In case you haven’t heard, Ernie Gygax recently had a disastrous house fire and lost pretty much all his possessions. All people and pets got out OK. Although we’re friends on Facebook, I’ve never met Ernie in person. But that doesn’t matter. Ernie is a member of our community. Let’s use this project to help […]
Real Steel: Kobold’s Choice Read More »
The results are in. The kobolds have spoken. The results we have at the end of this post are not what I expected, but kobolds are sneaky and unpredictable by nature. And the winner is…
Real Steel: Kobold’s Choice Results Read More »
Real Steel has been around for over two years and 24 installments. Although I’ve done my best to act on suggestions, I haven’t been able to get to them all. In part, this is because I have received so many suggestions, and also because I have the practical matter of Real Steel projects needing to
Real Steel: Kobold’s Choice Read More »
In honor of the annual destruction and consumption of the dire turkey, we present to you Todd Gdula’s Real Steel, wherein we learn of the creation of a potential weapon that could help with the aforementioned destruction of the dire turkey. The tetsu-ken, or tekkan, is a little-known swordlike weapon from feudal Japan. The originals
Real Steel: Tetsu-Ken Read More »
In the past, we covered forge welding as it relates to Damascus steel here. But forge welding can be used to stick hot steel together in lots of different ways. San Mai is a Japanese technique now in widespread use in Japanese style and non-Japanese style knives. It translates to “three layers.” Gimme the Steel
Real Steel: San Mai Read More »
The manrikigusari, or 10,000 powers chain, also called the ryofundogusari, or double weighted chain, is yet another obscure Japanese weapon. The story about its origins that I like best is that the samurai who guarded Edo castle were forbidden from spilling blood, and so they set aside their usual weapons in favor of this unusual
Real Steel: Manrikigusari Read More »
Volumes upon volumes have been written about steel chemistry and properties, and which steel is best for a particular job. The kobolds prefer if I keep it to around 500 words (kobolds have short attention spans), so I’ll quickly cover simple carbon steels and low alloy tool steels. Although stainless and high alloy steels have
Real Steel: Steel Types and Properties Read More »
There are three basic edge geometries used on cutting tools, and those three types have some variations. Each has advantages and disadvantages, and some are useful only on specialized tools. Each type has its advocates, and some makers like one type so much that they specialize in making only that type of edge. The Hollow
Real Steel: Edge Geometry Read More »
Okay, okay, I promised the Danish axe next. Sorry it didn’t work out — we will do the axe real soon. I think you’re gonna like this one! Sam and I had fun making both the moon hammer and the video.
Real Steel: VIDEO! Moon Hammer Read More »
Remember the tetsubo? Remember asking for some video of stuff getting cut and smashed? Good! Check this video out: What else do you want to see? We can do videos on the subjects of previous written Real Steel articles, or we can do something completely new. Tell us what you want to see! If we like the idea and
Real Steel: VIDEO! Tetsu No Bo Read More »
The war club, in the form of a stick, was probably the first or second weapon ever used by human beings—a rock also being on that early list. Although a stout hardwood branch can get the job done, many cultures have improved both the function and appearance of the humble bludgeon. Native Americans have given
Real Steel: War Club Read More »
One of the many cool things about bladesmithing is that if you come up with a new design or even a twist on an older one, you get to name it. While recurves are nothing new—and even Japanese recurves have been done many ways—the overall pattern of this knife, to my knowledge, has never been
Real Steel: Yakuza Razor Read More »
Tomahawks come in several forms, each with an intended purpose. Early ‘hawks, first made by Native Americans, were made of stone or bone attached to a wooden shaft with sinew or leather bindings. These early ‘hawks were primarily weapons, although some with sharp stone heads could have been used for skinning, de-barking wood, etc. When
Real Steel: Spiked War Hawk Read More »
At least one version of the spear is found at some point in the history of every human culture. In its simpler forms, it is easy to make, easy to learn relative to other weapons, and deadly. Early versions were a simple sharpened stick. The first improvement was fire hardening the point. Later versions had
Real Steel: The Spear Read More »
The kwaiken is like a dagger. It’s a type of small tanto, historically carried by both men and women of the samurai class. As with the tetsu no bo (kanabo), I’m having a hard time finding a reliable translation. Kwaiken literally translates to “chest knife” or “bosom knife,” but whether or not the literal translation
Real Steel: The Kwaiken Read More »
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