Register    Login    Forum    Search    Chat [0]    FAQ

Board index » Emerald Hills General Forums » Arts & Sciences




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 1 post ] 
Author Message
 Post Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 1:34 am 
Offline

Joined: Wed Jun 30, 2010 6:54 pm
Posts: 234
I have about enough blue foam for a new sword. I had a few ideas for what I could do, although I was thinking about doing a golf-club sword with a triangle-shaped blade (instead of the normal round) with one side of the triangle a bit longer than the others, sort of a bit of a wedge but with still a pretty wide angle. I would accomplish this and also keep the weight down probably by glueing strips of blue stansport camp pad foam (strips maybe 1" wide) and eyeballing it until it looks like a triangle approximately, then glue in any patch strips and cut/sand as necessary, either with a serrated knife or maybe even my woodsaw if it's a big cut, and also some sandpaper, I have a few grits but for foam it's necessary to use a pretty fine grit or the foam will tear. Once it's in a triangle shape, possibly with a golf club core, then a layer of duct tape, then the foam glued to the tape and to itself to form the wedge shape, then I could glue some cotton-poly fabric to the outside of the wedge, and then I could potentially carefully glue some thin aluminum leaf or foil to the outside. I just did a short in foil, although I skipped the cloth and the tip got folded over a few times and overlapped, since I didn't do a very good job on the cap area and fabric is a bit more forgiving than aluminum foil when you don't fold it exactly the way it and the piece want to fold, although I plan on sanding that part down so it's properly thin, then patching it. I haven't field tested it yet or shown it to anybody, however based on preliminary hitting myself hard testing the non-tip-ridge areas seem to feel normal for amtgard, although there is a hint of a different feeling, something like the feeling of running your hand over foil or touching metal, that I think could mean using thin foil as a cloth might be a neat way to enhance the "realism" of amtgard. I should note that the rough tip part also appears to be safe, although on the harder hits it definitely has more feel than the rest of the sword, so I plan on sanding that down and possibly using my thinner foil. I also noticed the foil bent/wrinkled a bunch from the foam stretching under it during impacts, so I was thinking using a rigid cotton-poly (or some other rigid fabric) as a backing for the metal, along with using thinner metal and layering it more carefully to ensure no thick or folded spots, I think a wedge-shaped 3'8" sword with about 2" of strike depth, a slightly rounded "strike blade" area, and maybe 2.5" of width and a thinner side and back, could potentially make a beautiful and amazing single-edge shaped metal-looking and slightly metal feeling sword like foam device, while still maintaining similar safety to any other foam sword, possibly a bit more due to foam depth, and reflecting the sun properly and appearing metal and shaped. I could even potentially put a softer foam in the blade area, and make the rounding more subtle, and I think a pure foam/fabric/foil "sharp" wedge shape blade with an actual corner would probably be perfectly safe and flex normally since the metal is weaker than most fabrics which should make it pretty safe, although I should note the folding phenomenom with metal vs. fabric is noteworthy, and apparently introduces additional complecations and exactions within the manufacturing process. I'll photograph the sword I've made already, it's a short 2.5 foot sword, round construction, with foil covering all of the strike surface and most of the handle and pommel. (Not done yet). I should note that where I glued the foil to the handle the golf club handle design is clearly visible, although it looks like it's done in metal, and in a lot of ways it looks a bit like a solid metal bat until you hit someone and the metal outside collapses like foam and then springs back. Option B is a 4 foot long, .5 inch diameter fiberglass rod covered with blue foam to the required depth, probably around 1.5 inches foam depth, maybe as little as 1 or 1.2, gotta hit it a bunch against my leg to test depth and observe redness or the lack thereof. Then cover it with either pure fabric or whatever, glueing it on. I should note when gluing foil or fabric, 100% glue coverage with a gapless glue (not gorilla, which creates a solid object after mixing it with water and allowing it to try, even if spread thin will create a thin layer, while DAP Contact Cement or any other gapless glue that bonds to the materials (and has a rated strength and instructions) should work much better for most amtgard construction, unless you need a solid fill.


Top 
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
 
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 1 post ] 

Board index » Emerald Hills General Forums » Arts & Sciences


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 17 guests

 
 

 
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
cron