Because I feel like rambling...

I've noticed a lot of people using 3/8" fiberglass rods for strong, lightweight sword cores. And I've also noticed that their sword tips blow out very fast. I think this is due to the small diameter of the core not being secured well enough and the core foam being torn up by the repeated impact of combat. Generally speaking, the smaller diameter of the rod increases the force put on the core layer of foam, leading to blown tips. While I am not personally a fan of these small cores, here are some ideas that might help some of these problems.

-Duct tape the tip of the core to a slightly larger diameter and then cover this with some cloth tape. Taper this down to a smooth teardrop shape so the tip of your core looks a bit like this:

(==----------------------

This will make the tip larger and help prevent it from blowing out as quick. The cloth tape ensures that there is good adhesion between foam and core when DAP is applied.

-For your core layer of foam use GOOP brand adhesive instead of DAP. GOOP dries to a hard rubbery consistency and helps stiffen the core layer without cutting it up like tape would...

-After the last layers of foam have been applied to the blade, DAP the flats of the blade and let the DAP dry. Take a long strip of strapping tape and lay it against the flats starting near the tip. Then use a couple more strips of cloth tape over the tip of the blade.

if you tape one circle of blue foam around there to increase the tip size, it won't be as harsh as tape can be while still bulking it up, and also won't add as much weight to the tip.

THANKS for the tip (lol pun) Mormakil's tip always broke loose after 2 hours of fighting.

I lost mormakil at war though :'(

i am a fan of the 3/8" fiberglass cores, and i've made two swords with them. both have lasted several months. THey make a very nice min spec weapon (except for length) not to mention they are very light. however my tip seperated two days befor gates...sad. so that black sword i had was actually made in desperation the day before. lol. anyway i had to preform some surgery:

for repairing i simply sliced only the core on the flat side and poured lots of dap. let it dry for many many days and add some tape on the flat and that should add some more life to a sword.

I make a box on the end of my 3/8's swords. Takes a lot(I mean a lot!) to blow my tips out.

I'll second The box design. He tought me, and My personal sword has lasted for over 2yrs now, Gates,war,gates adn everything inbetween.

awesome!

Yeah, the box design tips will easily last a year, and possible 2 if the gluing was done correctly and the cuts were relatively straight. If anyone is interested I might make a little picture demo of how to do it. It takes extra time building a sword but the investment pays big dividends.

interested!

Got it, I'll make one after Ludi....


Also, I've noticed that letting the courtesy padding dry for a week before adding the blade strips helps out tremendously. That is is you make them similar to the way I do.


(SOrry I don't have time for demo now, between work, school and re-outfitting myself with some new soldier gear, I ain't got much time )