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Karl Knisley
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 Posted: Fri 27 Jul, 2012 9:42 am Post subject: I did something stupid |
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Hello
I was out cutting with my Odin Blades,swiss saber/messer. And I absentmindedly stuck it in the ground to open a gate.
Apparently NEVER do this. I hit a rock or something and broke off the tip. I was sick :-( I reshaped the tip,but its not needle sharp anymore. How pointed does a saber need to be?Anybody else have an accident like this?
 Attachment: 44.94 KB
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Josh Wilson
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| Posted: Fri 27 Jul, 2012 11:32 am Post subject: |
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It looks like you did a good job re-shaping it. I'm not sure what it looked like before, but that's not bad.
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Lancelot Chan
Industry Professional
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Nicholas A. Gaese
Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada Joined: 06 Aug 2007
Posts: 100
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| Posted: Fri 27 Jul, 2012 12:01 pm Post subject: |
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sorry to hear about the damage, but to me personaly, the moment you decide to use a sword for sparring/cutting one must expect their weapon to go through wear and tear. Its just like accidentaly hitting a nail on a cutting stand and nicking an otherwise perfect edge, which might happen at some point too in its working life.
From my own experiance, the point doesn't need to be needle sharp to be thrust capable, you just need to keep the surface area of the point small. As it is now, I dont really see a problem with it so long as its ground back to edge and point, and not left as it was when it broke. lots of old and worn thrusting swords have rounded points from use, and sure it wont be as efficient as new against soft targets, but it still works well enough to do the job.
You might encounter problems in thrusting ability, if say a much larger area of the tip broke off, then you'd need to re-profile the edge approaching the tip to make up for lost material.
It sucks when a new blade looses that perfect look, but many like to think it instead gains character from use. I only have old worn blades at home: three antiques, a machete, WWII era knife and dagger, and a iaito with its edge warped and nicked near the kassaki, from drilling through kata's. So i guess im used to it  .
Regards.
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Jean Thibodeau
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| Posted: Fri 27 Jul, 2012 5:18 pm Post subject: |
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| Nicholas A. Gaese wrote: | sorry to hear about the damage, but to me personaly, the moment you decide to use a sword for sparring/cutting one must expect their weapon to go through wear and tear. Its just like accidentaly hitting a nail on a cutting stand and nicking an otherwise perfect edge, which might happen at some point too in its working life.
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Yup, actually did this twice the same day, hitting a nail on a cutting stand: The two nicks looked terrible when fresh before I resharpened, but what looked like they where very deep gashes in the blade must have been actually fairly shallow since a simple sharpening with a diamond hone made the " BoBo " disappear !
As to the rounded tip, it should be perfectly fine functionally and actually more robust and less likely to be damaged in it's slightly rounded condition.
In fact a rounded point in profile make for very effective tip cuts as long as the sharpening of the rounded point follows from edge to point and is equally sharp as the main edge.
In theory you could reprofile the point to a needle sharp one and then resharpen it to make it look more like what is was originally, but then you would have a more fragile needle point again !
Oh, and don't plant a sword in the ground again ! You might not break of the point but you will surely at the very least dull the cutting edge and scratch the finish unnecessarily. ( There is a difference between normal wear marks if you use a sword, or any tool, and easily avoided negligent damage due to " accidental "  misuse .  ).
You can easily give up your freedom. You have to fight hard to get it back!
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Lin Robinson
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| Posted: Fri 27 Jul, 2012 5:28 pm Post subject: |
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Welcome to the club. I think we have all done stupid things from time to time and that is what makes us human. The stupidest think I have done lately - as far as cutlery is concerned - is to loan a backsword to a friend of mine who was participating in an outdoor wedding. As I watched, he took it out of the sheath and stuck it into a piece of damp ground. I had to watch it sit there for about 30 minutes before the wedding was over. Fortunately it cleaned up OK so all I got out of it was a 30 minute anxiety attack and a new policy of not loaning swords to non-knowledgeable folks! You did a very nice job of fixing your mistake.
Lin Robinson
"The best thing in life is to crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentation of their women." Conan the Barbarian, 1982
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Jean Thibodeau
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| Posted: Fri 27 Jul, 2012 5:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Lin Robinson wrote: | | As I watched, he took it out of the sheath and stuck it into a piece of damp ground. I had to watch it sit there for about 30 minutes before the wedding was over. |
Why why why did it have to be damp, and probably abrasive, ground.   
Where did this idea of sticking good swords in the ground come from anyway ........ Movies I think: They even did it in " The Seven Samurai " to have a bunch of fresh swords ready during the final assault by the bandits !
Then there is the plant the sabre or the bayoneted rifle of a dead soldier on his makeshift grave with his helmet on it for a sad scene in a war movie. ( Maybe this was done at times in real life as a grave marker and out of respect for a slain comrade ? ).
There is also the abuse of cooking a rabbit or fish at the end of a sword or knife, ruining the temper, at a camp fire cliché.  
More things to worry about when lending cutlery to the clueless !
You can easily give up your freedom. You have to fight hard to get it back!
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Matthew G.M. Korenkiewicz
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| Posted: Sat 28 Jul, 2012 7:05 am Post subject: |
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... well, what I've always wonder is just how much generic abuse should a sword be
able to withstand. Shoving it into the ground seems like a harmless enough act, as
would accidentally dropping it, or bumping the blade against something ...
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William Swiger
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| Posted: Sat 28 Jul, 2012 7:59 am Post subject: |
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Yeah - had just received a higher end Hanwei katana a few years ago. Was looking at it in my sword room and gave a couple swings and hit the ceiling. Broke the tip off. I fixed it and you cannot tell but man was I upset. 
My other incident was the first Albion I had bought from Brian at DBK. I unpacked the box on top of my hard bed cover on my truck. the Duke was sitting on top the cover and I slightly opened the cover to put the box in the truck. The sword started to slide and I had to let it go instead of grabbing at it. It fell and landed on the concrete peen block first and flopped a couple times. Dented the peen block and got some dings on the flats of the blade and pommel. 
Stuff happens. Both times were all my fault.
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Phil D.
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| Posted: Sat 28 Jul, 2012 8:56 am Post subject: |
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Hey Karl,
I feel that an exceedingly pointed needle tip will eventually break or "curl" (unless very thick) with use.Unlike a slightly rounded point.I have had it happen to a few knives,including a large, thick bowie on which the tip was very pointy and thin to accommodate a sharp front and back edge.I like what you did better and find it more practical.
"A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world." -- Louis Pasteur
"A gentleman should never leave the house without a sharp knife, a good watch, and great hat."
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Matthew P. Adams
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| Posted: Sat 28 Jul, 2012 9:42 am Post subject: |
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Matthew,
While planting a sword in the ground might seem harmless, if there's a rock under the tip then it's the same as stabbing a chunk of concrete with the same amount of force. And dropping or bumping, it all depends on how hard the thing you bump is.
And Karl, I did the same thing, but I was younger. I had bought a Navy SEAL diving knife, and was throwing it into the ground. I was in Jr. High, and a 60.00 dollar knife was a big investment for me then! Hit a rock, and snapped the tip. Heartbroken! But, then I too reground a new tip, and while it was a little stubby it never broke again. It's a good lesson in both treatment and blade repair, I'm just sorry it was learned with an Oden Blade. I feel your pain.
But, it's certainly an historical problem, and an easy fix to boot. And like Jean said, you now have a stronger blade and it could improve the tip cutting ability. In the end, it's a tool, and it's possible you have improved its functionality.
"We do not rise to the level of our expectations. We fall to the level of our training" Archilochus, Greek Soldier, Poet, c. 650 BC
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Patrick Kelly
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| Posted: Sat 28 Jul, 2012 9:53 am Post subject: |
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Yep, that was stupid. It's not very high on the scale and won't exactly buy you a ride on the short school bus, so don't fret.
I can't tell you how many times I've set something somewhere and told myself, "That's not very stable". Only to turn around and be shortly rewarded with a crashing sound. We all have our moments.
"In valor there is hope.".................. Tacitus
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Joel Chesser
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| Posted: Sat 28 Jul, 2012 10:22 am Post subject: |
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Ugh! I know your pain. I did this with my favorite sword a couple of years back. I accidentally nicked some concrete on the ground that was muuuch closer than I realized. I also felt sick. Looks like you did a great job reshaping.
..." The person who dosen't have a sword should sell his coat and buy one."
- Luke 22:36
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Daniel Wallace
Location: Pennsylvania USA Joined: 07 Aug 2011
Posts: 580
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| Posted: Sat 28 Jul, 2012 12:31 pm Post subject: |
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if i could only recount all the dumb things i've done over the years . . . o crap.
i'm guilty of having a problem of stabbing a ceiling in my house . . . i got my A&A german bastard sword, wanted to take a close look at the hilt and smash instane stab wound into the house. nothing big but still enough that make you wanna say "some *&*^%" a little joint compound and paint later and the house is all good again.
o but i've have some many more close calls in the shop i can laugh at them now but yeah, felt pretty dumb when some of them happened. everything from my work table saying "I"VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU POUND ON ME!' and falling apart on my foot  (good thing for steel toe boots). grinding wheel gripping small slivers of metal and spitting them back into my arm (always have sleeves or long welders gloves on these days). always clamp knife in the vise with point down other wise you have an instant impalement device. you also get an instant ticket to the short bus and accused of being a window licker if you don't follow that one.
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This is a standard topic