Killer Whales Can Beat Sharks In A Swordfight
You see the title.
Articles by Sean Franklin
An Alternative Method for MoI Determination
I’ve harped about Moment of Inertia in multiple articles. Now I try a new experimental method for figuring it out.
4 Rules to the Meyer Square
I don’t like remembering arbitrary sequences. And on the surface the 16-cut pattern that forms the Meyer’s Square is the exact type of arbitrary sequence that I hate. But is it really?
Swords in Space: The First (?) Frontier
There have been a number of very good physics descriptions of sword motion. However they neglect the most important part: a sword isn’t free floating in space!
“Safe Sword” is made up words
We frequently talk about how to make swords “safe”. Unfortunately unless you can come up with a definition which satisfies a few specific criteria, the word “safe” doesn’t have a lot of meaning.
Two Phases Of a Cut – Surface vs Steady State
From a blade resistance point of view, cutting actually has two distinct phases: the internal and external.
Difficulties with SCA Flex Test and Buckling Test for Measuring Blade Stiffness
Two of the most popular ways to quantify blade stiffness are the SCA Flex Test and the Buckling Test. Unfortunately they both have issues, but we’re suffering for lack of better solutions.
Finding the World’s Highest Level HEMA
“In your opinion, which country has the highest level of practitioners?” Let’s see if I can answer this in the most unhelpful way possible.
Vector Transformations and the “Wedge”
Vectors are used to describe just about everything in life. And all it takes to win a sword fight is to transform all your opponent’s vectors into ones that can’t hurt you. Piece of cake!
Blade Stresses
We are used to thinking about the forces that swords apply on their targets, but we don’t spend as much time thinking about the forces that the targets apply to the swords. Between axial, shear, bending, and torsion there is a lot more going on than you might have thought!