Search found 153 matches
- Tue Jul 26, 2011 1:41 am
- Forum: Chinese Historical Arms
- Topic: Historical Geometries and Variations
- Replies: 8
- Views: 23876
secondary bevels vs lenticular x-sections
With steel-bladed swords, you see preferences for one or the other in different cultures and for different applications. It may be instructive to look at sword cultures outside of China for illustrative examples. Start with India. The classic style of blade on a typical talwar has a prominent second...
- Tue Jul 26, 2011 1:22 am
- Forum: Chinese Historical Arms
- Topic: Guan Dao project
- Replies: 14
- Views: 37367
choice of steel
I recently talked to a knifemaker buddy who's been making some almost indestructible survival machetes and pig-killer knives out of the steel that those diamond-studded masonry disc saws are made of. The alloy is probably L6, it hardens by water quench (if you have no experience heat-treating, I sug...
- Mon Jul 18, 2011 12:09 am
- Forum: Chinese Historical Arms
- Topic: Guan Dao project
- Replies: 14
- Views: 37367
distal taper / butt spike
Distal taper needs to be part of the picture, otherwise you are likely to run into problems with weight and balance. There is a reason that just about every antique blade you see, whether it be a hilt weapon of any length or a pole arm, tapers in thickness from the forte to the tip. Impact to a blad...
- Wed Jul 13, 2011 11:51 pm
- Forum: Chinese Historical Arms
- Topic: Guan Dao project
- Replies: 14
- Views: 37367
suggestions for fabrication
You have a big job on your hands, good luck on this one and keep us posted. What kind of steel are you going to use? One of my old hunting buddies is an amateur knifemaker, he uses steel from discarded industrial circular saws, you might want to look into how big a blade you can get, in fact next ti...
- Tue Jul 12, 2011 11:58 am
- Forum: Chinese Historical Arms
- Topic: new forumite with question
- Replies: 11
- Views: 27554
fullers vs facets
If proper design and placement of fullers can affect the weight and balance of a blade, sword makers are going to take this into account when designing blades for specific purposes. A two handed weapon used for fighting on foot is going to require different handling characteristics from one wielded ...
- Tue Jul 12, 2011 1:07 am
- Forum: Chinese Historical Arms
- Topic: new forumite with question
- Replies: 11
- Views: 27554
how they play in the hand
Let me kick off the discussions by prevailing on Scott to share his experiences in test cutting with sabers of various designs from contemporary manufacturers in China and elsewhere... When you ask for comparisons between faceted (ridged) dao blades on the one hand, and fullered blades on the other,...
- Tue Jul 12, 2011 12:42 am
- Forum: Chinese Historical Arms
- Topic: Guan Dao project
- Replies: 14
- Views: 37367
Blade profile and balance
I'd say that if you are making this replica with the intention of it being usable for martial arts practice, then you need to pay careful attention to design and functional characteristics before you even lay out a template. Fighting technique that calls for thrusts demands less backward curve of th...
- Mon Jul 11, 2011 11:14 pm
- Forum: Chinese Historical Arms
- Topic: Qing Cannon
- Replies: 9
- Views: 25151
Qing iron cannon (3 examples)
The one in the period photo, ca. 1900, is of Western style, on a traversing carriage designed for use on fortification parapets. This gun would be at home on any Civil-War era fort with masonry gun emplacements in the US. Without looking at markings it would be hard to say if it were imported, or a ...
- Sun Jul 10, 2011 1:02 pm
- Forum: Chinese Historical Arms
- Topic: Opening for Dao Sword Guards
- Replies: 8
- Views: 22433
Jade saber guards
There are several examples of Korean sabers, byeolun geom , in museum collections in S. Korea, with jade disc guards of tsuba form. They do not appear appreciably thicker than their metal counterparts. A few have been published in the exhibition catalog The History of Steel in East Asia (Macau: Muse...
- Sun Jul 10, 2011 12:33 pm
- Forum: Chinese Historical Arms
- Topic: Qing Percussion Hunting Gun
- Replies: 1
- Views: 10917
Re: Qing Percussion Hunting Gun
Cat. no. PR.45, Pitt-Rivers Museum (Oxford) DESCRIPTION: Barrel length 47 1/2 in., caliber 0.45 in. (per Blackmore, Guns and Rifles of the World (1965). Smoothbore octagonal barrel, lavishly damascened in silver. Lack of a rear sight indicates use as a fowling piece, firing a load of lead shot rathe...
- Sun Jul 10, 2011 2:01 am
- Forum: Chinese Historical Arms
- Topic: Guan Dao project
- Replies: 14
- Views: 37367
variety is the spice of life
The group shot of several blades tells us something quite interesting -- the considerable variation in blade proportion, edge contour, and tip geometry show that over the centuries that this weapon has been in use (at least back to the 11th, AD up through the 19th), a variety of fighting systems had...
- Sun Jul 10, 2011 1:35 am
- Forum: Chinese Historical Arms
- Topic: Photo of Qing Taiqiang
- Replies: 3
- Views: 14835
Matchlock taiqiang in the West Point collection
This is a classic example of a Qing wall-gun of the type in use prior to the introduction of Western technology (percussion locks, metallic cartridges, etc) in the late 19th cent. BRIEF DESCRIPTION: Overall length approx 7 ft. 9 in. Barrel approx 5 ft. 10 in., caliber 0.96 in. Round smoothbore barre...
- Sat Jul 09, 2011 2:54 am
- Forum: Chinese Historical Arms
- Topic: Photo of Qing Taiqiang
- Replies: 3
- Views: 14835
Qing Mactchlock Taiqiang
An example from the West Point Academy museum.
- Sat Jul 09, 2011 2:34 am
- Forum: Chinese Historical Arms
- Topic: Guan Dao project
- Replies: 14
- Views: 37367
correct historical terminology
You chaps might wish to keep in mind that all the historical Chinese texts refer to this class of weapon as "yanyuedao" or reclining moon knife. It's been known by this name in military writings since the Song Dynasty (when the first recognizable examples appear), and the name also appears in the 18...
- Sat Jul 09, 2011 1:34 am
- Forum: Chinese Historical Arms
- Topic: Photo of Qing Taiqiang
- Replies: 3
- Views: 14835
Re: Photo of Qing Taiqiang
This late 19th cent. photo shows a rampart gun, known by the generic term taiqiang or "big musket". They were designed to be rested on the parapet of a city wall, or if deployed in the field, on a tripod or the shoulder of the shooter's assistant. Due to their size, they were served by a crew of at ...