MetaFilter posts tagged with swords

Sword maker Francis Boyd

homunculus — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 17:10:47 -0800

Blood, Sweat, and Steel: My Afternoon with the Ace of Swords. “When I got this sword, it was completely covered in blood rust.” Sword maker Francis Boyd is showing me yet another weapon pulled from yet another safe in the heavily fortified workshop behind his northern California home. “You can tell it’s blood,” he says matter-of-factly, “because ordinary rust turns the grinding water brown. If it’s blood rust it bleeds, it looks like blood in the water. Even 2,000 years old, it bleeds. And it smells like a steak cooking, like cooked meat. I’ve encountered this before with Japanese swords from World War II. If there’s blood on the sword and you start polishing it, the sword bleeds. It comes with the territory.” [Via]

An Elegant Weapon For A Less Civilized Age

Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 12:39:11 -0800

They were the finest European swords the day, superior to almost any other on the battlefields of the Viking Age. Made from steel no one in Europe would know how to make until the Industrial Revolution. Stronger, more flexible, almost magical in combat, engraved with the mysterious name "+ULFBERH+T" by unknown makers, these swords were the both fearsome weapons and incredibly expensive prestige possessions. Only 171 have every been identified. And no one had made one from start to finish, using only hand tools, for over 900 years. The "Ulfberht" swords were viking swords made between ~800 and 1100 C.E. of crucible steel. Crucible steel is made by heating iron ore with a source of carbon (often charcoal or bone) close to 3000°F until almost all the impurities ("slag") are removed from the iron and the carbon is absorbed, leaving a purer steel. The technique for crucible steel was unknown in Northern Europe at the time the Ulfberht Swords were forged, but it was known in places like Afghanistan and Iran. By the Viking Age, warriors to the East had been fighting with superior weapons made of Damascus Steel for centuries. The theory is that Viking traders plying the Volga Trade Route brought back crucible steel ingots. When the Volga Trade Route was closed by the Russians around the 12th century, the making of Ulfberht swords ceased. Swords in general were prized possessions to the vikings, as most warriors would be armed with spears and axes. Any sword was a much greater investment in time and materials, and the crucible steel of the Ulberhts made them sharper and (importantly) less likely to chip and break in battle like swords made of lower-grade steel. In a testament to how good the Ulfberht swords were, people went to the trouble of making fakes of lower-quality steel with the Ulfberht brand name on them. And as is usual with brand-name fakes, the details matter. The name "Ulfberht" is not Norse, it's Frankish. Also, the two "+" in "+ULFBERH+T" would, in that age, have been associated with a Bishop's name, or someone else in the Church hierarchy. And Christians (as the Franks were since Clovis I) were forbidden from trading with the Pagan vikings. But Church armorers would not have access to crucible steel from the East like the vikings, so the mystery of the name reamins unsolved. PBS site

Cap'n Crunch Sous Vide

mannequito — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 02:06:39 -0800

Neal Stephenson has been working with the free online culinary school ChefSteps, including aiding in the design and construction of something called a Gaggle Roaster, and filming this video slicing fruit (and a water bottle) in slow motion with a sword.

Because I know something you don't know.

zamboni — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 19:24:36 -0800

Wiktenauer is a catalog of fighting manuals and other primary sources related to historical European martial arts.

Mr. President was fascinated by gunfighters.

John of Michigan — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 19:56:10 -0800

Coyote Man, Mr. President & the Gunfighters. A prose poem, written by Gary Snyder, that should be required reading for whoever is in the White House on January 20.

Edged weapons are not pretend lightsabers.

Bunny Ultramod — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 17:16:10 -0800

Today's I09 has a guest column by John Clements titled "Swordfighting: Not What You Think It Is." And it isn't. So who is John Clements? Well, according to The Association for Renaissance Martial Arts page (an association he directs), Clements "is a leading authority on historical fencing and one of the world’s foremost instructors of Medieval and Renaissance fighting methods." (Of course, he is not without his supporters and detractors.) Where do you get that sort of specialized knowledge? As it turns out, in the Medieval era, impreesively titled "Masters of Defense" (a professional guild; example) actually wrote it down. (More samples.) It's nothing like the gentlemanly fencing long-favored onstage and in films; neither is it the rough hacking and slashing found in grittier historical dramas and fantasy films. As Clements writes in I09: "Rather, Medieval and Renaissance sword fighting was a hell of a lot more violent, brutal, ferocious, and astonishingly effective. " If only we could see samples of this fighting. OH WAIT. Clements has some unexpectedly (and accidentally) hilarious videos online that nonetheless show a lost form of martial combat that just ... looks ... old timey are foreign in the way that, say, barknuckle boxing looks odd to us. Schwetzel. Oooooooh. The Scale and the Key Receiving Strikes on Flat 10 minute flourish We trust John Clements Grabbing Edge During Half-Swording The Sword is a Tool 2010 Blade show

Behind-the-scenes of Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit."

crunchland — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 05:10:55 -0800

THE HOBBIT Production Video Blog

Here I Set Up A Shame-Pole

The Whelk — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 11:19:36 -0800

The Vikings Of Bjornstad a "a living history and educational group, concentrating on the Viking age " reviews every viking movie ever made for its authenticity in depicting Vikings and Viking Culture. Every. single. one. Bonus: The Best Of Categories.

Made By Hand

Bora Horza Gobuchul — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 10:45:36 -0800

Craftsmen and women, some of them the last of their breed, making their art by hand and profiled in beautiful short-form videos: Knifemaker. Ornamental glass artist (previously). Master printer . Swordguard maker (previously). Beekeeper and honey maker. Stone lettercarvers. Carmaker. More, and related, at This Is Made By Hand, FolkStreams.net and (less related, but still wonderful) eGarage.

"It usually ends up as a swordfight between a goodie and a baddie"

Bora Horza Gobuchul — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 01:05:53 -0800

Wielder of Darth Vader's lightsaber at 60 years of age (while wearing 6" platform shoes under the black cloak to match the character's height); swordplay instructor to Errol Flynn and the cast of Lord of the Rings; swordmaster on dozens of films, including The Princess Bride, Highlander, the modern Zorro franchise and Alatriste: Bob Anderson died today. A highlight reel of some of his work: part 1 and 2.

I make these things, and I put them out there

Potomac Avenue — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 10:23:24 -0800

Portrait of a Handmade Artisan: Korehira Watanabe The Sword Maker (one of a number of films by Etsy) Other notable Etsy films [Previously: Kiva Ford] Mask Makers Liberty Tool How Artisinal Footballs Are Made Behold! Dogs in Sweaters The Beerhorst Art Family Wild Hive Farm Greg Beuchamp Naughty Secretary Club Making Woodgrain Bike Frames in New Zealand Pass The Baton Vintage Store Tokyo Sweaters for chairs and covers for washing machines tUnE-yArDs Video Channels: There's No Place Like Here, Handmade Portraits, and Process

Even back then, people wanted to shoot their banker

Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 21:45:09 -0800

One August morning in 1826, two men went for a walk in the Scottish countryside. Only one of them came back alive. Timewatch tells the story of two men who fought to the death with pistols: one a respected merchant, reluctantly provoked into an unwanted duel; the other a professional soldier, steeped in military tradition. The soldier also happened to be the merchant’s bank manager. It would end with the death of one man and mark the demise of a 600-year-old ritual. The duel, whether with blades, pistols, or... other methods, was for centuries recognized both socially and legally as a way to resolve matters of honor between men of high social class. Women & peasants need not apply.

Cold Steel

codacorolla — Fri, 27 May 2011 19:51:44 -0800

Cold Steel is a company that produces and sells weapons to the mass market. This is a revealing promotional video focusing on its founder, Lynn Thompson, who describes the philosophy behind his business..

Whoa.

Rory Marinich — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 15:07:20 -0800

Swordfighting with shadows. Via Ze Frank.

you cut me deep shrek you cut me real deep

SpacemanStix — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 21:17:40 -0800

From the opening frames of this mesmerizing video: "A crazy idea was born. Early sunday on Swordfish 2010 we got a crazy idea of duck-tape our GoPro Hero camera on the tip of a sword and do some swings to see how it looked. We started slow just to see if the camera was holding together, then stepping it up. All recording are done in real speed." The music really makes the video. (via)

Japanimation in a very large nutshell

oneswellfoop — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 13:48:43 -0800

Every Anime Opening Ever Made (an admittedly exaggerated title) is a SLYT romp through the repeating themes in 93 different opening sequences, compiled by Derek Lieu (via Neatorama) Almost 4-and-a-half minutes of birds, quick upward pans, trees, eye close-ups, running (mostly right-to-left), heads turning, flashes of pseudo-nudity, pensive poses, wow! expressions, groups gathering, swords clashing, (some miscellaneous not-so-repetitive quick cuts), vertical stripes, walking, silhouettes, two-shots at odd angles, flying (mostly into the camera), crying, magical orbs, hands reaching out, more birds and more two-shots (mirror effects). Bonus barely-related content: Every Pee Wee's Playhouse Word of the Day Ever (don't forget to scream, via Urlesque)

Mr. Dawkins, I see... a great selection event in your life within 7 days

benzenedream — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 11:56:37 -0800

Looking to indulge your interests in both cartomancy and science? Check out the Science Tarot Deck. (FB link) [Previous decks] Via The normal tarot suits have been remapped as follows: Cups - Beakers Swords - Scalpels Pentacles - Magnifying Glass Wands - Bunsen Burner Of course, I'm partial to this one. My other favorites: Endosymbiosis as the Ace of Cups Natural Selection as Judgment Molecular Bonding as the Three of Pentacles Carl Sagan as the Queen of Cups

Cold Steel FTW

(Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates — Fri, 07 May 2010 14:54:12 -0800

Is your sword having difficulty cutting through boots filled with meat? Then perhaps you need the Cold Steel Two Handed Great Sword. [via] Trouble getting through your opponent's cleverly designed chainmail (and some cardboard boxes)? What you need is the Cold Steel War Hammer. Pesky eggs hanging from strings hanging from a wooden frame got you down? There's a solution: the Cold Steel Indian War Club. More Cold Steel products/videos here. (All meats utilized in these videos carefully preserved and donated to the Ventura County Rescue Mission.)

Live by the Sword, Die by the Sword

pokermonk — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:40:13 -0800

Soon there will be a sword for every man, woman, and child in the city. But come on, it's not like they're dangerous. OR ARE THEY? In six episodes of Cautionary Tales of Swords, Trip Fisk makes the case for the danger of nature's hell sticks and while they'll fucking slice a baby in half.

IgNobility 2009

wendell — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:55:45 -0800

This year's winners of the Ig Nobel prizes are a bumper crop of wild and crazy SCIENCE!, featuring sword-swallowing, knuckle-cracking, benefits of cow-naming, pregnant women NOT tipping over, a household use for giant panda poop (take that, Packham), diamonds made from tequila, a brassiere that can be used as TWO gas masks, "Ireland's Worst Driver", Icelandic banks, Zimbabwean currency, and a 'Peace Prize' earned by hitting people over the heads with beer bottles (and comparing the effects of empty vs. full bottles) (related inquiry)

Wait... No Pirate Vs. Ninja?!

Bageena — Tue, 05 May 2009 03:09:13 -0800

Haven't you always secretly wondered what would happen if a ninja accidentally stumbled into, say, Bill and Ted's time traveling Phone Booth and ended up somewhere around 7th century BC, only to come face-to-face with a feisty Spartan? Have you not pondered what would happen if you locked up an Apache with a Gladiator inside some sort of 21st century battle dome? Are you frustrated because you feel like there's nobody doing proper scientific studies to see what would happen when you pit two historically violent warriors that could have never actually met in real life? Worry no more people - I present to you Spike TV's newest offering - Deadliest Warrior! The show basically goes like this; you take two crazy fighters who, previous to the show, have only been pitted against one another in heated debates between young men in line for the midnight showing of the newest X-Men movie (or really awesome drunk people). The show's 'Host, Simulation Consultant, and Blogger', Max Geiger brings in experts representing each warrior. The experts bring in weapons that are historically accurate which are then tested on a variety of dummies that are stuffed with SCIENCE! The data from said SCIENCE! all goes into a computer simulation based on an unreleased commercial game engine by these guys. Not just the SCIENCE!, which is actually pretty cool (ballistics gel, pig carcasses, high speed photography), but also, as Max aptly put it: "The simulation's inputs include real world scientific data gathered by one of my co-hosts, Geoff Desmoulin, who is getting his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering. Our number crunching is balanced out by Dr. Armand Dorian, an ER doctor who keeps our work firmly grounded in the actual trauma our tests cause." The reviews are in! Variety seems to feel it might be possibly the stupidest show ever, appealing only to the lowest common denominator! Newsarama was a little nicer, pointing out that there are some people on the show trying to make it as scientific as it can possibly be, while also having a great time. Either way, do you care? Don't you want to watch a Viking fight a Samurai? Or a Pirate against a Knight? You can apparently only watch the latest episode on the website, here. Also, looking forward on the Wikipedia, it does look like the show might slip-slide from whatever tenuous grasp they have on ideas for fights as they start doing shows about William Wallace versus Shaka Zulu or finally, the IRA versus the Taliban. I have only one thought. How could they have NOT had a Pirate versus Ninja episode? FAIL!

The Crime Apprentice's Kit

MiguelCardoso — Wed, 01 Oct 2003 12:13:16 -0800

Pick A Lock, Any Lock: Why do Selfdefenseproducts.com's products seem so ill-related to self-defense and so suited to, er, crime and violence? Got your PayPal ready? File under "Only in America". (Via Bifurcated Rivets.)

Fencing Sucks

Shane — Mon, 30 Jun 2003 11:28:57 -0800

No, seriously, they score by touching the opponent in the Valid Target Area. The touches are monitored electronically via wires coming out of the fencers' backs, similar to the technology used to control Dan Rather.
-from Dave Barry on Fencing in the humor section of Fencing Sucks.

En Garde!

misteraitch — Sat, 14 Jun 2003 00:14:45 -0800

The Armarium. Online Historical Fencing Manuals & Texts at the Association for the Renaissance Martial Arts (ARMA).

Swallowing

h0ney — Sun, 07 Jul 2002 08:31:40 -0800

Swallowing A sword may feel unconfortable and leave "a taste of stomach acids and metal" in your mouth, but it's a hell of a party trick.