Blade Geometry: "The Deadly Spring" for Swords?

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by Jinumon

Hey all,

I've been watching a lot of test cutting and sword reviews on Youtube recently, and it's got me wondering about the significance of blade geometry and balance in the cutting performance of various blades. Has anyone (perhaps our resident physics buff Douglas Cole) considered expanding the rules for calculating weapon damage to factor in things like blade profile, edge grind/bevel, point of balance, and tapering? After learning a few things (I must be an expert after watching some Youtube videos *sarcasm*), the cutting performance (i.e. swing damage) of thrusting-centric weapons like the longsword are starting to grind my gears. I don't really expect anyone to have done this, it's obviously a monumentously complex topic, perhaps even more-so than the infamous "Deadly Spring," but was just kind of curious.

Jinumon

Not physics-based, but I did write something up about sharp but brittle edges over on the blog.

http://gamingballistic.blogspot.com/...idnt-make.html

This started out as part of the Broken Blade - in fact, it was the original idea. But TBB was worthwhile, while The Cutting Edge was too fiddly to make the cost outweigh the increased complexity.