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 Plastic Wasters 
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Joined: Tue Aug 03, 2004 5:33 am
Posts: 610
Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Post Plastic Wasters
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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Thu Dec 31, 2009 9:23 pm
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Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 12:14 pm
Posts: 1
Location: Metairie, LA
Post Re: Plastic Wasters
Excellent workmanship, very interesting too. I give it a thumbs up.


Fri Jan 01, 2010 2:22 am
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Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2007 10:32 pm
Posts: 67
Location: pride
Post Re: Plastic Wasters
count me in for one. Also I would be down for doing some sandcasting for the pommels. let me know what you had in mind.

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Fri Jan 01, 2010 3:00 am
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Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2009 4:59 pm
Posts: 8
Location: River Ridge
Post Re: Plastic Wasters
Looks great...I am in for 1


Fri Jan 01, 2010 9:29 am
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Joined: Thu Apr 06, 2006 1:06 pm
Posts: 204
Location: At my computer
Post Re: Plastic Wasters
Put me down for 1 as well. At this rate we will all be useing them.


Fri Jan 01, 2010 2:29 pm
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Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2007 4:00 pm
Posts: 177
Post Re: Plastic Wasters
Oh, nice. I'll probably want one too. I wanna play with one first though.


Fri Jan 01, 2010 3:25 pm
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Joined: Thu Apr 06, 2006 1:06 pm
Posts: 204
Location: At my computer
Post Re: Plastic Wasters
If you can come up with a nice looking pommel that does the balancing, and perhaps make the cross guard apart of the mold w/metal core you could sell these swords on the internet for a killing. Seems to be a lot of interest in nylon wasters and only a hand full of suppliers. Even if you went as it is, it could still be marketable for a profit.

The Nylon waster available through "Like Steel Waster" look alot like yours but with a metal pommel.


Sat Jan 02, 2010 11:39 am
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Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2004 3:25 pm
Posts: 453
Location: Norf Sho
Post Re: Plastic Wasters
Looks great. Can't wait to try them out. I'm almost certain we'll buy a pair for the club.


Sun Jan 03, 2010 11:32 am
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Joined: Tue Aug 03, 2004 5:33 am
Posts: 610
Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Post Re: Plastic Wasters
I managed to finish a second waster and Keaton and I smashed them around a little today. Nothing fell apart, but we didn't really get to spar full on. I guess we'll get to put them through the paces on Sunday. Once I'm satisfied that they'll stay together, I'll start making the rest of them.

Unfortunately, I may have to slightly increase the price due to more tooling investment, but the resulting wasters should be more precisely constructed and therefore more durable. They will still be a steal.


Wed Jan 06, 2010 1:59 pm
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Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2009 4:59 pm
Posts: 8
Location: River Ridge
Post Re: Plastic Wasters
No worries...I am in for at least two, when you get them perfected...


Wed Jan 06, 2010 4:22 pm
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