How "sharp" are swords?

S

Shann

Joined
Sep 2, 2004
Messages
5,250
I recently visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art and went through the Arms and Armor section for a couple of hours. It reminded me how awesome swords are. The only sword like objects in my accumulation are a couple of Himalayan Imports items (30" sirupati and Manjushri sword) and a few machetes.

I have heard all the stories about how sharp katanas, etc., are. My visit to the Met also made me wonder how sharp "real" swords are or were. (For some reason I wasn't allowed to actually play with any of the swords at the museum!)

It would seem that the edges would quickly fail on even the best swords if they were sharpened like knives but they also seem to be able to historically cut through flesh and bone and not just "bludgeon" the opponent.

I know that this is a basic, maybe even ridiculous question, but I've been around here for a long time and just would like to add to my knowledge.

For comparison's sake and no other, I consider a knife that will cleanly slice paper to be pretty sharp.

Thanks.
 
Considering old katanas were haND honed with JNATS and some still are I'd go out in a limb and say very damn sharp.

When you say cleanly slice paper what kinda paper we talking here? For me almost any knife can cut printer paper. A slow cut into phone book paper is more of a test . These people you see cutting paper fast ,means nothing . You need to slice the paper slowly . The slower you slice and the thinner the paper will show how sharp the knife is . Doing it slowly will let you see any defects in that edge .
 
Real katanas are incredibly sharp. They are hand honed on wetstones.
Here's a quick read for you.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_sword_polishing

Your typical european longsword sword was also very sharp, but generally not along the entire length of the blade. the area closer to the hilt was often kept unsharpened. This was because the hilt area was often used for parrying and defensive moves; the forte(strong) part of the sword.

Regarding edge durability, yes, swords get dulled and dinged very easily. Historic pieces ranged from 30-50 hrc, and it wouldn't be uncommon for a sword to need maintenance after one or two encounters. That being said, a slightly dull sword would still probably be effective enough to cause injuries, the times I cut myself the most is actually handling dull swords as I prepare them to be sharpened...
 
I believe that when groups of warriors were fighting for life, country, and conquest, they maintained their swords and other weapons as sharp as they could. Someone with a dull sword would probably take as much flak for it as a soldier today would for keeping a dirty gun.
 
I began a long trip through the world of blades at the Met starting from day one .I never went to the Met without going to the A&A area .A wonderful opportunity to learn the blade world. How many times did I go there ? Can't count that high ! Day one ...High school where I became a fencer ...college,still fencing but became a metallurgist ....when returning to visit NY. Art + fencing + metallurgy = wow !
 
Shann said:
It would seem that the edges would quickly fail on even the best swords if they were sharpened like knives but they also seem to be able to historically cut through flesh and bone and not just "bludgeon" the opponent.
Click to expand...

There are lots of indications that sword edges could fail quickly. Described, e.g., in Viking sagas. One really big hazard would be deep notching from hitting another sword edge hard.

You don't need to be that sharp to cut flesh with a blade moving at speed, but sharper will be better. Where you need all the sharpness you can get is getting through cloth.

In practice, sharpness varied a lot, from easily paper-cutting sharp, at least near the tip (as already mentioned, the katana, many Chinese swords, Viking swords, many more) through to swords that would fail to cut through clothing (often poorly maintained/sharpened military swords).
 
it is a balance between thickness of edge for strength vs sharpness with a skinnier edge. thus the problem with sword making
 
there is no way to answer this question as asked
A sword is sharp as it is. The "correct" level is determined by what you're using it for.
My buster stays dull as the wrong end of a butterknife, because I only use it to train, and 6 pounds of steel is dangerous enough without a good edge.
the katana I had, i kept razor-sharp because if anyone broke into my house, that's what i was gonna reach for.
Swords are sharp. exactly how sharp iss up to you, and what you do with it.
 
Ewart Oakeshott noted that several of the medieval swords in his collection still retained edges as sharp as a carving knife.
 
Given the state of carving knives one can find in many kitchens, that isn't a very strong statement. However, Oakeshott did specify a "well-honed carving knife", which is much more meaningful.

(The only sword I know he claimed "carving knife" for is Xa. 2 (in "Records"), and it was in Helsinki University's collection (when he wrote) rather than his own.)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top