On Blowtorches...

[o4aversob]

Is the use of a blowtorch on your weapon legal?

[KShan5[PrFC]]

hrm, depends. I also thought attaching a blow torch to the end of your sabre was legal. Attack, parry, flame. Whichever opponenet is chared the least gets the point?

[downunder]

Originally posted by o4aversob
Is the use of a blowtorch on your weapon legal?

m.12
2. All methods of soldering or brazing or in general any heating which may affect the temper of the blade are forbidden

[KShan5[PrFC]]

yeah that sounds like a definate no to me.

[o4aversob]

Well that answers that. Wow. Those FIE and USFA chaps really mean business about that stuff.

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

but, that does not mean you have to use the blade in usfa competion. You can stil go stab you freinds with bad weapons.

[lochinvar]

The reason for the rule is simple: improper heating can weaken the blade and make it prone to breaking, creating a dangerous condition.

I remember as a child taking ordinary straight pins (the kind used in sewing) and heating them in the flame of our gas stove until they were glowing, then dousing them in a glass of water. (Don't ask me why I did this--I was a kid. I didn't need a 'reason'. And no, my parents weren't home at the time )

While the pins were very difficult to bend in their unheated state, once I had "tempered" them they were quite easy to bend.

I don't know the technical term for this ("annealing", I think, but I could be wrong) the fact is that indicriminately applying heat to your forged steel blades can seriously--and perhaps dangerously--change their characteristics.

Hence, the rule.

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

Being an apprentice blacksmith, lochinvar, their is an official name for this. Its called goofing around at the stove. However, I recently forged a maraging steel blade. It passes all the test, and it can bend 90 degrees and spring back.

[sabresamurai]

one time when the electricity went out in an ice storm two years ago i got really bored so i took a hanger and put it in the fire until it was red hot, then i got a hammer and made it look triangular, then i made it really really really hot in the fire so it was well really hot so that i could weld them together or something and i made a solid knife it was tight