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Oct 24, 2021 18:32
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https://twitter.com/wonderofscience/status/1451883809360596993?s=20
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Oct 24, 2021 21:03
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Isn't obsidian also incredibly sharp? Break it in just the right way & it has an edge that's measured in microns.
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Oct 24, 2021 23:18
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yeah I was really fukkin nervous when he slid his fingers along the face
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Oct 24, 2021 23:38
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Android Apocalypse posted:Isn't obsidian also incredibly sharp? Break it in just the right way & it has an edge that's measured in microns. Microns? Pshaw, a good fracture gets you down to single-atom thickness, i.e. nanometres. Actually I'm not sure that's true, the Wikipedia reference doesn't actually back up that claim, and 5 minutes of searching doesn't bring up anything better. I would bet it's better than 1 micron: because glass is brittle and not made of different grains, it's extremely natural for it to break along essentially perfect edges. You get the same thing with glass or silicon crystals. It's really easy to break them along a straight line if you score them first, because there's no irregularities that make the atoms want to break apart in any other way. I don't think that would be true about the edge of that boulder: there's obviously all sorts of other stuff disrupting the edge and leading to a imperfect structure.
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Oct 25, 2021 00:10
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I want to touch the forbidden lava egg.
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Oct 25, 2021 00:19
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LeastActionHero posted:Microns? Pshaw, a good fracture gets you down to single-atom thickness, i.e. nanometres. https://www.finescience.com/en-US/Products/Scalpels-Blades/Micro-Knives/Obsidian-Scalpels
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Oct 25, 2021 07:15
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The Mayan Macuahuitl is pretty badass, they'd put obsidian blades in a wood club. Sadly there are no originals left
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Oct 25, 2021 10:54
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Oh neat. I've seen those before in the Road to El Dorado, but I never thought to wonder what the fin things were. I hope their enemies had already developed full body armour 
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Oct 25, 2021 11:00
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Lady Disdain posted:Oh neat. I've seen those before in the Road to El Dorado, but I never thought to wonder what the fin things were. I recall hearing that contemporary reports stated they could decapitate a horse in one blow.
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Oct 25, 2021 11:04
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I believe cloth armour was most common at the time and in that part of the world, so certainly not the ideal thing you would want to fight a guy with a sword made of scalpels in.
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Oct 25, 2021 11:04
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OwlFancier posted:I believe cloth armour was most common at the time and in that part of the world, so certainly not the ideal thing you would want to fight a guy with a sword made of scalpels in. Woven armor, yeah. Macuahuitls were very dangerous, very well-designed weapons for the cultures and wars that used them. The problem is that they weren't useful against the metal armor that the Spanish wore.
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Oct 25, 2021 12:26
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Point Reyes Crater in California is loving insane and I can't believe I just heard about it today:
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Oct 25, 2021 13:50
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Some people get itchy when they read or hear about lice. That crater is giving me toothache.
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Oct 25, 2021 14:46
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LeastActionHero posted:: because glass is brittle and not made of different grains, it's extremely natural for it to break along essentially perfect edges. You get the same thing with glass or silicon crystals. It's really easy to break them along a straight line if you score them first, because there's no irregularities that make the atoms want to break apart in any other way. Glass is very different from crystal. That's the distinguishing thing about glass, it's a non-crystalline solid. It's essentially all irregularity, with no long-range order at all. Glass doesn't have any natural planes of separation, it fractures conchoidally, and obsidian blades aren't clean perfect edges. They're knapped.
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Oct 25, 2021 15:22
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Phanatic posted:Glass is very different from crystal. That's the distinguishing thing about glass, it's a non-crystalline solid. It's essentially all irregularity, with no long-range order at all. Glass doesn't have any natural planes of separation, it fractures conchoidally, and obsidian blades aren't clean perfect edges. They're knapped. Knap you pal 
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Oct 25, 2021 15:41
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Phanatic posted:Glass is very different from crystal. That's the distinguishing thing about glass, it's a non-crystalline solid. It's essentially all irregularity, with no long-range order at all. Glass doesn't have any natural planes of separation, it fractures conchoidally, and obsidian blades aren't clean perfect edges. They're knapped. The basic, necessary skill for knapping is the controlled removal of individual flakes and large ones can have single perfect edges. While these are often then 'retouched' (removal of many small flakes along the edge) in order to create a less brittle blade (by making the cutting edge less thin) they do not have to be. Unmodified fresh flint (or obsidian) flakes have edges sharper than surgical steel, edges so sharp that the cuts they make can heal leaving virtually no scar (which is why obsidian blades are used in eye surgery). I used to work with a very good knapper and one of his minor peeves was that all the truly impressive accidental cuts he'd made on his hands while learning the craft had left no really noticeable scars. freelop posted:The Mayan Macuahuitl is pretty badass, they'd put obsidian blades in a wood club.
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Oct 25, 2021 18:34
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EmptyVessel posted:The basic, necessary skill for knapping is the controlled removal of individual flakes and large ones can have single perfect edges. While these are often then 'retouched' (removal of many small flakes along the edge) in order to create a less brittle blade (by making the cutting edge less thin) they do not have to be. Unmodified fresh flint (or obsidian) flakes have edges sharper than surgical steel, edges so sharp that the cuts they make can heal leaving virtually no scar (which is why obsidian blades are used in eye surgery). I used to work with a very good knapper and one of his minor peeves was that all the truly impressive accidental cuts he'd made on his hands while learning the craft had left no really noticeable scars. Maybe it's like modern replica swords for display, purposely left dull for safety? If it's sharp someone's eventually going to try test the theory and decapitate a horse.
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Oct 25, 2021 22:06
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SomeDrunkenMick posted:Maybe it's like modern replica swords for display, purposely left dull for safety? If it's sharp someone's eventually going to try test the theory and decapitate a horse. Yeah I mean you hand me one of those and say "btw this can decapitate a horse obvs don't do that" I can tell you right away the first thing I'd be doing.
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Oct 25, 2021 23:39
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RIP Gigantesco, thought of a Macuahuitl and died.
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Oct 25, 2021 23:45
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Scaramouche posted:Yeah I mean you hand me one of those and say "btw this can decapitate a horse obvs don't do that" I can tell you right away the first thing I'd be doing. 
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Oct 26, 2021 02:14
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Megillah Gorilla posted:Point Reyes Crater in California is loving insane and I can't believe I just heard about it today: i've hiked past that multiple times, i wonder what it looks like now...
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Oct 26, 2021 04:47
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I have heard (but cannot confirm) that macuahuitls were mostly a prestige and ceremonial weapon, because if you actually used it in battle you'd subsequently have to replace a bunch of the blades which was both expensive and a pain in the rear end.
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Oct 26, 2021 05:10
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The Lone Badger posted:I have heard (but cannot confirm) that macuahuitls were mostly a prestige and ceremonial weapon, because if you actually used it in battle you'd subsequently have to replace a bunch of the blades which was both expensive and a pain in the rear end. Otoh, if your enemies know you use one in battle, you will have to fight fewer battles.
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Oct 26, 2021 06:30
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The mesoamerican equivalent of an american guided missile. Pretty good but probably costs more than the thing you blew up with it.
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Oct 26, 2021 07:36
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The Lone Badger posted:I have heard (but cannot confirm) that macuahuitls were mostly a prestige and ceremonial weapon, because if you actually used it in battle you'd subsequently have to replace a bunch of the blades which was both expensive and a pain in the rear end. I guess you could still batter people to death with it like Miyamoto Musashi
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Oct 26, 2021 13:15
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Gort posted:I guess you could still batter people to death with it like Miyamoto Musashi In this vein I think most of the weapons that were actually used (rather than ceremonial) were much simpler to make (much like a boat oar)...
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Oct 26, 2021 14:22
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drat, I never heard of this guy. "According to the introduction of The Book of Five Rings, Musashi states that his first successful duel was at the age of 13, against a samurai named Arima Kihei who fought using the Kashima Shintō-ryū style, founded by Tsukahara Bokuden (b. 1489, d. 1571). The main source of the duel is the Hyoho senshi denki ("Anecdotes about the Deceased Master"). Summarized, its account goes as follows: In 1596, Musashi was 13, and Arima Kihei, who was traveling to hone his art, posted a public challenge in Hirafuku-mura. Musashi wrote his name on the challenge. A messenger came to Dorin's temple, where Musashi was staying, to inform Musashi that his duel had been accepted by Kihei. Dorin, Musashi's uncle, was shocked by this, and tried to beg off the duel in Musashi's name, based on his nephew's age. Kihei was adamant that the only way his honour could be cleared was if Musashi apologized to him when the duel was scheduled. So when the time set for the duel arrived, Dorin began apologizing for Musashi, who merely charged at Kihei with a six-foot quarterstaff, shouting a challenge to Kihei. Kihei attacked with a wakizashi, but Musashi threw Kihei on the floor, and while Kihei tried to get up, Musashi struck Arima between the eyes and then beat him to death. Arima was said to have been arrogant, overly eager to battle, and not a terribly talented swordsman."
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Oct 26, 2021 15:21
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Gort posted:I guess you could still batter people to death with it like Miyamoto Musashi you batter them senseless so you can take them home with you and offer their livings hearts to the Gods.
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Oct 26, 2021 15:32
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I was going to make a snide remark about not knowing one of the most famous Japanese swordsman but then I realized I read The Book of the Five Rings as a 13 year-old and the Weeb Alarm went off when I pointed it at the mirror.
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Oct 26, 2021 15:39
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I learned about him the way most people learn about history these days, via Kate Beaton's webcomics quote:Ohh Sasaki Kojiro you should not have run your mouth http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=40
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Oct 27, 2021 01:04
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DandyLion posted:In this vein I think most of the weapons that were actually used (rather than ceremonial) were much simpler to make (much like a boat oar)... The aztecs were definitely keen on wooden clubs (often paddle-shaped, but lacking blades) because you got more captives that way.
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Oct 27, 2021 02:52
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The aztecs loved Dazed and confused too?
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Oct 27, 2021 03:14
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if I recall, there's theories that warfare focused on captives, so that the winners could publicly executing them en masse; it's reasonable to see a practice like this could have served to assert dominance over the population, and reduce the number of actual deaths from battle itself.
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Oct 27, 2021 11:33
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Milo and POTUS posted:The aztecs loved Dazed and confused too? You struck with the thin side. It increases the cross-sectional density of the weapon, partially compensating for the fact that wood isn't that dense.
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Oct 27, 2021 11:39
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The Incas came up with another solution to that kind of problem. They developed a unique polearm with a broad tip designed to crush and bludgeon rather than pierce when the polearm is thrust.
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Oct 27, 2021 12:29
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Paddle-shaped wooden clubs may also have been a fairly common weapon in Neolithic Europe: https://www.cambridge.org/core/jour...BF3E1870044A60B
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Oct 27, 2021 12:41
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Rascar Capac posted:Paddle-shaped wooden clubs may also have been a fairly common weapon in Neolithic Europe: Also in some parts of Polynesia, sometimes with shark teeth added for added nastiness. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leiomano
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Oct 27, 2021 18:28
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quote:The tip of the handle also may utilize a marlin bill as a dagger. Firstly, utterly badass. Secondly, how on earth were these people catching marlin and great whites ?
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Oct 27, 2021 22:49
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Lots of practice, one assumes. You live in the middle of the pacific long enough you probably figure it out.
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Oct 27, 2021 22:59
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