a pair of arming sword wasters I just finished for another forumite . (longsword waster in there for size comparison) Arming sword: blade length 31" grip length 4.5" guard width 9" overall length 38 1/4" POB 4 1/4 - 4 1/2"
|
|