Could a knife or sword be made that could cut iron bars

Shing

Shing

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Feb 2, 2003
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As a kid, I used to hear stories of Samari swords cutting through gun barrels during WWII. I don't suppose theywere true but I have read that swords were tested on iron plates to simulate cutting through armour.

Has anyone tried to make a knife or sword that could cut through iron bars without damage? that would be worth seeing.
 
I think you've been watching too many movies. ;)
 
Shing said:
As a kid, I used to hear stories of Samari swords cutting through gun barrels during WWII. I don't suppose theywere true but I have read that swords were tested on iron plates to simulate cutting through armour.

Has anyone tried to make a knife or sword that could cut through iron bars without damage? that would be worth seeing.
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How about using a torch?
 
A hack-sword can cut through metal :D

ergonomi-hacksaw.jpg
 
Assuming the steel in the sword is stiff enough to not deform and tough enough to not break and it is significantly harder to cut through the iron and you supply enough force then it should be theoretically possible.
 
Why is this not possible? I'm not saying it's "probable" but I would think that it's reasonably "possible". Are not steels like M2 used in the making of tools that cut other steels?
 
You may want to try your querry at swordforums, there isa great group of guys there who are willing to share their wealth of knowledge.
 
Samurai swords have been documented to cut through iron bars, steel plate, concrete blocks, granite boulders, adamantium claws, magic lassos, and dilithium crystal force shields. Not even light sabers come close. Excalibur and the Green Destiny give samurai swords a run for their money but a Hatori Hanzo blade would out cut them all. I think test results are on Cliff Stamp's site.
 
Brian6244 said:
Are not steels like M2 used in the making of tools that cut other steels?
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Yes, but not in one swift blow. Machining and Hollywood swordplay are 2 different things. Cutting metal on a lathe or with a vertical mill would be the equivelent of sawing a gun barrel with a sword...and the sword probably wouldn't work very well or last very long.

Think about it, a saw blade made from high speed steel might spin at (for example) 1000 RPM. Each blade might have a few hundred teeth. So even if you can cut through a gun barrel in just a few seconds, hundereds and thousands of cuts are being made. You can turn a 2" steel rod into a 1" steel rod with a M2 turning tool on a lathe, but you're going to be doing it only a few thousandths at a time.
 
In a few more words NO, a sword is much more then the material it is made of. It's also mass distribution, and edge geometry and balance and a whole lot of technical things that when put together mean that anything that can really be called a sword will not cut through iron bars.

Now there is a thing called a cold chisel...
 
Maybe if the sword weighed a few hundred pounds and the gun barrel was laying on a hard surface and the sword came down on it and chopped it in two, but even then I dunno. :)
 
Buck Knives used to advertise the ability to cut a .5" (I think) annealed carriage bolt. This of course by putting the blade at 90 degrees to the bolt and tapping with a hammer, like a cold chisel.

Again, as with the saw example above, cut iron, sure, but with one fell swoop from a swordsman's (or mall ninja's) arm? No way.
 
From a WWII vet's letter home dated 1944:

"As we made to walk away the kukri wallah approached me and said "You want kukri sahib?" I said "Kukri?" scornfully. He lowered his head, raised his hands and said "No Sahib, pukkha kukri". He then produced exactly what I had been trying to buy. A plain, fully forged, perfectly balanced kukri. I swung it a few times and it felt good so I asked him for the bar. He had been expecting it and produced a mild steel bar just over half an inch square and a foot long with sharp cuts all over it. I swung and brought the blade down on it with all my strength. There was just one more cut and the edge of the blade was unmarked. I had my kukri and it had cost no more than I had been asked for the imitations."

read the rest here:
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/sparkes/kukri.htm

BTW, most of the stories about japanese swords and machine guns are pure crap.

n2s
 
Shing said:
Has anyone tried to make a knife or sword that could cut through iron bars without damage?
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There are lots of knives that can chop through metal without visible damage, however the "bars" would not be very thick, nail like in size would be about the limit I would imagine, say 3.5" .

-Cliff
 
stevekt said:
Samurai swords have been documented to cut through iron bars, steel plate, concrete blocks, granite boulders, adamantium claws, magic lassos, and dilithium crystal force shields. Not even light sabers come close. Excalibur and the Green Destiny give samurai swords a run for their money but a Hatori Hanzo blade would out cut them all. I think test results are on Cliff Stamp's site.
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I saw Wolverine block the Silver Samurai's sword with the Samurai's tachyon field activated. No damage to the claws. ;)

Frank
 
SilverFoxKnows said:
I saw Wolverine block the Silver Samurai's sword with the Samurai's tachyon field activated. No damage to the claws. ;)

Frank
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You know, the comic book geek buried inside of me wants to see the Predator and Wolverine duke it out. Give the Predator two sets of gauntlet claws, and lets see which material is tougher. Alien steel, or admantium?
 
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