1. potters_pimp

    potters_pimp New Member

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    Is this possible?

    Discussion in 'Research' started by potters_pimp, Jan 8, 2008.

    I went to write, and I came up with a really cool idea, but I'm not sure if it would be possible.
    Could the blade of a sword be made of diamond. Is that possible? And if so, would it be heavy or light?
    Just need to know.
     
  2. Sir Ender

    Sir Ender New Member

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    I guess it could be possible...

    Whether the sword would actually be sharp, I don't think so.
     
  3. Klee

    Klee New Member

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    I saw this question before at another forum and I think the answer was no, that it wasn't possible for a sword to be made of diamond, I could be wrong.
     
  4. MarcG

    MarcG New Member

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    It would be pretty ridiculous, since it would require an incredibly large diamond.

    I'd wager it would be fairly heavy, but I can't say I know how much diamond weighs versus steel. How big is it? I could see a diamond dagger working, but not much else.

    As well, I'd be willing to bet it's incredibly breakable. The only reason swords don't break when they hit something is because they can bend before they shatter. I doubt a diamond has that same elasticity - a few hard hits and the billion dollar sword crumbles into million dollar chunks.
     
  5. potters_pimp

    potters_pimp New Member

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    okay. Thanks for that -especially MarcG
     
  6. lordofhats

    lordofhats New Member

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    Yes... dimonds are incedibly small. It seems nearly improbably that you could ever find one big enough to craft a sword from and then.. if you found one that big why would you make a sword out of it? That dimond would be worth more than Bill Gates.
     
  7. missupernatural

    missupernatural New Member

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    I know this sounds really weird, but people are actually turning their cremated relatives ashes into diamonds.

    A few dead warriors turned into a doamond dagger sounds pretty cool to me... and slightly disturbing.
     
  8. missupernatural

    missupernatural New Member

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    xx Sorry!
     
  9. lordofhats

    lordofhats New Member

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    I heard about that burial thing and found it a little weird. But that would actually be a cool idea. If it was like a magical sword forged from teh ashes of dead warriors? It hink that would be really interesting (And is a much more plausible option rather than digging a big enough diamond in one chunk for a sword.)
     
  10. MarcG

    MarcG New Member

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    Actually it's a lot less plausible. The diamond from a single person's ashes is very small. It would require an army, and if the technology is available, why not just use a gun? Guns are... significantly easier.
     
  11. missupernatural

    missupernatural New Member

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    But the gun would be meaningless if the dagger/sword was a symbollic item.

    And the ashes from 1 human apparently make one small diamond, so a dagger made of them would require about 100 men - a small army.

    The starting of a backstory maybe?
     
  12. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Diamond would be about half the weight of steel for the same size blade. It would also break easily, because diamond is relatively brittle. It wouldn't scratch easily, though, and would certainly be distinctive. I'd not use it for a foil or similar design that makes use of the flexibility of steel.

    I'd consider it an impractical weapon, but if created and protected by magic, it wouldn't be impossible.
     
  13. Eóin

    Eóin New Member

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    I'm pretty sure that the only thing that can cut diamonds is another diamond (they don't have to be cut first, not sure how this works), or an industrial laser. Ever wonder why they didn't just cut them with steel?
     
  14. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    I'm pretty sure that the only thing that can cut diamonds is another diamond (they don't have to be cut first, not sure how this works),

    it's not 'cutting' but 'scratching' you're thinking of... and yes, the diamond that does the scratching would have to be either 'cut' [= 'faceted'] first, or at least have one sharp edge, to be able to scratch another one... and diamonds in the rough are often more smooth and rounded than sharp-edged...

    or an industrial laser.

    ...don't know if that works on diamonds...

    Ever wonder why they didn't just cut them with steel?

    ...they DO cut them with steel cleaving blades and saws...
     

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