So I blew all of my Christmas money on tools and materials to make some wasters from HDPE plastic. I had a chance to fight with this kind of waster at Dixie Kreig and I loved them. They're very useful for drilling and sparring since the plastic swords slide on each other very much like steel does.
They're also turning out to be easy as hell to make. After I've perfected a design, I'll eventually have 10 or 15 of these to sell for $20 each. That's a quarter of the cost you can get them anywhere on the internet, and I'm still able to recoup my material and tooling costs. It's a massive steal. I'll have at least 3 or 4 with me at Recruit Day that people can play with.
This is the prototype I've worked up right now. The main body is 3/4" thick HDPE plastic. The cross is a 3/8" steel rod that goes straight through the sword body. There is rubber hose over the bar to help cushion it and a set screw in the sword body to keep the metal bar from sliding out. Balance is achieved with a combination of steel flat bar set into the grip and washers set into the pommel with a nut and bolt holding it together. I need to do some tinkering to keep the nut from sticking out so far, but I think I have an idea that'll work. The pommel will likely be dipped in plasti-dip to help smooth it out and make it more comfy. I'm also throwing around the idea of making more authentic (and comfy) pommels in cast bronze or lead.
Stats:
Overall length ............... 48"
Blade Length ................ 36 3/4"
Grip Width ................... 1 1/4"
Grip Length .................. 8 5/8"
Pommel Diam. ............... 2 3/8"
Weight ........................ 3lb 0.6 oz
Anyone interested? Any design ideas or feature requests?
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