125 replies to this topic

[Yazzeh]

Woah, woah, woah, one word: brass. Flattened brass pipes. oh yeah.

Anyways, I think that a flattened brass/copper pipe would make an amazingly strong core.

A rule of thumb is to NEVER use a metal core. They can be much too heavy and have no 'bend' to them. While my Katana 3.0 also has no bend, it would go back to its original straightness if it did bend in any way.

As for using hollow metal cores, if you flattened brass pipe (which is already a pretty weak core and expensive and only readily available in 1 foot lengths), it would make it stronger in only one direction, and if anyone were to parry your sword, it would be bent crooked, eventually being bent and unbent to the point of metal fatigue, and then your next thrust would contain a ragged metal stick in someone's stomach.

I wouldn't use a metal golf shaft, but I would use a graphite golf shaft, if I could find them cheap at any of the thrift stores I go to. No luck yet.

3 pounds is nothing compared to that stop sign. XD

Chainsaw is an interesting weapon idea, but not on my immediate to-do list.

Glint has asked me to redo the tape in black, so I'll do that tomorrow. Also, I'm making the blades for the Vega claw, I'll put up pictures of how they look so far. Instead of cutting the blade edge like I usually do, I'll try melting the edges to a point with an iron and wax paper. If it isn't nice, I'll just saw off the melted portion. Right now the claws are a single layer of camp mat foam sandwiched between two layers of thin craft foam. I'm keeping these blades as thin as possible, since I need to fit 3 on a hand.

[splat]

here is another wep that I found that would look cool as a nerf wep.

runescape-godsword

[wingd man]

Woah, woah, woah, one word: brass. Flattened brass pipes. oh yeah.

Anyways, I think that a flattened brass/copper pipe would make an amazingly strong core.

A rule of thumb is to NEVER use a metal core. They can be much too heavy and have no 'bend' to them. While my Katana 3.0 also has no bend, it would go back to its original straightness if it did bend in any way.

As for using hollow metal cores, if you flattened brass pipe (which is already a pretty weak core and expensive and only readily available in 1 foot lengths), it would make it stronger in only one direction, and if anyone were to parry your sword, it would be bent crooked, eventually being bent and unbent to the point of metal fatigue, and then your next thrust would contain a ragged metal stick in someone's stomach.

I wouldn't use a metal golf shaft, but I would use a graphite golf shaft, if I could find them cheap at any of the thrift stores I go to. No luck yet.

3 pounds is nothing compared to that stop sign. XD

Chainsaw is an interesting weapon idea, but not on my immediate to-do list.

Glint has asked me to redo the tape in black, so I'll do that tomorrow. Also, I'm making the blades for the Vega claw, I'll put up pictures of how they look so far. Instead of cutting the blade edge like I usually do, I'll try melting the edges to a point with an iron and wax paper. If it isn't nice, I'll just saw off the melted portion. Right now the claws are a single layer of camp mat foam sandwiched between two layers of thin craft foam. I'm keeping these blades as thin as possible, since I need to fit 3 on a hand.

woah, woah, woah... woah. Wow. That was a pretty dumb idea when you get down to it. What about a Plexi glass rod? Or is that basically what you said?

And what exactly do you mean by a flattened pvc core?

Edited by wing'd man, 07 May 2009 - 08:38 PM.

[Yazzeh]

Splat, that sword is a cool idea, but the proportions of the handle and such are ridiculous. I think I'll try making a cross-sword later, using PVC and fiberglass for the crossing blade.

I've finished cutting the blades for the Vega Claws and I can show you how they look. He wanted them aqua colored, with a blue glove/forearm base. I haven't finished the base yet. They're not the most practical weapon, seeing as they need a lot of support on the forearm so that you can actually deflect blows without ripping the blades off completely:





wing'd man, the difference between normal untreated PVC and flattened PVC is this:



This looks rough on the inside because I haven't carved off the leftover shards from sawing it.

The main benefit of flattening the PVC is making it more rigid. If it's more rigid, you can make longer weapons using a smaller diameter of PVC (lighter) and not have to worry about it drooping near the end. Also, it makes it harder or even impossible for an opponent to bend your sword out of the way for an attack.

The downsides are that you need much more padding on the striking surface of the blade. Because it's so rigid, it can't bend to absorb shock, so that is left to the padding alone. It seems like it would make the blade flatter, but it's not very noticeable, while it makes it necessary to add more padding to the strike surface which makes your weapon heavier. Also, if you use fire, or uneven heat, it may make the PVC structurally unstable, which is why people try to use boiling water to have it uniformly heated. I personally just use a stove and haven't had any problems.

I've never dealt with a plexi-glass rod. I don't know if it's a good core. If it can shatter, bend too much over a medium length or stays permanently bent, it's not a good core.

Edited by Yazzeh, 09 May 2009 - 07:17 AM.

[Bullshit Dragon]

Plexi-glass is made of Acrylic usually, and while it has great optical clarity, it has a tendency to break if struck with enough force. Take a look at this for more information or ask Capt. Slug.

[jeremy13572]

I don't know if anyone has suggested this yet, and im not going through the whole topic thing, but I'd like to see the tetsaiga from Inuyasha made.

[mind13]

You took the classic boffer, beat it to hell with a roll of duct tape, and then made a somewhat practical series of foam melee weapons. Amazing.

[Yazzeh]

Well I got banned for a week for trying to be nice to someone with a terrible idea on the forums. I sent CaptainSlug a message about it, and whichever way he takes my criticism, I'm just going to let anyone who cares to keep up with my foam experiments know that they can get in touch with me through many different ways. For the sake of keeping my main accounts free from junk, you can reach me through my gmail account so I can then tell you how to keep in touch with me through other means. Yazzeh [at] gmail.com

I've glued down the Claws to the glove base and am currently reinforcing its structure with balsawood.

I got bored and didn't want to work on a large weapon, so remembering someone's idea from 2 years ago, I finally constructed a QB (Quadra B, 4B, BBBB, Battle Broken Beer Bottle). It's a 1.5 scale beer bottle that has a removable bottom piece revealing the jagged edges of a broken foam bottle.

Finally, I've made the companion to the Battle Stop-Sign:




The Yield Sword.
I made with extra special sauce, which can be seen here:
The Yield Sword In 'Action'

Also I've found slightly thicker fiberglass, though it is rather expensive at $9.50 for 56 inches, so I'll be able to design even thinner lighter weapons.


Thank you all for your comments and thoughts.

edit: Nevermind me leaving any time soon. I'll stick around. Pictures and video of the QB in a bit.

Edited by Yazzeh, 17 May 2009 - 03:33 PM.

[Busterthecrashtestdummy]

How much would you charge for a giant battleaxe? PM me

[Alexiumz]

Regarding the stop sign, (if you would ever feel compeled to pretend that you were an evil zombie clown).
Your stopsign looks stragely alot like the evil clowns from the madness games if you wanted to you could use it as part of a corstume.

I instantly thought the same

Fantastic collection Yazzeh, really awesome.

Some suggestions:-
Halo's Plasma Sword
Pyramid Head's sword
Machete
Lightsaber
Severed leg or arm
Baseball bat

... I could go on forever. You have an imagination, I'm sure you can come up with even better things than these.

[Yazzeh]

Some suggestions:-
Halo's Plasma Sword
Pyramid Head's sword
Machete
Lightsaber
Severed leg or arm
Baseball bat

... I could go on forever. You have an imagination, I'm sure you can come up with even better things than these.

Haha, thanks for the list of fun ideas.

I've already considered tackling the Halo Plasma Sword... very tricky and potentially dangerous weapon, unless it's almost completely made of foam. I'll get around to it someday.

Pyramid Head's sword is much too massive to do unless I'm paid to do it. The amount of foam it'd take to make that would alone cost me at least 45 dollars. Maybe more.

Machete is a clean simple idea. Very easy to execute, I can make it with scraps in my spare time.

Ah yes, what Nerd-dreams are made of. Lightsabers. It JUST so happens... That I'm currently working on Darth Maul's Double-Ended Lightsaber. It's also going to be detachable in the middle via Magnetic locks and a removable bar. It won't be full size because the core I'm using is expensive and the guy who ordered it doesn't want to pay to own it. But yeah, aside from being almost a foot shorter than the actual 7 foot long weapon, it's going to be accurate down to the buttons. Also using Chrome Duct Tape I discovered for the handle so it's shiny AND strong.

Making a Leg and an Arm would be EXCELLENT. It borrows from the idea of making a full Nerf Child and focuses on just the limbs instead. Though to make it I'd need to buy a hot wire cutter to properly carve the foam.

Baseball bats are what a lot of boffo weapons already are XD. I do plan on making a dangerous looking basher along the lines of this:


Won't that be interesting? XD

[One Man Clan]

How the fuck did this retarded thread get over 100 replies?

[BustaNinja]

How the fuck did this retarded thread get over 100 replies?

Because no matter how sophisticated the people of this board seem to be, what with the calculations and all that, beating people over the head with sticks covered in foam makes our simple minded selves smile? Thats about the best reason I could come up with.

Well, that, and there is always some sort of appeal to foam swords. I made a foam Katana, somewhat like yours Yazzeh, but more my own design, and if was a huge hit at that recent MN war. There is just nothing else like giant foam swords is there?

[Yazzeh]

How the fuck did this retarded thread get over 100 replies?

Because no matter how sophisticated the people of this board seem to be, what with the calculations and all that, beating people over the head with sticks covered in foam makes our simple minded selves smile? Thats about the best reason I could come up with.

Well, that, and there is always some sort of appeal to foam swords. I made a foam Katana, somewhat like yours Yazzeh, but more my own design, and if was a huge hit at that recent MN war. There is just nothing else like giant foam swords is there?

I apologize for catering to a side interest, Oh Mighty God of PETG.

And yes, while there isn't anything quite like hitting people with a solid sword that doesn't wound them, there REALLY is nothing like hitting people with a giant hammer that can send them flying, and still doesn't hurt them.

edit: Wait a minute... BustaNinja, there are a LOT of calculations involved in making these weapons. All of these are designed on computers, every component is measured and cut. Just because they don't have moving parts or compressed air doesn't mean they're akin to cave-man clubs XD.

Edited by Yazzeh, 19 May 2009 - 10:11 PM.

[BustaNinja]

That explains alot..... I just kinda drew out some notebook sketches in History and then made some duct tape badassery. But now I understand how you make them so good. A fusion of talent and planning.

And no one ever said they are caveman clubs. But foam swords don't offer the same uses as an instrument of precision like an SM1500 or Crossbow.

[Falcon]

Yazzeh...why did you say you would charge people entrance if you go 50+ people and moved to a larger gym? Do you have to rent the gym, like F_A24's wars? If not, then I'm sorry, but no one should ever have to pay to nerf. That's what makes the sport so awesome; the guns are cheap (relatively...) and the ammunition can be made at home. You've got a good thing going; don't scare people away by trying to make money off of them in ways other than selling your foam and tape creations.

I hope you and some of your guys can make a road trip down to one of the Season of Foam wars. I'd love to duel against some massive boffers with a nerf sword. We'll be in both Ontario and New York, which, with a bit of driving, might be doable.

Edited by Falcon, 20 May 2009 - 11:36 AM.

[Yazzeh]

Yazzeh...why did you say you would charge people entrance if you go 50+ people and moved to a larger gym? Do you have to rent the gym, like F_A24's wars? If not, then I'm sorry, but no one should ever have to pay to nerf. That's what makes the sport so awesome; the guns are cheap (relatively...) and the ammunition can be made at home. You've got a good thing going; don't scare people away by trying to make money off of them in ways other than selling your foam and tape creations.

I hope you and some of your guys can make a road trip down to one of the Season of Foam wars. I'd love to duel against some massive boffers with a nerf sword. We'll be in both Ontario and New York, which, with a bit of driving, might be doable.

I don't really make any money. The charge for everyone, even for 20 people, is 15 dollars each. for 20 people I have a smaller gym that I can rent for $45 an hour. Everyone pitches in so I can restock destroyed darts, rebuild anything that's been broken, like obstacles, upgrade the obstacles, repair swords, build more swords. To be honest, I've only broken even on the cost of hosting these wars after 3 of them. I charge around 15 per person so that no-shows that I can't calculate into the divided cost don't end up making the remainder of the gym rental fall on my head. I'm already spending literally thousands of dollars buying all the Nerf guns and making all the swords for people to rent, adding to the cost of buying and maintaining the materials for obstacles. This stuff doesn't happen by magic, and people would rather rent a 20 dollar Nerf gun and a 25 dollar foam sword for 5 bucks in total than buy them permanently.

The reason the price wouldn't go down for 50+ is because a larger gym to accommodate them would cost $100 an hour. I'd also have to make more obstacles and most likely supply more guns and definitely more swords for rent. The next war would be cheaper, of course, with everything mostly paid off.

The first war I hosted was a $20 entrance fee and 8 people showed up so I had to cover the rest with my own money on TOP of having made and bought everything. That was a sinkhole, but I did another and another and made enough to balance my books.

As for going elsewhere to Nerf, I don't have the time. Most of my friends like the melee aspect more than the Nerf gun aspect, which is why I joined them to appeal to a wider audience. They still like the guns, but wouldn't be a fan of gun only games.

[stickfigure91x]

That's the one thing that always bugged me about these forums. If you want to not allow discussions like this because they aren't really about nerf guns, thats one thing but to say that foam swords are "gay" seems.... hypocritical. Unless were talking about straight LARP, because then yes, LARP is VERY gay.

Edited by stickfigure91x, 20 May 2009 - 04:55 PM.

[Yazzeh]

Disregarding that completely pointless post... My latest creation!



It is the Priest Staff seen on the Priest Class Patch for World of Warcraft.

For comparison:


I only did one side because I have a bunch of other projects to finish before the Sword War this June 6th. I personally think it looks great. Reminds me of a stained-glass window. Though I wouldn't want to get hit by one.

[Alexiumz]

Great to see you like my suggestions
Nice newest creation too, looks very well made.

How about giant cutlery? A log?

[Yazzeh]

Great to see you like my suggestions
Nice newest creation too, looks very well made.

How about giant cutlery? A log?

I always love other people's creative suggestions. ^^
Usually my own ideas are Effeminate such as the Battle Stop-Sign and the Yield Sword, but they're often not as fun as other people's suggestions.

Giant cutlery is a definite possibility. A giant fork wouldn't be beyond me. A spoon would be cool, but since I'd need to make a bowl on the end of it with foam, there's no way to reinforce it and it would easily be broken off.

A giant log is terribly uncreative. It's just a rod of PVC coated in layer after layer of foam.

My girlfriend says hi.

[Alexiumz]

Yeah, I didn't think of the spoon being weak - a knife and fork should be doable though.

As for the log, uncreative lmao

I was thinking to actually decorate it with branch stubs where they've been cut off, and paint it with the bark and rings on the ends (a massive fat log btw, not a thin one), but now that I come to think of it, it is kinda a crap idea...

So don't do a log.

Keep up the good work.

And my girlfriend says hi too.

Edited by Alexiumz, 21 May 2009 - 05:29 PM.

[fallinouttadabox]

Please tell your respective girlfriends that I said hi.

[BritNerfMogul]

Please tell your respective girlfriends that I said hi.

Only if you say the same to your mum.

[fallinouttadabox]

Done and done.

Anyone who wants to say hi to a mother of 6, grandmother of 2, can anytime they want.