"tears of the wounded" swords...

[Bill M]

The few swords I have seen with these balls had very small balls, only a few mm in diameter. Less than 1/8th inch. Certainly not enough to affect the swinging of the blade. The channels in which they rode -- though small -- would seem to affect the integrity of the blade.

I seem to remember a similar conversation with Phillip Tom.

[Jens Nordlunde]

I once did measure one of the steel balls, and it measured 4 mm in diameter. What I don’t know is, if the original diameter was bigger, and the ball has been worn, not do I know if the number of balls were the same in the different sword blades having the tears of the wounded.

[Jim McDougall]

Many European rapier blades and dagger blades had various piercings, which dont seem to have impaired the integrity of the blades, so perhaps the idea's merit is unlikely.

[Bill M]

Jim,

This is may be correct, however, and I am running on memory here, the "piercings" I saw in these "tears" swords could be a channel in the blade, sometimes two parallel channels that were about 5 -6 inches long by 4 or 5mm wide.

Personally, I'd be a little concerned if I had to wield such a blade in battle, but, of course I'd rather be on a hilltop with a sniper rifle anyway!

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by Bill Marsh

Jim,

This is may be correct, however, and I am running on memory here, the "piercings" I saw in these "tears" swords could be a channel in the blade, sometimes two parallel channels that were about 5 -6 inches long by 4 or 5mm wide.

Personally, I'd be a little concerned if I had to wield such a blade in battle, but, of course I'd rather be on a hilltop with a sniper rifle anyway!

Thanks for answering Bill. You're right, these were channels, and Philip Tom did make the suggestion it seems at some point that these would have a compromising effect on the blades integrity. However, it should be remembered as well that wootz blades did gain a certain disfavor as in combat they were prone to breaking as opposed to forged blades, if I understand the matallurgists correctly. For these reasons, the court, parade and presentation swords typically received the luxurious blades.

On the sniper rifle, saw a good movie on that last week.."the Shooter".

[kronckew]

as an engineer, i can look at a sword blade as a cantilever beam, supported on one end, and loaded at the impact point, ie. the 'sweet spot' nearer to the unsupported end.

this places the spine of the blade in compression, and the edge in tension.

somewhere between the spine and the edge is a neutral point that is neither in compression or tension, and and cut-outs put along that line, the 'neutral axis' will not affect the mechanical strength of the beam.

it is thus possible to cut a channel in, or even pierce a blade with very little effect on it's strength.

rounded edges in lieu of sharp corners, of course, to avoid stress raisers, and kept to a reasonable size...

calculating this line would be fun tho, the ancient smith would have to have a lot of experience and experimentation with resulting failures to figure it out.

[Jens Nordlunde]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

However, it should be remembered as well that wootz blades did gain a certain disfavor as in combat they were prone to breaking as opposed to forged blades, if I understand the matallurgists correctly.

Jim,
I don't know where you have see that wootz blades were likely to break. It is the first time I hear about it, in all the years I have collected.
Kronckew,
This is very interesting. So maybe it is true, what I have been told, that the chevron blades with the tears of the wounded were used in battles.

[Richard Furrer]

I had thought that the Indian slot was in sections of short lengths (each section isolated)..like Jens said, but when I was in India last year I saw Gopilal Banwharlal..a smith in Udaipur...start to drill a hole from the tang toward the tip...in essence the balls could move from tang to tip unobstructed. I asked him why they do the balls and he said that it was tradition and that they can get more money for it....sounded like a good answer to me.

I have yet to do this technique, but it is on the list.

Ric

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by Jens Nordlunde

Jim,
I don't know where you have see that wootz blades were likely to break. It is the first time I hear about it, in all the years I have collected.
Kronckew,
This is very interesting. So maybe it is true, what I have been told, that the chevron blades with the tears of the wounded were used in battles.

Thanks Jens, obviously misstated, and perhaps I can blame desert fatique for trying to recall notes on wootz that I didnt thoroughly understand in the first place! I think that I might have been thinking of the avoidance of sword to sword combat with shamshirs and wootz blades, but then any blade which had a flaw in its composition would probably fracture in such stress, and the use of the shield to parry might have led my assumption. Thank you for the correction.

Best regards,
Jim