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Post by lt666 on Dec 14, 2016 3:24:33 GMT
I've been trying to self-learn some sword arts at my martial arts school. Currently I'm learning Gumdo (Korean Swordsmanship), and so I'm using the bokkens my school has had for a while, as well as using other black-belts as "guinea pigs" or "helper monkeys" as we put it, as well as the resources found and provided.
While I enjoy this art, I'd really would like to practice European-longsword fencing since the longsword is my favorite type. Of course, bokkens are not really good substitutes for a European longsword. I could buy some online, but I'd like to try my hand at making a couple of wasters, provided this material would work.
So the aluminum flat bars you can find at any Home Depot or Menard's, would those make satisfactory waster blades if I cut them properly? I'd be using these more for working on forms and techniques, never for sparring.
I have some ideas to add to them that would improve safety measures, I welcome other ideas that would benefit performance and safety. If not I can always craft my own wooden wasters.
Thanks for any advice.
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Mikeeman
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Post by Mikeeman on Dec 14, 2016 4:18:27 GMT
You'd be better off making the wooden ones, I think. Aluminum is very soft and likes to bend easily.
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stormmaster
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I like viking/migration era swords
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Post by stormmaster on Dec 14, 2016 6:22:28 GMT
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Post by Lukas MG (chenessfan) on Dec 14, 2016 9:22:51 GMT
Aluminum in general is better than wood (though maybe not the aluminum you get at Home Depot!) because at least you have a somewhat similar blade geometry with aluminum as opposed to wood. You'll still have to go thicker in the edges and the overall blade with aluminum but it won't be as club-like as a wooden waster or the horror they call the CS training swords.
Both wood and aluminum have the issue of not flexing, meaning they cannot be used for sparring.
I would actually recommend you get the Rawlings Nylon wasters. Yes, they are quite flexible in the upper half and suck for winding but they give you the option of safe sparring and that is worth a lot.
Obviously, the Blackfencers and Pentii are better but also more expensive and at that point you may as well save a bit longer and get steel.
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Post by bloodwraith on Dec 15, 2016 0:23:49 GMT
Cold steel trainers are trash and not worth the money. Also it depends on the grade of aluminium whether it would be effective. However if you want a good waster get a wooden one. If it was good enough for the ancient masters it is good enough for me.
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Post by themagicalmark on Dec 15, 2016 15:30:25 GMT
I'd also advise against Cold Steel trainers, they aren't balanced properly. I agree that wood will probably be your best bet. If you want to buy a wooden or synthetic waster i'd recommend checking out Purpleheart Armory's offerings. (Just be warned their wood offerings are in the $70 range)
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stormmaster
Member
I like viking/migration era swords
Posts: 7,647
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Post by stormmaster on Dec 15, 2016 16:09:39 GMT
Windlass also seems to have a new line of polypropylene training swords, personally they look almost like toys to me but you could check them out
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Post by tdiamante on Dec 15, 2016 16:31:34 GMT
Aluminum has several advantages over wood. It is light enough that the edges can be thick and safe, it can be balanced like a proper sword, and the soft edges provide great feedback in the bind/winding. However, as Lukas pointed out, they do not flex and so cannot be used for safe sparring. Aluminum swords are certainly a tool that can be helpful in training, however they are not as cheap to buy or make as you might think. The only grade of aluminum suitable to your purpose is 7075 with a T6 temper. This also happens to be the most expensive grade. You can certainly try aluminum and see if you like it, but I personally think that aluminum swords provide much more value for cost for stage combat than HEMA.
But back to the OP, if you only plan to practice form and technique, aluminum would be fine. Just consider your options and weigh the costs.
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Dec 15, 2016 19:33:09 GMT
I have a CS trainer and recommend that you consider another option. I also have a wooden dao and metal butterfly sword trainers and while neither replicates their counterpart exactly both are well above the CS trainer.
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Post by Lukas MG (chenessfan) on Dec 15, 2016 22:00:15 GMT
However if you want a good waster get a wooden one. If it was good enough for the ancient masters it is good enough for me. There is no real evidence that wooden wasters were used for fencing practice in the middle ages as far as I'm aware. It was either feders or sharps. Or possibly blunts but that's very unsure. You are right for other weapon systems though. In other words, it depends on what you want to do whether wood is a good idea or not. For HEMA you can do loads better.
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Post by Cosmoline on Dec 16, 2016 0:23:52 GMT
Years back there was interest in aluminum alloy trainers as an alternative to wood, but they seem to have been replaced by the increasingly available steel simulators and feders. They always seem too light in the hand.
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Post by shaytorn on Jun 19, 2019 14:19:50 GMT
I've been trying to self-learn some sword arts at my martial arts school. Currently I'm learning Gumdo (Korean Swordsmanship), and so I'm using the bokkens my school has had for a while, as well as using other black-belts as "guinea pigs" or "helper monkeys" as we put it, as well as the resources found and provided. While I enjoy this art, I'd really would like to practice European-longsword fencing since the longsword is my favorite type. Of course, bokkens are not really good substitutes for a European longsword. I could buy some online, but I'd like to try my hand at making a couple of wasters, provided this material would work. So the aluminum flat bars you can find at any Home Depot or Menard's, would those make satisfactory waster blades if I cut them properly? I'd be using these more for working on forms and techniques, never for sparring.
I have some ideas to add to them that would improve safety measures, I welcome other ideas that would benefit performance and safety. If not I can always craft my own wooden wasters. Thanks for any advice. If you aren't planning on sparring then you could definitely make them from Aluminium. They would be rather light weight compared to an authentic long sword but I'm assuming that's what you are looking for. Just make sure you don't buy the aluminium flat bar from Home Depot, the alloy used there is not going to be friendly to work them the way you are planning to. Rather buy a good machinability grade such as the 6xxx series. Look for a aluminium specialist, where I stay there is a store called Aluminium Trading that specialize in all aluminium and stock the 6xxx series flat bars. Find a similar store near you.
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Jun 19, 2019 23:51:01 GMT
Welcome to the forum Shaytorn. It’s always good to have new members. I should point out that question was asked nearly 3 years ago. FWIW
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