NerdyCavegirl
Sage
Is there any known way to make glass flexible, preferably strong and flexible enough to be used for a sword? If so, how exactly is this done? If not, any theories about how it possibly could be?
FifthView- For the pretty. And because the pyrokinetic nomad tribe is well-known for the glass wonders they mold from desert sand, so I found the idea of a flexible weapons-grade "ancient nomad secret" glass to be quite fitting. I'm already stretching reality enough with the wielder of the sword holding it up at just the right angle to magnify sunlight into a mini-deathray, so I at least wanted to have the foundation of the glass set as firm in physics as possible. Silicate glass for the weapons isn't a necessity, they do have other resources in the desert, I just want something that an average person would look at and think "glassy".
Having burnt holes in paper with a magnifying glass when I was a kid, I'd say this is quite a trick. First, the sword would have to be shaped like a magnifying lens. But that's the easy part -- just give it curved convex faces on both sides. The rest is harder. First, the sword would have to be directly between the sun and the person attacked with the sunlight, which would probably mean high in the air, unless it's near sunrise or sunset. Second, a long narrow sword would not produce a hot spot of light, it would produce a not-quite-so-hot ribbon of light. Third and most difficult to finesse, the hot spot/ribbon would exist only at precisely the proper focal length -- the right distance from the sword. If the attacked person moves either forward or backward, the hot spot/ribbon will be diffuse and not nearly so deadly.I'm already stretching reality enough with the wielder of the sword holding it up at just the right angle to magnify sunlight into a mini-deathray, so I at least wanted to have the foundation of the glass set as firm in physics as possible.
Yep like I said, I'm already stretching reality enough with the death ray. She only uses it a couple times though, usually she just cuts people to ribbons or throws a fireball in their face.
Yep like I said, I'm already stretching reality enough with the death ray. She only uses it a couple times though, usually she just cuts people to ribbons or throws a fireball in their face.
The death ray idea is stretching reality way more than the idea of flexible glass is.
Why does it have to be flexible? I though that the whole point of a sword was to have a rigid piece of material that is doesn't bend when you try to cleave off enemy limbs. Most metal only has to be slightly flexible because making it harder tends to make it brittle. In fact, harder materials ted to hold a sharp edge much better than flexible ones, which could be why the glass swords are so sought after. They can hold a razor-thin edge for a very long time without sharpening. If your glass were made tough enough via whatever magical glassmaking process you have, flexibility wouldn't be needed at all.