On Thu, Apr 12, 2018 at 12:51 PM, Catherine Berry <xxxxxx@gmail.com> wrote:

That's a great example of the rippling social effects of technology. The reason swords could shift from cutting to stabbing was improvements in metallurgy.

Could be. I have no data either way.

To make a rapier that will hold a point and won't either bend or break on the first solid thrust, you need steel-making tech that wasn't widely available in Europe until the Renaissance.

Eh. Holding a point, and not bending, are more a matter of good heat treatment and getting the carbon ratio fairly close.

For example, if you pooch the heat treatment, you may end up with brittle spots.

Getting the heat treatment right over longer and longer pieces of steel is the neat part.

Holding a point isn't all that critical. Drop a kitchen knife into a raw steak. It's easy to get several inches of penetration. That's really all you need. If you had it sharp at the start of a duel, it should still be sharp at the end, absent trying to punch through bone, or missing your dance partner and hitting a brick wall.

You're not using a rapier to cut down a tree, or beat on armor. Just push it through some clothes and a guy's abdomen.

Or if the game gets close and messy, cut them.

The bigger thing is the evolution of the *design* and method of use, which happen hand in hand. The swords get longer and skinnier because if you kept the same pattern as a chopper and just lengthened the blade, nobody'd be able to use it for more than a couple of minutes.

Longer reach is hugely advantageous, if both parties are playing the same game.

Technique is hugely advantageous, if both parties are playing the same game.

Most medieval swords were really more like edged clubs; the

narrowness of the edge let you deliver a lot of force to a small area,

but it wasn't "sharp" as we'd understand the term.

Not just the sharpness, but the profile (shape) of the edge.

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

That goes back to building a tool for a specific job. If you're planning on whacking people in armor, you want something with some thickness, with a fairly solid edge.

If you're planning on carving a roast, you might want something skinny with a nice hollow grind.

But those are different tools, for different jobs.

Rapiers tend to have a diamond profile- sharp, but not like a knife grind. That helps with the stiffness of the blade, without adding as much to the weight.

Dan

"Any sufficiently advanced parody is indistinguishable from a genuine kook." -Alan Morgan