Re: Needed: Advice on best material for special application

Sorry, I must be missing the "point" here.  The original set of rules was:

1) heavy as steel

2) non-splintering

3) non-conducting of vibrations

4) can be molded to approximate the length shape of a traditional
bokken

5) won't break if violently struck with another bokken of any type.

Unless I am very much mistaken, steel is as heavy as steel, and seems to fit
4 out of 5 rules above (provided the second bokken is also made of steel).
Obviously, in a real fight with real steel swords there would be vibrations
transmitted, so using blunt steel swords would also transmit vibrations.
Make the things round to take the "edge" off it.

No matter what you make the training sticks from, some idiot will still hurt
themselves.  You may as well make it as realistic an injury as possible :)




"Andy Dingley" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> On Wed, 15 Oct 2003 09:29:07 +1000, "Simon Kay" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> wrote:
>
> >Why not use steel?  It has all the characteristics you are looking for,
and
> >will behave like a real sword.
>
> I wouldn't use steel.  It's too sharp, and it doesn't behave like a
> real sword.
>
> Steel is dense, so a "sword weight" of steel is going to be narrow.
> Too narrow for an impact to be safe, even if not sharpened (and this
> does happen from time to time).
>
> Secondly, steel doesn't have the balance of a real sword, unless you
> go to a lot of trouble in profiling it.  Handle a real sword sometime
> - you'll be amazed at how well balanced it is. OK, so this is
> different for a Japanese sword (relatively blade heavy, and useless
> for fencing) compared to a 19th century European sword, but it's still
> an issue.
>
> I'd favour wood - hickory or ash.  Both are strong enough to survive
> dojo use.  If they don't, then look at the quality of the timber
> you're using. Both these timbers are potentially strong, but highly
> variable. Look for _coarse_ growth rings, especially in ash, as
> fast-grown timber is stronger than slow grown (for a ring porous
> species like this)
>
> Being light, you can also make a wooden sword much fatter than a dense
> sword, improving the impact safety aspect.
>
>
> (I practice iaido, and I'm also a woodworker)
>
> --
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