Forums > Other Toys > Fire swords........

Posted: 15th Jul 2003
but....your...name...is....AXE!

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Posted: 15th Jul 2003
That's just the nickname I got at uni from having a replica medieval war-axe hanging from a hook on my wall

Posted: 16th Jul 2003
hey that's neato! you must ba a fan of exotic melee weapons - if you want, perform a search in the other toys section, and there've been some really innerestin discussions on which exotic weapons are sweet to enflame.
yes, shorely enflame is not a word.

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Posted: 26th Jul 2003
Well here goes me first message on this site!
Yes I made fire sword a while ago..I use reclaimed aluminium from some double glazing units.I took to L shaped pieces (one side much longer than other) I used theese to hold either side of a strip of wick,leaving half inch to inch of wick exposed down lentgh of sword... Then bolt/screw through. This is inserted into a U shaped piece that forms the back and gives the ridgidity to the sword (hate 'mock' swords that flop about) continue aluminium past the hand guard and through handle..Bind on wood side to form grip.... DO NOT make hand guard of metal as it WILL get hot!
Hope this helpful and you end up with Katana or wakazshi style fire sword...Wana play??

I'd rather go Poi with myself!

Posted: 28th Jul 2003
I have not as yet constructed fire bokken. They are on my list of toys to build. First I and my friend are going to learn how to use them. Then we will make the fire versions. If you come up with a good design, PLEASE post it here! I am very interested! Cheers!

Posted: 29th Jul 2003
Major, not all swords that 'flop about' are 'mock swords' many -especially some exotic chinese swords- are designed with the blade allowed to bend to specific range of degrees for certain movements to work at all. This also applies to some chinese spearwork too, fyi.
If you were referring to floppy swords from Toys'R'Us, then yes, they are 'mock swords', particularly the platic, hollow ones.

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Posted: 29th Jul 2003
The suppleness of a blade is important, depending on the kind of action you're trying to do with it.

Does anybody else remember the scene in Game of Death where Bruce Lee uses a long bamboo rod to beat the stuffing out of some guy? Weapons, like the martial artist himself, should be supple and able to change and adapt to every situation..

Raph

Posted: 29th Jul 2003
While everyone else is right about bendy swords, Raphael, using a scene from a scripted, choreographed movie really doesn't prove anything.

Even if it was Bruce Lee...

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Posted: 30th Jul 2003
Martial arts, cheoreographed or not, is very much related to fire spinning.

The fluidity, the control, the way that each individual puts a stamp on the moves he or she does..its all quite similar.

Raph

Posted: 30th Jul 2003
but charles, doesn't Bruce Lee's totally trendy trackies count? erm they are yellow y'know!
dem swords get hot with fire. how do the aluminium swords react to several burns in the same night? do ya use gloves? why ami not using? punctuation

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Posted: 2nd Aug 2003
Ok, so what if you just wrapped whick around an aluminum pole with a wood dowel inside? And then wrapped the handle in... um... something less heat conductive than metal? I mean it's simple, and it doesn't have the cool curve I want from a bokken, but it should work, no? I'm worried about wick hitting each other and wearing through each other during correographed fights (Let's face it, ya know thats why you want to build em... heck who needs coreography, just beat your friends with em!). I really want to find out how people deal with that, like, do you put wick around only the back half of the apperatus, and leave a striking surface so wick isn't destroyed?

Posted: 2nd Aug 2003
beefy2 mate, i would urge you to make swords that wear themselves down rather than hurt you!!
the real trick with preparing fire swords is in securing the wick as it is wrapped around a blade edge as opposed to the normal toilet roll like configuration. i really strongly advise ya to use a minimum of exposed heat conductive materials in binding the wick. i.e. thin twine holding key points in the wick fold - if the twine is taut enough, the wick actually expands higher than it, making it much less likely to hurt yourself than say...an exposed bolt. i can take a photo for ya pal if you need it!
be safe and silly! at once if possible!

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Posted: 2nd Aug 2003
Well, ok, here's my idea. Take a wood bokken, and wrap it in wick.

1st key point: Do I just use 4" wick and just wrap as I would a staff, only multiple times down the length? Or do I do some kinda spiral down it?

2nd key point: securing it would be easy with a bokken, and here's why. You only have on hitting edge, so if you screwed everything together along the spine of the blade, where nothing (is supposed) to hit, you wouldn't have a problem with things breaking apart.

3rd key point: Yes the exposed metal is bound to get real hot, but I'm not really planning on grabbing the part thats on fire anyway (How often do you grab the ends of your staff? Well, on purpose I mean ) so I'm not too worried about it. As I am only going to be hitting someone else with it, or vise versa, I don't think burns will be that big of a problem as long as we don't keep it on any spot for very long.

Now the things that stand in my way: wicking coming off because of hardware failure (Again this is hopefully avoided if I use a bokken instead of a single metal rod). Constant impact with other fire bokken wearing down the wicking faster... this might not be avoidable, but I figured I'd try.

And I would love pics of your solutions! Then I can go to the hardware store and start looking for my own answers with what someone else has figured out as a starting point. Beats spending money on many different solutions.

Posted: 3rd Aug 2003
beefy2, what i was emphasising about minimising exposed metal is that although we can't help where exposed/unwicked blade is a danger, we can choose to limit how much more metal is added, ie the use of bolts and rivets to fasten wicking could end up hurting you, especially as alot of martial arts moves require swiping the sword sideways towards the body - invariably touching your side/torso/ears at least a few times when you are training.

also, twine fastening looks like this:

Non-Https Image Link

note the added metal fastening is twine, and that the twine is recessed into the wicking.
it's still quite unsafe, but the risk is counteracted by alot of fireless practice.
be safe!

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Posted: 16th Aug 2003
i do fire sword but....

¿

Posted: 17th Aug 2003
Swordspeople!
I've made over a dozen swords, half of them fireswords. For the fire swords, I have two basic designs. One design is for solo work and the kevlar is simply wired tightly around the blade with an anchor at the crossguard. The other is for staged combat and has an exposed edge with kevlar rope wired to the back of the blade. The wire goes thorough holes drilled in the blade.
I also fight with a steel cutlass (which I also made) in my pirate reenactment group (www.brethrenofthecoast.com). It makes a lovely "kerrang!," which the wicking muffles on the fireswords.

I think converting a wooden bokken, or anything wood, is a dumb idea. But there are cheap and strong swords made in Mexico and Pakistan for tourists that will to the job. I bought some at the Gun Show, a traveling swap meet like event that always has lots of edged weapons.

peace,
Maximus

Posted: 30th Aug 2003
I want more than staged combat, or correographed combat though. I and a friend spar with our bokkens, I basically want sparring fire bokkens. So I dont have to worry about hurting the other person if I don't pull my slice enough. That's why I was considering a bokken.

Some people have mentioned aluminum tape... Anyone think an aluminum taped bokken with kevlar attached to the back would work well? Hmmm...

Posted: 31st Aug 2003
all the same, the heat penetrates the metal and scroches the wood over time. A thicker guage of metal will simply slow down this process.
Aluminium tape sounds handy, but aluminium flashing (as used in guttering) is cheapish for this application, and be easily be moulded, tacked and hammered into the contours of a firetoy or pet.
no i did not just say that..
/sneaks away

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Posted: 6th Apr 2005
i use two pieces of wood-cored EMT conduit, screwed together side by side in several locations. this gives it the reinforcement needed for repeated blows, and the wood not only keeps the pipe from denting, it slows wicking of the heat to the hand. the kevlar is only on one of the pipes, so the other can be used as the strike surface, for better sound. for handling, i use athletic hand-wrap tape. the more friction applied in using the swords, the better the tape grips back to your hand.

Frederick the Reckless,
Troupe Leader,
Fire and Steel