Howdy. I am an ex-amtgarder (played about 5 years, quit in 2008) and I have the urge to swing foam again - but not in amtgard. Long story short, I found my local group (Boise) and will be trying to get my work schedule arranged so I can attend.
I have done quite a bit of research/lurking, and realized I need to make some new swords (plus the loaners they have are beastly heavy and my girly man arms can't handle it). I ripped off my old noodle (those things lasted 2 years when they were in service and have been sitting in my shed ever since I quit... goodbye memories /sniffles) and inspected my core. They are pretty thick golf shaft cores 30" in length. Ok, so I need 12 ounces of weight, fine.
Here's what I did - and I am sure some of you are going to tell me how terrible of a job I did - and that's fine. That's why I am here:
I sanded the cores to rough them up and remove the glossy finish.
Cut out 2 pieces of blue camp foam (standard stuff from what I've gathered) into the shape of my blade (2.75 inches across so the tip is >2.5") and cut a slightly undersized channel into them that matches the taper of the shaft (dremel for the win).
I dapped the shaft/foam and applied it per instructions, laying the shaft in the channels and snadwhiching it between the two pieces. I then cut out two more "blades" and dapped them on so I am now 4 layers of blue foam thick. The face of my stricking edge is about 1.75". I then cut out 2 more pieces of foam and dapped them to both striking edges so it hit a little softer and covered up the "sandwhich" look of my stricking edge. I then tapered the bottom the the blade and spiral wrapped it in strapping tape onto the shaft for added security (not sure if this was necessary as I couldn't even force the blade to twist around the shaft).
I will weight the handle/pommel accordingly (need 4 oz's and I have some buffer tube weights laying around). I had my wife beat on me with it and baseball swing me multiple times with no pain. I told her to go at it as hard as she can and try and break it - rather have it break on me than someone at the field and it held up fine and she swings hard (ex rock climber with some muscle). What I want to know I guess is how does this build sound the the experts here? I've read some folks swear by golf shaft, others say it snaps too easily - is there a definitive answer to this? Potential problems I see is the foam breaking down around the shaft maybe...? Snapping core...? Does Dap glue "break down" or come apart? Will my layers of foam ever separate?
Sorry for the long post but I just want to be prepared and not burden my local group with having to borrow gear. Thanks!