Random Crafting Questions

[Dan of Nightfort]

Hey all. I'm new. I have been lurking here for a long time. I had another username at one point "drdan" but I am starting this one to keep my forum usernames the same. I have a few crafting questions that I am having a hard time finding answers for. I would appreciate the help!

I have been fighting since for a while now, on and off. I am hoping to start my own realm with people I fight with who are interested in fighting and have fought with me regularly. What I am hoping to accomplish is to bring a bunch of them together to make swords with them and integrate them into the crafting process, something that I know reasonably well and love it.

1. Are there any places you can get 2# EVA foam in some form without having to order it? I have picked up some 4# EVA in the form of the Gold Gym puzzle mat (information I have found through this forum).
2. Are there stores that sell kitespar that aren't online? I have a sizable hobby store around me that sells kite making supplies. I am thinking they may have what I need. I need about 1/2 diameter for basic blue weapons?
3. It there are no 2# foam options without ordering it, would blue sword with the Gold Gym 4# foam as the box and blue foam as the blades made in the traditional style be good swords? I have a whole bunch of all blue foam swords right now and they work pretty well but I am hoping to make them more durable.
4. I have heard a little bit from people on the forums about finding lighter board for making shields that aren't plywood. I have 8 shields built out of plywood at this point but I would like to make one or two from the lighter, higher tech stuff. Techply is what people have been talking about but people on the board have expressed that that may not be the name it goes under at say Home Depot. The forum member named "Poo," which I have learned a whole bunch from, said that Techply is "5 ply birch underlayment." Do you think that I could walk into Home Depot, ask someone for that, and would possibly be able to find it? Anyone know what it's called specifically at Home Depot?
5. Any good links to how to attach a strap to a shield for slinging over your shoulder?

Thanks! This forum rules.

[Kyrian]

1. Are there any places you can get 2# EVA foam in some form without having to order it? I have picked up some 4# EVA in the form of the Gold Gym puzzle mat (information I have found through this forum).

I would suggest checking if there are any local foam sellers in the area. Other than that, your best bet is most likely to go online or to seek out foam weapon retailers online such as Forged Foam or Warlord Sports. Also, keep in mind that while 2# EVA hits very nicely, it doesn't have good shear resistance. I've seen blades made with 2# EVA literally shear all the way through at the sweet spot within just a few hours of use. If you plan on using the 2# EVA, you need to skin it either with packing tape or with fabric to increase the foam's shear resistance.

2. Are there stores that sell kitespar that aren't online? I have a sizable hobby store around me that sells kite making supplies. I am thinking they may have what I need. I need about 1/2 diameter for basic blue weapons?

Ask them if they are willing to special order the kitespar for you. The current tech is either the .505 or .524 if you tend to break cores.

3. It there are no 2# foam options without ordering it, would blue sword with the Gold Gym 4# foam as the box and blue foam as the blades made in the traditional style be good swords? I have a whole bunch of all blue foam swords right now and they work pretty well but I am hoping to make them more durable.

This sounds like a viable technique. Just make sure that you biscuit the core, i.e., tape down a highly compressed disk of 4# foam over the tip of the core, prior to applying the box. This tutorial, http://www.dagorhir.com/forums/index.php?topic=26686.0, has some pretty good images on how a biscuit should look.

4. I have heard a little bit from people on the forums about finding lighter board for making shields that aren't plywood. I have 8 shields built out of plywood at this point but I would like to make one or two from the lighter, higher tech stuff. Techply is what people have been talking about but people on the board have expressed that that may not be the name it goes under at say Home Depot. The forum member named "Poo," which I have learned a whole bunch from, said that Techply is "5 ply birch underlayment." Do you think that I could walk into Home Depot, ask someone for that, and would possibly be able to find it? Anyone know what it's called specifically at Home Depot?

Poo is spot on. Here's a link to Menard's version of it: http://www.menards.com/main/building-materials/panel-products/underlayment-panels/plywood-underlayment/1-4-4-x-5-plyfloor/p-1479671-c-5711.htm. Most places sell it for around $20 or so per sheet. Keep in mind that the underlayment may not necessarily be the best shield core choice for taller shields. I've seen them snap after a solid kick or bash.

5. Any good links to how to attach a strap to a shield for slinging over your shoulder?

I just use a simple strap like this: . I would guess that a sufficiently long belt would also work.

and run it through my shield handles:



The shield strap is slung across my chest and holds the shield in place...mostly. It's not a perfect solution because the shield can shift around on my back depending on my movement. But I can also remove the strap or transfer it to another shield if I want to.

Hope this helps.

[Dan of Nightfort]

Thanks Kyrian. You're the man. That link to the techply is really helpful. I am hoping to make a round shield or two using it. That's my usual shield at them moment. I am going to try to pull the plywood core from my current primary shield and replace it with techply. Should I keep the plywood for larger shields?

Ok, so 2# foam may not hold up very well? Should I just stick to the 4# box and blue foam blade plan? I am mainly just trying to make durable swords, as more people want to. If the 2# upgrade isn't really an upgrade or is not an upgrade at all, it doesn't seem worth it. I was looking at this which some have said is good 2# foam:
http://www.foamforyou.com/volara_foam.htm

Also, is the upgrade from fiberglass to kitespar really worth it? At this point I have been going by a tutorial to make double cored blues out of 3/8 fiberglass. I am worried about making weapons with just 3/8 fiberglass. Would moving to .524 kitespar be an upgrade worth making and help with durability problems? I tend to like longer blue swords and double cored swords have been great but tend to break after a while, either the core (which I have been attaching wrong... I should be using liquid nails), and I get blowouts at the tip (probably due to the cores coming apart and not bisquiting well or sanding the duct tape at the end before DAPing).

Essentially, I am in an upgrade phase. I am hoping to move out of the basic blue foam and fiberglass stage into more high-tech weaponry and shields. I can submit pictures if that would be beneficial.

[Kyrian]

Thanks Kyrian. You're the man. That link to the techply is really helpful. I am hoping to make a round shield or two using it. That's my usual shield at them moment. I am going to try to pull the plywood core from my current primary shield and replace it with techply. Should I keep the plywood for larger shields?

The plywood would be more durable for taller shields. Instead of breaking down your old shield, you could also donate/give your shield to a deserving new fighter or as loaner gear for your realm.

Ok, so 2# foam may not hold up very well? Should I just stick to the 4# box and blue foam blade plan? I am mainly just trying to make durable swords, as more people want to. If the 2# upgrade isn't really an upgrade or is not an upgrade at all, it doesn't seem worth it. I was looking at this which some have said is good 2# foam:
http://www.foamforyou.com/volara_foam.htm

Specifically, 2# EVA doesn't have really good shear resistance. The 2# Polyethylene or Volara, similar to what Forged Foam uses on its sword fries, has much better shear resistance but initially it can often be a bit on the stiff side until you've had a chance to break it in.

Also, is the upgrade from fiberglass to kitespar really worth it? At this point I have been going by a tutorial to make double cored blues out of 3/8 fiberglass. I am worried about making weapons with just 3/8 fiberglass. Would moving to .524 kitespar be an upgrade worth making and help with durability problems? I tend to like longer blue swords and double cored swords have been great but tend to break after a while, either the core (which I have been attaching wrong... I should be using liquid nails), and I get blowouts at the tip (probably due to the cores coming apart and not bisquiting well or sanding the duct tape at the end before DAPing).

"Kitespar" is a generic term referring either to solid rods or tubes that are used for building kites. If you've ever seen a box kite, such as this:



kitespar is used to build the rigid structure for it. I have seen kitespar made of either carbon fiber/graphite or fiberglass.

The .524 kitespar tube is more durable than the .505 but might not be as durable [From what I've read as I haven't had a chance to build anything with it.] as the solid fiberglass rods. However, the .524 as a core will be a bit lighter and the .505 lighter still. But the .505 is not nearly as durable as the other two. Solid fiberglass is generally cheaper than kitespar and lasts longer but it is also a heavier core. So there are your tradeoffs: durability vs. lightness vs cost.

I would avoid using 3/8" fiberglass unless you intend on making short weapons, generally nothing over about a 24" blade. The 3/8" fiberglass single core tends to get excessively whippy past that unless you plan on double-coring them. If you have no other options besides double-coring the 3/8" then definitely use the Liquid Nails for gluing the the two cores together. It's been my experience that it's far better suited for this application than DAP. Also, make sure you give the Liquid Nails sufficient time to completely cure before building swords with it.

[Dan of Nightfort]

Ok, so I ended up looking at Lowe's and they had underlayment called SurePly but it was only 3 play yet half the price. I decided to pass on it, headed the extra ways to Menards and got the exact techply you linked. This stuff seems amazingly durable for the thickness. I started measuring out the new shield I am going to work on. Thanks for the help on this!

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1596994/Medieval/C360_2013-08-05-21-05-09-415.jpg

I also got a winch strap which had 20 feet of seatbelt material. It's 2 inches thick. Do you think this will be alright for the arm strap and the handle of a strap shield? On my first shields I used nylon strapping at 1.5 inches and 1 inch and it seemed a little thin.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1596994/Medieval/C360_2013-08-05-21-05-27-294.jpg

Wish I could just port the pictures but they are enormous and I couldn't figure out how to resize them.

[Kyrian]

I also got a winch strap which had 20 feet of seatbelt material. It's 2 inches thick. Do you think this will be alright for the arm strap and the handle of a strap shield? On my first shields I used nylon strapping at 1.5 inches and 1 inch and it seemed a little thin.

That should be wide enough. I wouldn't really recommend using it for the hand grip though since I think it's a bit wide. I prefer using leather that's more like the width of a dog collar, around 3/4". On my current dome shield shown earlier, I used a leather dog collar as the handle. You could also do something like this with the crossed hand straps and the adjustable forearm strap:



That would give you the ability to adjust the strap if you're wearing armor as well as allow other people to adjust the strap if they're using the shield.

One important thing: Use tee nuts for the strap hardware. Hammer them in from the face towards the back of the shield:



Tee nuts are awesome because you can easily swap out old or broken strapping instead of having to go in through the front and carve out the foam at the strap anchor points. Also, take your time when you're plotting out where you're going to drill your anchor points and also consider that you'll be adding anywhere from 1.5-2" of padding all around the outer edge of shield.

[Dan of Nightfort]

Agreed, I did buy t-nuts for the straps. I hadn't used them before but people had mentioned them on this forum so I thought what the hell, let's get some.

P.S. What size are the t-nuts you use? I ended up with pretty small ones because it was hard to find smaller bolds for the bugger stuff. I made sure to get big washers to hold the straps on.

[Kyrian]

Agreed, I did buy t-nuts for the straps. I hadn't used them before but people had mentioned them on this forum so I thought what the hell, let's get some.

P.S. What size are the t-nuts you use? I ended up with pretty small ones because it was hard to find smaller bolds for the bugger stuff. I made sure to get big washers to hold the straps on.

I'm trying to remember. I believe I've used the 5/16" or 3/8" diameter tee nuts with a height of 7/16".

[Dan of Nightfort]

Hmm, that's a bit bigger than mine. If I go to far while using techply, it will stick out through the other side a while bunch so I'm trying to avoid that. I will let you know how it goes!

[Dan of Nightfort]

Success! We had a 20 person battle tonight with mostly new people and they loved it. We used the ten new swords and they were great. Here are some pictures of how they turned out...

Here's the prototype sword.
http://db.tt/EN2DyPCd

All swords done before cloth sewing.
http://db.tt/qXFHBCgR

Here's the finish ten!
http://db.tt/lw8h19nk

Also, we re-cored my shield with the techply we got based on Kyrian's advice.
http://db.tt/HDriSm8E

Thinks I will DL diferemntly next time...
1. I will use 1/2 fiberglass and not 3/8. I now realize that the ten swords are slightly under weight.
2. I will order 2# foam and use it instead of blue foam.
3. I will make a draw string for the covers like my usual swords.

Thanks! This forum has been quite helpful. Now, on to realm creation?

[Kyrian]

Those look good for some of your first weapons.

1. I will use 1/2 fiberglass and not 3/8. I now realize that the ten swords are slightly under weight.

You can add counterweights to help the weapons reach the minimum weight. There are numerous ways to do this such as lead fishing tape, lead strips used for soap box derbies, and wire handle wraps. The counterweight also helps to shift the balance point of the weapon closer to the hand which tends to feel more comfortable and gives you better recovery.

Some sort of scale like this is extremely helpful to verify weapon weights:

[Dan of Nightfort]

I would be impressed with myself if they were my first weapons but I have made tons before them over the years but all in the old box fashion. I actually do have a scale like that but in the mad rush to get them done, I forgot to check. Where can you get this lead tape? Could that safely be added onto the pommel at this point?