Blue Sword

[Tisco]

You guys (bard,olos) told me at practice about the doggy ears on the cloth of the sword as well as a few other things, What else should I do to the sword to balance it, and the length of the hilt and the length of the blade to cut off. thanks, and I am realizing my "name" is a mouthful probably will be changing that for the safety of the general public

Blade: 30 1/2 inches Width: 1/2inch Width Across: 1/2 inch Hilt: 10 1/2 inches Pomell:3inches across, 2 inches high

[Xavier]

Is your core hollow? I use a steel bolt in the handle of mine to balance it. Really though when you are dealing with something that weighs around a pound anyway balancing isnt so much an issue I think.

[Tisco]

Odd, it is only 1pd, Its just the time to bring it back as opposed to the shorter swords you guys have that doesnt feel like anything, If I were to just add a stabby point on it and a bit more weight itd be a 2hander, yeah hollow pvc pipe 3/4's

[Xavier]

Get a 1/2" dia bolt about 4 inches long and glue it into the pommel. That will pull a lot of the weight back to the handle. COG cant be below the crossguard anyway.

[debuenzo]

a 40" sword is pretty unwieldy. I'd make a 30" overall sword. 22 inches blade+6 inches handle+2 inches pommel. Use 1/2 inch pvc pipe or 3/8ths inch fiberglass.

[Tisco]

I was hoping to salvage this sword and make it shorter and usable after counterbalancing it with a weight, I think someone mentioned a carriage bolt as well and thanks for the exact info. and what does

*edit*: COG (im guessing center of gravity) mean?

Next time I make a weapon I'll prolly make it under the supervision of someone in black company and It wont be for a while, I kinda want to try all the weapons out first and see which I'm best/most comfortable with.

[Demox]

Idk about unwieldly debuenzo. I use a 40 incher. However it requires a specific skill set so for new fighters I wouldn't recommend anything lOnger than 34

[Olos]

Yea I like the shorter swords personally, especailly for a smaller guy like you However, cutting off some of this sword and counterweighting it would make it pretty usable.

Either of the following links have numerous tutorials that make very good swords: www.geddon.org/index.php/Category:How_to_build
www.dagorhir.com/gear/weapon_tutorials.php

[debuenzo]

Demox, if you want to run down to STL and train this guy, be my guest, but as of now, it's def. unwieldy. I think a 30" overall is right up this guy's alley.

[Tisco]

Its just about 45 inches total

[debuenzo]

Well, put a stab tip on it w/ marine foam, add another few pommel layers, and you might get it to 48" where it will be a red sword.

[fyr]

Yes, as a veteran of long swords, 30" is the absolute limit for blade length for a blue. It's hard to balance, heavy, and hard to use. If you want a long sword, build a 48" red, otherwise keep it under 30".

The lone exception to this is a 32" blade Kalador made Winblades in 2003 or so. It was a shaved fiberglass core and had a leather grip. It felt light and swung nicely, though control was still an issue. I have never been able to duplicate this feat, though, and I've tried.

[Xavier]

My carbon fiber cored sword was max length in a blue and minimum weight. It had really great feel for a really long one handed sword. Although it failed catastrophically. Narsil is now reforged though but a tad bit heavier but still nice. I agree though 30" is a nice workable length. hell look at romans in real life their gladius was maybe 20" long.

[Tisco]

I went with demox's recommended dimensions, prolly will put pantyhose over it to make it tighter and possibly a stabby tip still, we bought a lot of spongy type foam cause my dad didnt understand what type of foam we needed so, anyways here is the final result of that (minus the stabby)

[fyr]

It ain't pretty, but it looks like it will do. Next time you have to rebuild it, definitely try the marine foam, I think it's $5 or so for three swords worth.