mythbusters
 

anyone watching the episode thats on right now about "breaking a sword with a sword"?

lmfao. The real katana took out the wallhanger with ease.

I hope this episode serves as a good example of why you shouldn't play with wallhangers. Did you see how flexible the real sword was when sticken?

lmao @ the edge on edge test, though.

;-; I missed it. Maybe I'll find it on YouTube.

I would say some of there methods were less than perfect, but hey....

If you do, post the link please.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGVn4ArmUx4

^That's the first part of the ep. It's all I could find. It briefly gets to the part about breaking swords with swords, but doesn't finish. They've got some nice Tameshigiri footage.

Hey guys,
I watched that episode last night, and I've got a couple of comments on it ...
I hope this episode serves as a good example of why you shouldn't play with wallhangers. Did you see how flexible the real sword was when sticken? Their "real sword" was not made in a traditional fashion. Traditionally made swords are designed to bend, not flex. Flexing indicates that it is through-hardened to create a spring steel, meaning that the edge is softer than it should be, and the back is harder. A "real" sword would have bent in that instance as that is what they are designed to do.
They've got some nice Tameshigiri footage. Their tameshigiri fellow was really pretty bad. I'm not at all sure where they got him, but I wasn't impressed at all. I've seen mudansha that cut a lot better than that guy.

It made for interesting TV, but it really didn't have a whole lot to do with actual swordsmanship. Too bad really, but about what should be expected since real swordsmen tend to avoid things like TV shows. http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...lies/smile.gif

Bending, flexing -- aren't they the same thing? Didn't quite get your point. Mind elaborating?

I would say a "bend" is a deflection at a specific point, thus the reason for the swords snapping in both the better made katana and the rapier. a flex would imply a deflection along the length of the blade and preventing the snap.

BTW, those western swords they were using are horribly inacurate, badly made pieces. The idea that any are heavy enough she would have trouble with them is laughable.

I think he meant that bending doesn't imply reassuming the sword's previous shape, while flexing does. Is that wrong? By the way, anyone able to find the rest of the episode?

Bending, flexing -- aren't they the same thing? Didn't quite get your point. Mind elaborating? Neko Kenshi is correct. Japanese swords are traditionally made to bend, and not return to their original alignment, on side impact. They are made with a very hard edge, which allows them to stay very sharp. However, the harder steel is, the easier it is to fracture. The Japanese overcame this by differentially hardening the katana. This gives the katana its characteristic curve, and also results in a hamon along the harder edge when it's properly polished. It allows for a very sharp edge at a typical Rockwell hardness in the 60s, but the much softer back, at a typical Rockwell hardness in the 40s, keeps it from breaking.

European swords are usually hardened at the spring steel level, with a ROckwell hardness in the mid to low 50s. This allows them to flex quite a bit, but still return to their original alignment without bending permanently. It also means that they cannot hold as sharp of an edge as Japanese swords.

Usually we say "take a set" rather than "bend". The tendency to do that is an undesirable side-effect of the design, not a design target so I wouldn't say that traditional nihonto are designed to take a set.

do u study materials? cuz this is making me remember all the material classes i sat through at college.

i guess good swords should be hard and bendable. Flexible means it can't be as hard, and if it's not bendable, it would be brittle and break...

It depends on the type of sword. Thrusting type swords require much les flex in the blade as opposed to say a cavlry mans sabre, wich looks like rubber when it impacts a target.


Therre is no one "ideal sword". Ther are general purpose weapons, the katana, the longsword, the sabre, but these do not work in every situation. Sos yes, sometimes, good swords should be hard with no flexibility, but at other times not.

Okay, sorry, but you do agree that a flexo-blade is a hell of a lot better/safer than a wallhanger.

a sword bein a wallhanger has nothing to do with the attribute we were talking about. The main things that make a wallhangerr are a lack of a tang at all, or a poorly welded rattail, and useless steel.

I was talking about actual swords not, what ive heard john clements say a few times, are "sword like objects"