How sharp is sharp?

Apropos of not very much, wasn't at least one reason women couldn't get silk stockings during WWII that silk was the original material parachutes were made of? I believe there was an old phase about "hitting the silk" as in goodby ragwing, hello silk? Can you tell that I spent some hours in a ragwing taildragger?

( Out of Minden, yet? That's where the gliders go to get their "diamonds" - do various things equivalent to shooting hole-in-ones. )
 
Wasn't it both silk and nylons???

Silk is much stronger than anything that humans have synthesized. In fact, I heard the absolute strongest polymer known is <i>spider silk</i> Ewwww. The only problem with harvesting it is, first the grossout factor, well silk that we do use comes from catepillers so that isn't to big a deal, but spiders are canabylistic. So, you can't have a huge farm of spiders, because then you'll just have one big fat spider at the end. :D :D :D

Bob
 
Did soldiers not wear silk at one time as armour. It was thought they if you were shot the ball would push the silk into you body but will not be able to penetrate it. Too remove the ball all you had to do was pull the silk out.

Someone mentioned in another forum (sorry can't remember which) that the lining of a leather jacket (silk perhaps) offered more cut resistance than the leather itself. Apparently the edge could not grab and cut the lining, which it could do with leather.

A rough aggressive edge sounds like it is the way to go.

Silk Stockings, I wait to the drug store is quiet before I get these.

Will
 
Will had a good idea about wetting the silk. I would wet the silk and then freeze it. Should be able to hack right through that chunk of silk.

If you think wetting is cheating you could immerse the silk in liquid nitrogen. Then when you tossed it in the air and it settled on your stationary blade it should shatter nicely.

If you disallow cooling the silk, you could release the silk from the front window of an airplane in flight, allowing it to gently settle on a blade held out a rear window.

These solutions avoid the tedious sharpening of the blade inherent in the previously proposed solutions. ;)

PS. Will, the legend is that Mongolian warriors wore silk shirts as it facilitated the removal of arrows after they had been shot.
 
:
Will Kwan wrote:
Silk Stockings, I wait to the drug store is quiet before I get these.
Click to expand...

Uhhh, Will, why is that?:rolleyes::eek::D

Not that I don't already know, but in a city the size of Tulsa even a man wouldn't be safe unless he asked what size silk hosiery it would take to fit a descriptive size of lady and use an imaginable size of very small!!!!:)
 
What if this is the only airplane available. :D

<img src = "http://www.wrightflyer.org/Picts/June2_2001.jpg">

Bob
 
Howard,

Wetting the scarf or stocking is actually Bobwil's idea.

Yvsa, I guess it can't be as bad as buying Salt Peter to make smoke bombs. The pharmachist looked at me strangely but did not ask what I wanted it for.

Will
 
Bobwill,

That's not an airplane.






This …















concept.jpg


is an airplane.

G'day Mate.

PS. Sorry for the mixup in attribution. I think Bobwill and Will Kwan were sharing some neurons in my RAM.
 
:
Howard what Bird is that and who is going to build or is building it?
That's a gorgeous plane!!!!:D
 
The other day, Kellee (Bella) started calling me Will. :) It just comes with the territorry when you have the last four characters in your nickname being will.

Bob
 
:
That's a beautiful Bird Howard and innovative as well. I hope I get to fly on one someday!!!!:D
 
The supposed historical basis for the "cutting a silk scarf" anecdote is the (again supposed) meeting between Richard the Lion-Hearted and Saladin:
Richard set an iron mace between two sturdy chairs and then smashed it in two with his mighty broadsword. Saladin then tossed a silk scarf into the air, held his scimitar under it and deftly sliced it in two as it fell across his razor-sharp blade.
Click to expand...
Wonderful story (I always thought it was true), bad history.
 
:
Berk I didn't know whether the legend was true or not, but I always liked to believe it was as well. :D
And I remember when I saw the movie of thinking that both sides were using the wrong weapons on their opponents.
Had the Crusaders had had the scimitar and the Muslims the broadswords there would maybe have been more injuries and deaths on both sides.
But that's someting we will never know now, ..... I hope.
 
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