The World of Richard Cullinan The World of Richard Cullinan
The Fibreglass Rapier Constructor's page.
Contents
This is a page which brings together some of my recent work in fibreglass rapier construction. I eventually hope to have this set up as a one stop reference for all fibreglass construction methods.
Most of the blade production in the US is fairly ...backward... by the standards of fibreglass blade construction in Lochac. Since we weren't allowed the luxury of using steel fencing blades by West Kingdom, and this was well before schlagers were commonly accepted in the SCA, Lochac quickly developed an extremely effective composite design through experimentation. This design became known as the "Edmund design", named after the pseudomym of Paul Sawtell (Edmund the Lame), the design's inventor. This design follows the same design principle of a modern fencing blade, ie a rigid forte for two-thirds of the blade, and the end third is fairly flexible. The beauty of this design is that it allows you to control the point, without any wobble or whippiness. A major factor in fencing, since point control is essential.
US blades tend to use what I call the 3 plank method, basically 3 parallel rods glued together. Whilst they have reasonable flex, the design relies on the flex being across the whole blade. This has two major drawbacks. The first is the blades can have a tendency to "S-bend". This is when the blade bends in a sinusoidal manner, like a flattenned stretched out S. This makes the blades rigid on impact, and feels like you've just been hit by a freight train. Bad news if you want people to keep fencing with you. The other problem is that it introduces compensation factors into your fencing movements. The blade wobbles or flexes along the longitudinal axis, so if your parry or thrust attack is even marginally rotated so that the flat is in the direction of blade movement, the point moves significantly offline. So much so that the modern abominiation known as the flick is even more effective than when used with modern fencing blades. If you're trying to learn correct technique, it's just not possible with these blades, as you are compensating for the point movement, unlike the Edmund design.
LOCHAC CONSTRUCTION METHODSEdmund's Rapier Blade Construction Instructions
Edmund's construction method can be found as a stand alone document at www.sca.org.au/rapier/guild_Edmund1.htm. This clearly outlines how to make a composite blade with a rigid forte and flexible tip. The finished product ends up with a triangular cross section.
If you are interested in the history of this design, it was originally included in the original versions of the West Kingdom fencing rules, which you can still find at user.it.uu.se/~arnoldp/SCA/Fencing/. The Edmund design is the one labelled "Method 1".
You can also use this method for constructing the blades, but then use one of the alternate hilting methods.
Naysábúrí Blade Construction Method - my preferred method
I began playing around with making fibreglass rapiers for the SCA about 2-3 months after I started training under Peter Linich, Maestro di Scherma. Almost all of the techniques he was teaching required excellent control of the point. My problem at the time was that all the fibreglass blades we had in Sydney at that time had been made using the 3 plank method. After some reading around, I couldn't find anything better than the design by Edmund, so I started using that as the basis for making my blades. I've now made more than 20-30 blades by this method, usually for other people, and have perfected a simple munitions grade hilting method.
I'm biased, but my construction method has replaced the older construction methods used in the Sydney area. After I'd made the first couple, people wanted to know how I was doing the hilts, so I wrote some intructions. I've had several people follow my instructions, and they've all found them quite easy to use. This method comes highly recommended by locals, and is my personal preference for a good munitions quality blade.
You can find construction instructions for my Naysábúrí Munitions blades at www.ozemail.com.au/~rcull/Blade_construction.htm. It's a variant of Paul Sawtell's rigid forte method that uses thicker tip rods for durability, produces a diamond cross section, and outlines a method for setting blades into copper pipe handles. The best part about using copper pipe for handles is that you can use brass curtain rod finials as pommels, and they're exactly the right weight, so the balance point is right on the period average. You can also use this method for constructing the blades, but then use one of the alternate hilting methods.
These are the pages with other construction methods I know of already. Basically it's the list of all the methods I could find when I developed my method. There doesn't seem to be any list of available methods anywhere, so I'm making one. Anyone care to add others? If so email me using the link at the bottom of the page.
Joel Winter's Construction Method
This is the second method in the old West Kingdom rules, which you can find at user.it.uu.se/~arnoldp/SCA/Fencing/. It is a variant of the standard three parallel rods method, with the center rod set into lamp rod, as developed by Joel Winter. I like the hilting method, but would recommend you use a modified version of either Edmund's or my own blade construction techniques when you construct the blade. Like all three parallel rod methods, the blades in this method are far too whippy for simulating a steel rapier.
Variant of Joel Winter's construction method by Arioch von Darkholm & Sariel von Darkholm. This method uses thinner side rods, to help improve tip flexibility. Like all three parallel rod methods, the blades in this method are far too whippy for simulating a steel rapier. This site does provide some pictures on how the alternate hilting method is done, and thus is useful if you want to try out hilting a rigid forte blade by this method. I found the instructions at www.rogues.net, however last time I looked this site was no longer available.
An Tir fibreglass blade construction method
Variant of three parallel rod method developed by Baron Monseigneur Jacques de Normandie. Blades are planed during construction, and inset into PVC pipe. I personally do not recommend this method, as planing fibreglass to get a smooth finish is ridiculous unless you have some pretty exhaustive safety techniques in place. Fibreglass dust is nasty stuff! This construction method is even nastier, and was one of the reasons I developed my own construction techniques. (This is what a lot of people in Sydney were using.) I found these instructions at tscnet.com/~jwingren/jacques.html, however last time I looked this site was no longer available.
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