Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Darktongue Breakbone]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macuahuitl

This is what one looks like apparently.  Those Aztecs are something else.  I wonder if this is what the obsidian sword in the game is supposed to look like.

[Skeeblix]

Yeah, most of us have known this for awhile.  Learn something new everyday, though, eh?

[Tamren]

There are people who make knife blades out of solid sapphire using a similar chipping process. I forgot what the method is called but it was something like "crimming".

Apparantly one such mastercraftsman made a scalpel for a doctor who then went on to do an operation on the guy with it. Some chipped stones are orders of magnitude sharper than surgical stainless steel.

[Torak]

quote:Originally posted by Tamren:
<STRONG> "crimming".</STRONG>

Flint napping.

[Scorpios]

quote:Originally posted by Torak:
<STRONG>Flint napping.</STRONG>

Flintknapping.

[AlienChickenPie]

Pffft, drunks around the world do it every night and they don't even need obsidian or special techniques.
Good thing dwarves consume their drinks from barrels, and not from glass bottles.

[Tamren]

quote:Originally posted by Scorpios:
<STRONG>
Flintknapping.</STRONG>

Ah thats its. All I could remember was the "K" and the "ing"

[Alfador]

quote:Originally posted by AlienChickenPie:
<STRONG>Pffft, drunks around the world do it every night and they don't even need obsidian or special techniques.
Good thing dwarves consume their drinks from barrels, and not from glass bottles.</STRONG>

Yes, but how long do such knives last? Blades made from obsidian or gemstones are far more durable than a XXgreen glass bottleXX.

[Wolfius]

quote:Originally posted by Tamren:
<STRONG> Some chipped stones are orders of magnitude sharper than surgical stainless steel.</STRONG>

Yeah, we're talking mono-molecular edge, iirc.

Only problem is they're brittle, so applications are limited.

[Torak]

quote:Originally posted by Alfador:
<STRONG>

Yes, but how long do such knives last? Blades made from obsidian or gemstones are far more durable than a XXgreen glass bottleXX.</STRONG>

If it's generally short, and only used for stabbing, a three-four inch obsidian knife could last you a very long time.

[penguinofhonor]

What if we had obsidian and flint arrows/bolts? Or obsidian daggers (flint maybe? I don't know much about flint)?

[Kagus]

I slightly tweaked the raws so I could get obsidian spears.  I've been planning for my "Aztec Dwarves" expedition.

[Alfador]

quote:Originally posted by Torak:
<STRONG>

If it's generally short, and only used for stabbing, a three-four inch obsidian knife could last you a very long time.</STRONG>

That's exactly what I'm saying: small obsidian scalpels will last a lot longer than a jagged broken bottle used as a makeshift weapon.

On the other hand, that could well be relevant to Dwarf Fortress: If your fortress churns out glass bottles, they could be similar to the waterskin code except that they'd store booze and be used by civilians. Metal flasks could be used similarly, but... When a civilian is ambushed or goes nuts and starts attacking other dwarves, he/she could use the bottle as an impromptu weapon. *crack* *shiv*

[Nesoo]

quote:Originally posted by Kagus:
<STRONG>I slightly tweaked the raws so I could get obsidian spears.  I've been planning for my "Aztec Dwarves" expedition.</STRONG>

Hmm... Is it possible to make an atlatl that use spears as ammo?