Last friday I went over to a friends house to do some cutting and generally kill time. This is the guy that was flabberghasted when I spent hundreds on a sword. Once I got him to try cutting with milk jugs, he did an about face on the topic of cutting, but still felt cheap swords were sufficient for this activity.

I brought my Albion Knight, he had some SLOs he wanted to try out. Among them was this flambard zweihander he bought on Ebay for fourty bucks.I warned him ahead of time that the sword probably had some structural deficiencies, and that he should expect a failure at some point. The the blade is sharp 440 stainless the blade is quasi hexagonal. It sailed through plastic milk jugs with no problem. Kind of awkward, but a cool sword and good looking for the mney.

The target was a one gallon plastic juice jug, a bit tougher than a plastic milk carton. I don't know what they are made from, but they tend to bounce out of the way rather than cut, so a good stout blow is required. I had already given the jug a shot with my Knight, but wasn't fully commited to the shot, so the jug bounced out of the way. Frustrated, I grabbed the bigger sword ( I know, thats the Kronk Smash! additude) and went for a coup-de-gras on the stubborn jug.

The sword did cut through the target, but I knew right away something was wrong - the handle was bent at a funny angle. My friend had a very good additude about the whole thing, he even let me take pictures with his camera. :D

We took the sword apart and lo and behold! a cheap welded tang, plastic grip wrapped in leather. The pommel actually sits over the nut that holds the grip in place, which is difficult to realign once it's off. We did get the tang sraightened out and it looks ok again, but now he understands a little better where the money goes in a good cutting sword.

I still like his sword, and might just pick one up, (can't beat fourty bucks!) but it if I do, it's staying where it belongs - on my wall ;)

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Here's the bent tang

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Here's a pic of the entire sword

Physics in action :D

Water weighing about a pound to the pint, a gallon jug can be much like an eight pound baseball. Even a wara mat and stand can become a fairly steadfast and destructive target.

I've baseballed my share of 2-litre jugs. I've seen pictures of longswords flexing wildly while doing this. I've even knocked over a stand or three when failing to make it through a wara target.

Anyway, a heavy target not cut turns into a shock load. Something to consider in the life of any sword. For a few years, I was cutting some really tough cardboard tubes but leaving them free to fly. I think if I had anchored them, it would have been akin to simply swinging against a six inch post.

During a cold weather cutting session, a friend and I started cutting empties. Suprisingly, an empty gallon jug will sail quite a distance :eek:

Water jugs do displace and absorb some energy, more so if you leave them uncapped. You can't compress liquids, so if you are hitting a lot of home runs, think about what loads you are giving your sword.

Leverage plays into it as well. I think it is a good thing that rod held but it does show typically poor consruction of what we all warn others about.

Cheers and happy, safe cutting

GC

Yeah thats why I had him standing well back, and why I always try to stand well back and behind available cover. Even if the sword was well nigh indestructable, people slip :eek: