Top 5 most awesome weapons

[Chodon]

indead
thay are neat bits of kit ,but how fancy dose a sharp bit of metal be to kill some one?

Depends on how strong the wielder is.

[oddpod]

thare is a tradishanal way to settel this kind of thing:)
we already know what wepons we are using, just nead a time and place now

[CGFxColONeill]

indead
thay are neat bits of kit ,but how fancy dose a sharp bit of metal be to kill some one?

Depends on how strong the wielder is.

and how sharp the bit of metal is as well

[Russell Nash]

thare is a tradishanal way to settel this kind of thing:)
we already know what wepons we are using, just nead a time and place now

I'll host that.  I have sleeping space for the combatants and an open area in the yard for the test.

[CGFxColONeill]

thare is a tradishanal way to settel this kind of thing:)
we already know what wepons we are using, just nead a time and place now

I'll host that.  I have sleeping space for the combatants and an open area in the yard for the test.

dont forget to take a video camera

[Chodon]

thare is a tradishanal way to settel this kind of thing:)
we already know what wepons we are using, just nead a time and place now

I'll host that.  I have sleeping space for the combatants and an open area in the yard for the test.

I'm going to have to bow out.  I have a feeling that with a sword I would be more dangerous to myself than anyone else.

Now, if we're talking pistols I might be up for it.  Then I would have a fighting chance.

[Tango Alpha Delta]

thare is a tradishanal way to settel this kind of thing:)
we already know what wepons we are using, just nead a time and place now

I'll host that.  I have sleeping space for the combatants and an open area in the yard for the test.

I'm going to have to bow out.  I have a feeling that with a sword I would be more dangerous to myself than anyone else.

Now, if we're talking pistols I might be up for it.  Then I would have a fighting chance.

You guys slay me...

But in all seriousness, I have to say that I admire Chodon's sensible recognition of his limitations.  I myself come from a long line of accident-prone men, so I stay far away from deadly weapons.  This sometimes means long, agonizing conversations with gun enthusiasts... one of whom told me I was violating the 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by NOT owning a gun.

When I told him my range score from basic training, though, he let up on me.  (I got 17 out of 40 shots fired... and the guys on either side of me got ~50 out of 40.)

[CGFxColONeill]

since we are on the subject of weapons some of you might find this interesting
a guy in one of my classes and I are planing to build this ( although maybe not the body for it just yet just the circuit for now )
Coil Gun

if any of you have done anything like this before let me know.
the guy in my class got ahold of the circuit diagram and parts list in a magazine so we should not have to much trouble with it
but any incites would be nice
thanks

[oddpod]

nice, has any one linked to metal storm yet?

[Chodon]

since we are on the subject of weapons some of you might find this interesting
a guy in one of my classes and I are planing to build this ( although maybe not the body for it just yet just the circuit for now )
Coil Gun

I've seen stuff like this before.  It's essentially a rail gun.  Right now there are several issues with the design.  The battery life is crap.  It takes a lot of energy released very quickly to get a projectile to go fast enough to hurt someone (like a cartridge full of gunpowder).  It looks like this is run on capacitors, which generally take a long time to charge.  I would imagine it's heavy between the batteries and caps.  Electronics are not the most reliable thing in the world (I sure as hell wouldn't trust my life to it).  Someday it might have some application in crew serviced or vehicle weapons, because that's the only way I can see enough batteries being carried to make it useful.

It might be a neat toy though...

[The Outlaw Kyle]

It might be a neat toy though...

Hey, did you get that bottle opener for your AR15 yet?  Cause you know, you can never hang to much crap off your gun!

[Chodon]

It might be a neat toy though...

Hey, did you get that bottle opener for your AR15 yet?  Cause you know, you can never hang to much crap off your gun!

Come on now.  We both know drinking and AR-15s don't mix.  There's no need for a bottle opener on a Weaver rail.

Now if we're talking an infrared laser, surefire flashlight, vertical foregrip, night sights and EOTech optics that's a different story.

[CGFxColONeill]

It might be a neat toy though...

That was the idea lol just for the heck of building something cool that is real instead of just putting together the boring crap circuits we do in labs

[Chodon]

It might be a neat toy though...

That was the idea lol just for the heck of building something cool that is real instead of just putting together the boring crap circuits we do in labs

Have you checked the legality of it yet?  It might be classified as a firearm.  Depends on the state and federal statutes.  I forget how firearms are classified...

[CGFxColONeill]

It might be a neat toy though...

That was the idea lol just for the heck of building something cool that is real instead of just putting together the boring crap circuits we do in labs

Have you checked the legality of it yet?  It might be classified as a firearm.  Depends on the state and federal statutes.  I forget how firearms are classified...

not as yet but the muzzle velocity is not more than 120 something fps the way the circuit is set up so I think it will be good but I will have to look into that thanks for reminding me about it lol

[CGFxColONeill]

btw here is the scan of the circuit

[Thaurismunths]

1) It prevents the introduction of carbon to the rear portion of the blade, keeping the steel in that area flexible.  More carbon = more hardness.  More hardness = more strength and better edge, but also more likely to fracture.  The edge of the blade remained unpainted allowing carbon introduction or "carburization".

I'm not sure about your sources, but I don't think that's quite right.
There are a lot of legends of ways to add more carbon to metal once its been formed, such as quenching in the blood of a dog/cow/slave, but its easier to get carbon out of the metal than in once its below 1600 degrees. I believe that the real effect is that the coated spine cools slower, effectively annealing it. This makes the spine and body of the blade softer and more flexible so it can absorb shock while keeping the blade hard so it holds an edge.

The workmanship that went into these swords is really amazing, especially for the time period.  As an engineer it blows my mind that these blacksmiths could do the things they did with the equipment they had.  Absolutely incredible.

Very, very true.

[bad_andy]

just out of curiosity what style of Aikido did you study?
I was in Nihon Goshen for about a year before I had to move I def wished I could get the instructor to relocate but ya lol

I studied at Memphis Aikiki (RIP) under a great instructor who came from NY Aikiki which is run by a couple of direct students of O Sensei Morihei Ueshiba. We even got Sugano Sensei http://www.nyaikikai.com/sugano.asp to come down and do a weekend workshop once.

[Chodon]

1) It prevents the introduction of carbon to the rear portion of the blade, keeping the steel in that area flexible.  More carbon = more hardness.  More hardness = more strength and better edge, but also more likely to fracture.  The edge of the blade remained unpainted allowing carbon introduction or "carburization".

I'm not sure about your sources, but I don't think that's quite right.
There are a lot of legends of ways to add more carbon to metal once its been formed, such as quenching in the blood of a dog/cow/slave, but its easier to get carbon out of the metal than in once its below 1600 degrees. I believe that the real effect is that the coated spine cools slower, effectively annealing it. This makes the spine and body of the blade softer and more flexible so it can absorb shock while keeping the blade hard so it holds an edge.

Well, I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I'm an aerospace engineer that works with carburized parts every day.  Mostly gears, but some friction surfaces for clutches and the like.  I work with several suppliers who carburize parts for us and regularly need to clarify requirements for their processing.  I wouldn't go as far as to call myself an expert, but I work with carburization every day. 

I think you're confusing the carbon issue.  Too much carbon is a bad thing.  It is essentially an impurity in the steel, causing dislocations between the grains.  Too many carbon grains will reduce the strength of the steel.  By adding just the right amount of carbon the properties of the steel can be fine tuned (hard and brittle or soft and ductile).  In order to fine tune the carbon content the steel does need to have the carbon removed as you described (called decarburization), but at the last heat treatment prior to quench carbon is reintroduced to the uncovered edge of the blade to add hardness.

I'm going to try to keep this as non-technical as possible.  Carburization is essentially dissolving carbon into the steel.  The carbon fits between the iron atoms and changes its crystal structure.  Carburization is usually a surface treatment.  The applications I have seen generally have an effective depth of .005-.050 inches.  This is defined as the point where the hardness of the steel transitions between 50HRC.  Areas of the steel can be protected from introduction of carbon by masking those surfaces.  Nowadays we use copper plating because it is easy to apply and remove.  Clay is an acceptable alternate and also has the added benefit of a high heat capacity, meaning it takes longer to cool than steel.  It is not as good at masking the carbon as copper, but hey, it's the best they had.

Having said that, the process used in making katanas is not a true carburization process.  It is more of a case hardening.  The carbon was introduced through the fuel used to heat the blade (coal or charcoal).  Carburization nowadays is usually done quickly in a precision controlled furnace to prevent the carbon from dissolving too deep into the steel, thus ending up with a solid piece of high carbon steel instead of a thin layer.  The carbon can be introduced as a gas allowing precise control of the thickness of the high carbon layer.  In ancient Japan they couldn't control the thickness of the case like we can today.  But the edge of the blade does have a higher carbon content because of the clay on the back of the blade.

Some wikipedia articles on steel and carburization:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carburization

It's really a testament to the skill of these blacksmiths that they could do this sort of work with the tools they had at their disposal.  I would like to think if I were around back then I would be able to figure this stuff out, but I doubt it.  These guys were true masters.

[Thaurismunths]

Having done a bit of digging to clarify for myself, you're right: A carburizing atmosphere was used on case-hardening Japanese swords.

I think you're confusing the carbon issue.  Too much carbon is a bad thing.  It is essentially an impurity in the steel, causing dislocations between the grains.  Too many carbon grains will reduce the strength of the steel.  By adding just the right amount of carbon the properties of the steel can be fine tuned (hard and brittle or soft and ductile).  In order to fine tune the carbon content the steel does need to have the carbon removed as you described (called decarburization), but at the last heat treatment prior to quench carbon is reintroduced to the uncovered edge of the blade to add hardness.

Actually, it wasn't the carbon issue I was confused on. I spent 6 years doing artisan blacksmith work, and one of those years with spent making knives. I'm familiar with, or at least aware of, rockwell points, pearlite nodes, and how carbon acts in steel. Unfortunately I was far too young to appreciate the opportunity I had of studying under a master bladesmith.
Where my confusion came in was the ability to create and hold a carburizing atmosphere in a coal forge. In all forges there is a small zone just above the pot that is a carburizing atmosphere, so carburizing a speard, knife, or sword would only be a matter of enlarging that zone to the size needed. That, as you've said before, is where the beauty and mastery of ancient bladesmiths comes in. It truly is amazing.

[birdless]

I was gonna say Sting or Glamdring, but 90% of their cool factor is diminished by the lack of nearby Orcs.

Damn non-existence of orcs...

[stePH]

btw here is the scan of the circuit

If I wanted to build one, what values would I use for coil L1 and capacitors C8-C17?   

[Chodon]

If I wanted to build one, what values would I use for coil L1 and capacitors C8-C17?   

It looks to me like L1 is the actual magnetic coil that will go around the projectile, so I would think more winds=better (as long as the wire can handle the current).

As far as the caps, I'm at a loss.  It looks like they are the caps that actually store the charge and then deliver the charge to the coil.  Again, larger=more velocity, but the coil has to handle the current.  Some calculations required.

[birdless]

And here I thought it looked like a dungeon map for a D&D campaign.

[wintermute]

1. Numchucks...

A friend of mine, when we were playing Star Wars RPG became convinced that light-nunchucks would be the ultimate weapon.

Now, it's not as studly as Tom Sellick, but he is a ninja; several times British Martial Arts Weapons champion and one of the few people in Britain licensed to teach nunchucks, so he knows what he's talking about. Anyway, this sounded about as stupid as most of his ideas, so we decided to set up a challenge: He has a pair of nunchucks mostly covered in boot polish, to represent the blades, and someone pokes him with a broom handle, similarly covered in bootblack, and we see how much of the polish makes its way onto his person. It took many months to convince him to take part in our scientific experiment.

But, anyway, the moral of the story is that lightsabres are cool, and nunchucks are cool, but light-nunchucks are really, really stupid.

#5 Whatever the throwing star with knives thing from Krull was called.  As a kid, I just thought that thing was too cool for words.

It was called the Glaive. Which is confusing, because a glaive is a type of polearm.

#4:  USS Defiant (Deep Space Nine).

If you're going to go for Federation starships, then the USS Prometheus has to win. You think you're fighting just one ship, and then it splits up into three, and you're surrounded!

OK, best weapons ever dreamed of, in no particular order:

Excalibur. Not only was it the most powerful magic item in the world, but it also conferred kingship on its owner. What's not to like about that?

HMS Habbakuk. During WWII, the British started building a destroyer half again as large as any other ship in the world. What makes it fifteen varieties of awesome is that it was made of ice. Well, pykrete, which was a sawdust suspended in ice. It was never completed (the Admiralty ended up deciding that their resources should go to more traditional projects), but what was made of it to 20 years to melt.

Micro black holes. Used at least three times in Niven's Known Space series (The Hole Man, The Soft Weapon and Borderlands of Sol). In one case it was used to disable space ships (through a quirk of Known Space physics), so they can be robbed, and then all the pesky physical evidence just gets fed into black hole...

The tornado grenades from Mystery Men. 100% effective, 100% non-lethal. Maybe the blame-thrower, from the same source, too.

Laughter. "Power, money, persuasion, supplication, persecution -- these can lift at a colossal humbug -- push it a little -- weaken it a little over the course of a century; but only laughter can blow it to rags and atoms at a blast. Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand." -- Mr Mark Twain.