Weapon construction

[Madrigus]

I've been looking for ways to make flat-blade style boffers. I've seen them in-game at OR, and I've been wondering if anyone could help me find a resource so I can make ultralights versions.

[Sally]

Jacob and John are pioneering a new, very involved by very fucking awesome method.

The method I know of is what a lot of the southern larps use, where you layer blue camp foam strips:

http://www.foamsmithing.com/components/ ... ox-method/

To continue an earlier conversation from long ago:

I have recently spray-plastdipped a pipe-foam dagger, using kite-tape on the tip (after learning that stabbing tip foam absorbs the everloving hell out of plastidip) and found the results acceptable after 2 spray coats.

[Merana33]

another option to coat tip foam is good old fashioned saran wrap. works wonders under duct tape too, to keep the tape from sticking to itself when the tip compresses.

[liahgeron]

So there is also this guy,

https://www.facebook.com/titandesignstudios

http://titandesignstudio.blogspot.com

He does the fancy weapons for 5th gate and is very methodical about his construction methods with what did and didn't work. It's a little different that the pure camp foam method. I have never tried it myself, but I have a conceptual preference for his method as he uses the same type of foam for the edges that I use as the tube foam we're all familiar with.

There is also the traditional european laminar method which the camp foam method is derived from. This guy makes crazily awesome versions of that type of weapon and has a good step-by-step guide.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL29vXidjpE

I'll post the links for material sources for these methods in a bit. Have to run for now.

[liahgeron]

The final method of construction is one I have been playing with recently and I don't see a good online tutorial for yet. Basically it consists of using the same tube of foam we're all used to seeing, marking out a cross section on one end, using a ring of graphing paper to mark where the cuts to make the desired cross-section, taking that ring and going down the length of the foam marking a line where to cut, then cutting away the undesired pieces. You can shape the tip in a similar fashion if you use the slightly more resistant open cell foam I will link below. The nice thing about this method is the lack of a seam to fail, which is present in the above. Additionally, the "edge" you are likely to strike with is guaranteed to be 3/4 of an inch of padding without needing to measure it.

The caveat with all of these methods is that you are likely to drop below the standard 5/8ths of an inch between the surface of the foam and the core at some position on the blade. This is also true of the fancier latex weapons you see from Calimacil or other sources. Instead, you could scale up the blade to retain the proportions, but that produces somewhat comically oversized weapons.

The main 2 flaws with all three of these methods has to do with the proportions of the blade. First, the "edge" of the weapon is going to be narrower, this means it will, by definition, have a smaller area on the edge that contacts your opponent. Like all thinner weapons, they will sting more when swung with the same amount of force. I have played around a bit with the width and a half inch seems to be the minimum I would go with while using mcmaster foam. I'm a little less familiar with EVAzoate and Plastizoate. The second flaw lies in the thinner foam between surface and core on non-striking surfaces. A strike on that surface is more likely to lead to the core being felt through the foam. In a worst case, a core can punch through that thinner surface or, in the case in laminar construction, the core might work its way through one of the seams. Having gotten hit with a fair number of the 3rd construction and a handful of the 1st and 2nd, I feel that they aren't honestly that much more painful to get hit with provided there is an appropriate amount of attention paid to lightest touch. Much better even than most Calimacil weapons which are heavier and have very thin edges.

Going back to the 5/8 inch padding, while that is the official standard of padding, recently a number of games (including accelerant systems) have been a bit more flexible on the thickness on non-striking surfaces to allow for the more shaped blades. Buried in the weapons props rules is a minimum weapon diameter of 1 3/4 inches that some of the above makers seem to be using as a baseline for non-striking surfaces instead. This is more of a call for the GMs to make on the type of weapons they'd like to see so I'll leave there tutorials here for them to take a look at and tell me what they think.

Materials:

Foam:
McMaster-Carr: http://www.mcmaster.com/
Standard 1H tube foam- 4530K161
More stiff Tip foam- 8643K514 or 8643K516 make sure to get firmness 5

Cores:
Goodwinds: https://goodwinds.com/fiberglass/filame ... ubing.html
Standard .505 FG Core for 1H- 007018
Standard .605 FG Core for 2H (whippy)- 007037
Stiffer .745 FG Core for 2H (better for pole arms)- 007040

DragonPlate: https://dragonplate.com/
Carbon Fiber .500 Core for 1H and 2H (tends to be brittle though durable enough for lightest touch)- https://dragonplate.com/ecart/product.a ... 18&cID=102

EVAzote/Plastizote:
McMaster-Carr
86095K24 - 1/2 inch 2lbs/cu foot EVA water and tear resistant foam 29x47 inches (enough for around 6 weapons)

For glue, I suggest using DAP, which you can get in convenient small bottles at Home Depot now. Use it outside though. It has nasty fumes. Durable though!

For tape, bidirectional strapping tape is tough and a good barrier to core trying to come through.
http://www.amazon.com/Scotch®-Extreme-8959-RD-Inches-Yards/dp/B001AFKV0S/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1444509082&sr=8-9&keywords=strapping+tape