Re: UC 1424 Sting

2
As far as quality goes, It's pretty good. I don't have it myself, but I've seen pictures of it, and it compares pretty well to the original movie prop. Has some small stains here and there and so on. Never held it or seen it irl though, so I'm not too sure.

When it comes to the functional part, and whether it's heat treated or not, I'm pretty sure it's not.

As far as I know, UC always fabricate blunt swords, and why make a functional sword in sense of steel quality, yet keep the blade blunt? =P

That's alot of maybies, and I may be completely wrong, but I hope it helps.

Re: UC 1424 Sting

3
hmm,yes it is a thugf quest,i only have the mc sting ,and not the reguler sting so i can not compare.

the mc sting seems to come in variuse version some whit shape and some dueld edge,mine came whit a shape edge..

if you get the mc sting whit dueld edge it is posible the get it sharp if you want to,as it is made of carbon steel.seeinles steel is more redicted to scatc,and if you try to hit things it might break in two ,metal splinter might hust you.not a god idea.to play around.

mc sting ,is very light ,and hard steel but fully funtionel not.compare to a folded steel,item .

Re: UC 1424 Sting

4
Yeah, nearly all the elven blades in UC's line have sharp edges. Both Sting models come sharpened. But this has very little to do with functionality...

The steel is of better quality and that the accuracy is highly improved with better materials overall, but that says nothing about functionality either. I'd e xp ect you can cut with this and all, but I'd never risk it. Why scuff up your e xp ensive display sword? Even though it's more functional than the regular Sting, it's still intended for display.
-_-

Re: UC 1424 Sting

8
Being classed as an elven dagger, and nearly the size of a shortsword, Sting is a thrusting weapon meant to pierce, not cut. The sharp edges on such weapons could obviously cut things, but the main purpose and fighting technique of a dagger or shortsword was to be used to stab at an enemy, not attempt to slash him, though it could be done, just not effectively.
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Re: UC 1424 Sting

9
Sedahl, I disagree. A "battleready" sword, is what you could call a fully functional replica of a historic sword, one that literally is made to endure battle. Of course, battleready replicas are mostly used to re-enactement and plays, but it's still made for battle. And I'm pretty sure the MC sting is anythign but, and I wouldn't call it battle ready. If itn was, UC surely would boast about it.

And Valkrist, you're right of course, but what's fun about thrusting? Slashing with a giant sword is the real deal =p

Re: UC 1424 Sting

11
[quote=""Darlak""]Sedahl, I disagree. A "battleready" sword, is what you could call a fully functional replica of a historic sword, one that literally is made to endure battle. Of course, battleready replicas are mostly used to re-enactement and plays, but it's still made for battle. And I'm pretty sure the MC sting is anythign but, and I wouldn't call it battle ready. If itn was, UC surely would boast about it.

And Valkrist, you're right of course, but what's fun about thrusting? Slashing with a giant sword is the real deal =p[/quote]

UC doesn't buy into the foolish term, was my point. As Curunir stated, battle ready (whatever the hell that means) and fully functional are different. You only see "battle ready!!!111oneoneone" on sites that want to sell stuff that merely fulfill the simple checklist that will never be put to the test. Why? People don't go out and get into battles with their swords. But I'm going to tell you right now, most of those "battle readies" wouldn't hold up to a plastic cap on a water bottle let alone a suit of armor (so why would the MC Sting be any different?). And to branch off of that, many functional & authentically-made weaponry wouldn't hold up to a battle against armor, other blades, etc. Samurai swords for example are marketed as "battle ready" all the time, yet they were never intended for edge-on-edge contact. They get chipped, notched, break, etc. Everything does over time. So as you can hopefully see, it's a fairly idiotic term, and its sole purpose is to sell. Fully functional, however, merely determines whether or not the sword can fulfill its intended purpose, minus abuse. If you run off and try to thrust it through your refrigerator, that's abuse. It's not part of its function.
-_-

Re: UC 1424 Sting

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Depending how serious of a collector you are, the terms "Battle Ready" and "Fully Functional" can get quite complicated. Bare basics dictate that a sword in this field must be using good grade steel, well tempered, and solid hilt/handle construction. From there, you can also consider proper tapering of the blade, balance point, harmonic point, Rockwell rating, etc etc....

As a fun note - i've seen some retailers market swords as "Battle Ready" with the ONLY requirment being that it was sharpened. (Usually they are those 440A steel, screwed on handle sword...........but, it was sharpened!) lol.
"Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum!"

Re: UC 1424 Sting

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hehe ,evry thing is battle ready,if times comes , and so is my fist.if nessesary,dont take that for granted.

fully funktionel ,might mean .swords on swords crach attack,whitout breaking,and still have the shape edge.intact.i belive.

Re: UC 1424 Sting

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Well, I'll try and e xp lain what a fully functional sword is.

A fully functional sword, is a sword that has been handmade and hammered on an anvil, for example. There are other ways people made their swords, but the anvil was the most usual I guess. The sword was hammered and hammered, treated with stuff, folded, and loads of stuff, to make it endure many years of battle, and be an effective sword through all those years. It doesn't need saying, that such a sword, takes long to make. And I doubt UC would spend days on a single sword.

So in other words, very few swords, if any at all, are fully functional these days. There are some that are labeled as battle ready, and most of these has proper sword construction, and can take a beating. And of course you have katanas and chinese jians and daos that are used for high grade martial arts. Those are also quite often fully functional.

But a movie replica at 600 bucks? Wouldn't bet on it being fully functional.

A battle ready sword is still functional, just not fully functional. You can cut stuff with it, be it people or plastic cups, and it will retain its form. But a battle ready sword is more ment for reenactement and the likes, and wouldn't endure years of fighting.

Sedhal, of course alot of sites have 50 dollar swords and boast them to be battle ready, but some are actually honest. A battle ready sword doesn't have to cost much more than a uc lotr replica, and still actually be battle ready.
Last edited by Darlak on Fri Feb 12, 2010 9:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: UC 1424 Sting

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i do agry here darlak.at some points.

dont now if you are into khuks,vs falkata.a small sword ore huge knife ,depents of how you see it.ist a historical design,that still live on to day.
whit some simulerity.
you can buy a khuk for almost as you said 50 bucks ,and it will be dellevert as a full funktionel folded steel.and it is.you can clave almost evrything whit thise knifes ,it will not break and the edge still stay shape for some time.(like an axe).
khuks are still handmade thise days by some peaple ,who still live in a culuter that might seems 1000 yers back of ouer time.

a custum design is difukult to get but not imposible.

Re: UC 1424 Sting

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Nope. It has nothing to do with an anvil or not.

A function is its use, not how it's made. A sword can just as well be fully-functional if made to be so through machine-work. In fact, with the increases in technology I'd say many swords made with the help of machines today are better than those that are handmade. People these days rely on machines for a lot. When they truly make something by hand, it's a task to be accomplished without the aid of something (ultimately more prone to falling short). Back then, people made everything by hand. Therefor, when they made something they weren't working at a disadvantage to them. They were used to it. The thought of an electric-powered machine never entered their minds. Increased use means increased dependency. I'd be willing to wager Albion's swords produced today, with the help of machines, are made better than a lot of hand-made swords back in the day. Technology isn't always a bad thing. It's only when you reject it and fail to harness it that it starts becoming a problem. Machines are just another step in the evolution of sword history. We're living it now.

And I'm sorry, but "battle ready" isn't a real term. I'm not going to give it much time of day in debating its meaning, because it has none.

I think am brought up a good point a few posts ago. Anything can be battle ready. You know real swords get chipped and notched in a battle? I could bring my Playstation 3 into a fight and bludgeon someone with it. It might break, but I killed someone. In a battle. Thus = battle ready. It's a ridiculous term. A sword has the function to cut, slice, stab, hack, and kill. Blocking if necessary - depending on the type. It isn't gauged by its ability to smack cinder blocks and retain a mirror polish. That said, neither are these so-called battle ready hunks of metal. As I said, this will never be put to the test. A battle isn't limited to blade-on-blade contact (which, in the event of real blades, would nick and notch each other). The sole purpose of a sword is to kill. To cut flesh. A shield is used to block. As such, nearly anything can be used to block. So the true function of a sword is never put to the test in a real battle. See what I'm getting at here?


I'll humor the discussion with the most accurate definition of battle ready...

Battle Ready: A slab of metal, marketed to ill-informed sword buyers, which has a "full tang!!!", "hand-sharpened edge!!!", and "carbon steel blade!!"


That's pretty much it. ;)
-_-

Re: UC 1424 Sting

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[quote=""Darlak""]I'll try and e xp lain what a fully functional sword is.[/quote]

You tried, true, but you failed.

[quote=""Darlak""]A fully functional sword, is a sword that has been handmade and hammered on an anvil, for example. (...) The sword was hammered and hammered, treated with stuff, folded, and loads of stuff, to make it endure many years of battle, and be an effective sword through all those years.[/quote]

"...treated with stuff, folded, and loads of stuff..."

Treated with what, herbs and such? People forged and folded steel to get
proper amount and balance of carbon through the blade and to get rid of
impurities, but if you do it for days, you'll surely do more damage than
good, ruining it's inner structure, making the whole thing brittle.

Allow me to remind you this is 21st century - it's far easier (and as good,
maybe better) simply to start with a bar of high carbon or spring steel
(depending on what exactly you need), obviously developed for some other
- needed - objects today, like truck springs or lockpicks etc. Anvil? Today?
Wasted time, perhaps wasted effort too. Sedhal e xp lained what technology
is.

Hundreds of years ago they haven't had electrically powered linishers
either, but I doubt foot-driven ones added to overall functionality.

(By the way, talking about real sword-making, do you know what heat
treating is? Tempering, quenching?...)

Here's a short video for start (but there's tons of literature you might check
if you're really interested, which I seriously doubt):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTg0Oc0mQy4

[quote=""Darlak""]So in other words, very few swords, if any at all, are fully functional these days.[/quote]

Is this a joke? Please tell me so.

You'd be able to find FAR more fully functional swords today if there was
any real need for them beyond collecting business and reenactment. Check
Albion's line for instance. These blades are 100% fully functional, probably
just as good (performance-wise) as 99% of original historical items.

Face it, weapons from those days weren't better because it took more time
to create them. People didn't have other choice.

Re: UC 1424 Sting

18
Well, as usual, our curator has provided a video that pretty much says it all.
In the mean time I need to go find that post I put up about how UC makes their swords.
Seems to me I said something about metal blanks being put on NC cutting machines, and die cast parts for guards and pommels and what not.

As I watched this video I thought to myself, Gee, I just did that and that and that and that. Um, all the same steps and WOOP there it is!

Not bad for a troll who uses toothpaste to polish swords, right ed? :coolsmile
Last edited by Thranduil on Sun Feb 14, 2010 2:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
"and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts- to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut stones, to work in wood, and engage in all kinds of craftsmanship"

Re: UC 1424 Sting

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Allright, so I may have been wrong at some points, lol. Yes, seasoned. Some oregano around the edge of the sword helps for extra stenght. I meant heat treating, and so on.

When it comes to folding, the chinese tried to fold a blade as many times as possible, sometimes even up to a hundred times. I'm sure that if you go on further than that, you'll start getting negative effects. But even folding a blade 20 times, would take alot of time. As far as I know, most fully functional jians are folded between 10 and 20 times.

Bah, perhaps machines would be the best thing now-adays, but anvils and medieval smithys are still loads cooler, lol.
However, I seriously doubt a machine made jian or katana would be even near as good as the real deal.

I may be wrong about there being few fully functional swords being made these days, but there sure aren't many.
"I had the blues, 'cause I had no shoes, until upon the street, I saw a man who had no feet"

The biggest problem about a zombie-apocalypse would be to hide my excitement about it

Re: UC 1424 Sting

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[quote=""ed209""]Or shoe polish to weather them. ;) [/quote]
Or 3 in 1 household oil to keep them from rusting. :thumbs_up
"and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts- to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut stones, to work in wood, and engage in all kinds of craftsmanship"
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