I know what
you're thinking about.......I had the same thought. You could actually carry a
titanium bat'leth around a con all day. I lugged a steel one around Toronto Trek
and it almost killed me. This would probably work out to about a 9 pound sword
which is a good weight.
K'Daq
Qa'Pla!
I may have found somewhere we can get a stable supply of
stainless. It's a place called Admiral Steel in Chicago Il.They are advertising
24x72 inch stock,I called to get a quote on bat'leth size pieces , but they
called back after I had gone to work, I'll try again tonight,well that's today I
just got off work and it's 5AM here now I'll get some sleep and try this
afternoon.They handle 1095,1075,5160,A-2( I would LOVE a Bat'leth made out of
A-2 that is TOUGH stuff)D-2 ATS-34 and of course 440.They will also Laser cut to
your drawings (at a pretty penny I'm sure)I will let you know what I find out in
a day or so.
Qa'Pla
K'Beck
Honored
K'Beck,
Excellent! Those of you who have been involved in this craft for
a while know how difficult it is to obtain large steel at a fair price. (See
"mupwI'* Number 1). This would be a terrific find. Keep us informed. Great job
!
K'Daq
K'Daq,
I visited my house mate's dad's workshop, and he showed me a
plasma cutter. That thing is awesome! Dad said one could get one for about $500
or less (including the compresses air that you need to run it), and that there
are different models of cutters for different thicknesses of metal. The one he
had was a smaller model, and I easily cut through a good 2mm thick piece of
steel.
I believe Northern (mail order tool company) has some - I can dig up
the addy if anyone is interested.
SuZilla Priestess, Order of the
Chakram
Su'ZIla' Charter member, Klingon Imperial Weapons Guild
http://www.erols.com/suzilla/index.htm
or
http://www.erols.com/suzilla/temp.htm
Su'ZIla'!!
Talk about
bringing a smile to an old Klingon's face. }};-)) I'd say that I am VERY
interested. Send me the info and I'll definitely look into it.
Thanks for the
excellent info.
K'Daq
K'Daq
Northern: 1-800-533-5545
fax:
1-612-894-0083
http://www.northern-online.com
The plasma cutter is really
the way to go. Requires no strength.
SuZilla Priestess, Order of the
Chakram
Su'ZIla' Charter member, Klingon Imperial Weapons Guild
http://www.erols.com/suzilla/index.htm
or
http://www.erols.com/suzilla/temp.htm
Honored Su'ZIla' !
You've
earned your blood wine for the day. I have already sent off for their catalog
and will be sure to post a letter to the Guild when it gets in and I digest the
info.
I think I will expound on the potential benefits of a plasma cutter to
our line of *work* in the December transmission. I can think of several right
off and it would be a worthy topic to explore.
Thanks again honored
priestess.
K'Daq
Greetings Grandfather,
Enclosed is a picture of John Thrashner, a
member of the House Drexa and the Engineer of the IKV Bat'leth with his
creation, the arm sword. This is the first one in its early stages.....the
second one is a foot longer and is meant to be worn on the opposite arm. To be
used in close arms, hand to hand battle - the smaller one to deflect blows,
while the longer is used to lunge and attack.
I will send a progress photo of
both swords in my next letter.
Kaatje
Honored
Kaatje,
Please excuse the *massive* condensing of your letter but I felt
strongly about displaying John's work for the other members to see. Its very
creative and definitely indicates that there is an active *forge* working in
your area of the Empire. I know this picture doesn't do the blade justice, but
it should be enough to show that there are NO limits to what we design and
build. Please convey my admiration to John and inform him of his status as a
member of the Guild. I would consider it an honor to display any of his future
work on the Guild site.
vavnI'lI'
As the Guild grows, we will try to enhance camaraderie by publishing
histories of our members (both Klingon and Terran). It is not necessary to
develop a family history to be a Guild member, but it does help to solidify an
image of you as a fellow crafts person and Klin.
K'moghjIH
I am K'moghjIH, son of Kempoc! I was born on Khitomer. The House of
K'Heghnach is full of many brothers and sisters that managed to survive the
Khitomer massacre!
I was Weapons Officer on the IKV Shadow Dancer where we
fought many glorious battles against the Romulans. One such battle took us deep
into Romulan space in an attempt to assassinate the Prefect and bring the
Romulan Empire to their knees. We conquered many Romulan worlds, including
D'cI'vanram.
As Medical Officer aboard the IKV Dark Justice, I tortured many
Federation officers to get information vital to the success of our battles
against them. Many songs were written about the crew of the IKV Dark Justice and
their glorious battles. Many star bases fell at our hands.
I was later
assigned to the Klingon Defense Force High Council as Chief of Security. As part
of my duties as Chief of Security, I was the Chancellor's Personal Guard. I
protected him against many assassination attempts and had many of his enemies
killed. During the Civil War with the Durass family, I sided with Gowron for the
right of succession.
Now, as Chief of Intelligence and a member of the IKF
High Council, I keep Lord Admiral Kethas well informed of all intelligence and
plots against the empire. I command the ILP Death's Head and coordinate the
entire covert operative network to infiltrate our enemy's defenses. I am also a
Security Officer in the KIDC and hope to be an apprentice to the Honorable K'Daq
in the art of making and wielding weapons.
K'moghjIH
Well done K'moghjIH ! We'll teach you to make a sharp blade, but it sounds
like you'll need to grow a pair of eyes in the back of your head to keep your
skin intact.
Sleep light and keep your enemies upwind.
Next month:
Morac and the House of Kale
The history of the qutluch
The qutluch - blade of the Assassin - is
smaller than the d'k tagh but has considerably more killing power when used
correctly.
Klingons look at death in a totally different manner than do
Humans - death for a Klingon is merely a transition from one battle ground to
the next. HOW one dies is what is important to a Klingon. Equally important is
how a warrior kills his enemy. As always honor is paramount - the code of honor
that is strictly outlined in Klingon history stretching from the time of Kahless
when he used honor as the building blocks for a Galactic
Empire.
Assassination is considered an honorable death as well as an
honorable profession if it is carried out according to ancient guidelines. The
primary aspect of assassination is that the two parties MUST fight face to face.
To look into your victims eyes at the moment of death is the way of the warrior.
Stabbing in the back or from the shadows or the use of modern or chemical
weapons is strictly against the code of honor.
Secondly, assassination should
be carried out with weapons of ancient design - clubs, cudgels and knives are
the weapons most often chosen. When looking at the qutluch you can draw your own
conclusions as to its development. It is a weapon designed to breach any armor
and produce maximum destruction of internal organs . The weapon produces a very
characteristic wound of savage brutality. When Kurn was attacked by this blade,
Worf could identify the *tool* by the wound itself.
And finally
assassination should be carried out quickly and efficiently. If the assassin
does not carry out his work quickly, he might find himself on the wrong end of
the blade. The qutluch design makes this aspect a reality in the hands of the
trained assassin. The razor tip creates quick access and the saw-teeth sever
arteries on the knife's path in and out. Every aspect of the blade is designed
to produce maximum damage and the formed handle provides a sure grip in all
situations.
I make sure mine is always sharp.
Qa'Pla!!!
mupwI'
yI'uchtaH !!
qutluch
The qutluch is a very ancient weapon and it's design reflects that. The
Klingon race is gifted with a number of redundant organ systems (brak'lul - Star
Trek Encyclopedia pg. 161) that make the warrior very hard to bring down by
conventional means. This *gift* requires a massive amount of internal damage to
be dealt to the warrior in order to kill him. The qutluch is a blade whose sole
purpose is to maximize damage (this is why it is the predominant weapon of
choice for the trained Assassin).
It is not uncommon to find the qutluch as
an ancient family heirloom due to its solid construction and the example I made
has been constructed specifically to give the impression of great age.
The
blade is quarter inch carbon steel. Stainless is too shiny for my tastes when it
comes to creating that *ancient* look.
The guard and pommel are carved from a
single Water Buffalo horn. If you have never used this material you should give
it a try. Its very durable and polishes to a comfortable finish.
The grip is
my old favorite - hardened leather. What can I say ? I really like the stuff.
Which brings up a good point. We all will develop a style that identifies our
work. Although we can all get ideas from the work of others, don't allow that to
block your ability to make your own unique creations. In this respect, leather
is leather. I think everybody should try it.
qutluch
Dimensions:
thickness of blade - .25 inches
length of blade - 8.00
inches.
length of blade and handle (full length) - 13.5
inches
width of weapon - 2.35 inches
Next month : the standard bat'leth
Creating Simple *Spirals* in weapons handles
The tip this month
is designed to go along with our Axe construction but it is a useful tool for
dressing up any project. Decorative handles serve many purposes, two of which
are to enhance the looks of and to improve the ability to grip and swing the
weapon.
The spiral is very simple and at the same time adds a certain
elegance to the weapon.
When cutting the spiral be sure not to make your
*trench* cuts too deeply or you will undermine the strength of the weapon's
shaft. The idea is to create the fluid lines but not to encroach on the minimum
thickness for durability.
The first step is to determine how many *flutes*
you want on your spiral. I like four on mine, but three produces a nice look as
well. We'll use four in this example.
1. Divide the cross section of the
shaft into four equal arcs.(Basically make an even *X* across the end of your
shaft.)
2. With masking tape, secure a length of twine to each leg of the
*X*.
3. Take one of the twine lengths and stretch it down the length of the
shaft while turning the shaft. This will produce a *corkscrew* pattern with the
twine. Make the distance between each level even, secure on the opposite end of
the shaft with a piece of tape and then repeat with each piece of twine.
4.
Double check the spacing between each piece of twine to ensure an even spiral
and trace along each line with a *sharpy*.
5. Remove the twine and you have
your *trench* layout on the shaft.
6. At this point its a matter of
preference as to what tool you use to produce the spiral . I usually make a *V*
shaped groove along the line to the depth that I want for the final spiral and
then slant the walls of the groove out toward each other with my belt grinder
until they meet as an inverted *V*. You can also use a large ball shaped
*wood-hog* to produce a rounded trench and finish it off with rubber-backed
sanding cylinders.
**I think the rounded trench works well for long shafted
weapons that will require a lot of hand work during their use since it is much
more comfortable to the touch. The *V* shaped spiral is better suited for the
short handles like our Axe since there is only an occasional need to move your
hand out onto the shaft. The sharp *V* provides a much more *sure* grip on the
occasions when it's needed.
We'll follow up on this procedure in the next section when we discuss the
construction of the handle for the battle-axe.
Qapla'!
Klingon Battleaxe or 'alngegh
(from Okrand's Klingon for the Galactic Traveler)
Construction of the DeS (handle)
For this phase of our project I chose a material referred to as *Dymondwood*
(TM). Dymondwood is wood laminated with a polymer resin under high pressure. It
produces an incredibly strong shaft that polishes like glass. It is very similar
to wood to work with except that the dust is probably toxic and it throws mean
splinters when run through a table saw. It is a common material for smaller
knife handles, comes in a variety of wood grains and is sold in small *scales*
as well as large 50 inch cylinders. I use it frequently for making canes and it
also graces the half bat'leth project.
We will be using a piece of Zebra
dymondwood for this project example. I also have a shaft of black walnut
dymondwood that I will be making a matching Axe with and it might show up on
later pictures.(Hey, these are like Lays...you can't stop at one)
The
shaft is 20 inches long with a four fluted *V* grooved spiral (say that fast
four times) cut almost the entire length with the exclusion of 4 inches on the
far end to increase support to the blade and four inches to create a formed grip
on the opposite end.
After locating the centerline of the shaft, a quarter
inch *slot* is cut from the shaft to cradle the blade. I have a special *jig* I
use to support these cylinders when I run them through the band saw. These are
quite simple to make and provide security and precision to your cuts. The slot
is just *shy* of four inches which corresponds to the depth of the blade pattern
at the centerline.
After the slot is cut a quarter inch hole is drilled dead
center in the shaft at the base of the slot to receive the small partial tang of
the blade to add support. Later this small tang along with quarter inch rivets
will provide the majority of the securing force for the blade to the handle.
There will also be a lanyard hole in the grip to hold a strap or various
decorative *devices*.
The black of the Zebra wood is going to provide an
excellent contrast to the titanium - especially after the blade is
treated........and I have to say that after holding the finished handle in my
hands I am *dying* to get a blade in this thing !
Dymondwood handle with *V* groove spiral
Next month .........the blade !!!! Kick the tires and light the fires - we
are cutting titanium !!!!!!!!.
Remember to write with any material you'd like to have discussed or placed in
*mupwI'* ..
mupwI' yI'uchtaH !!
K'Daq
