The Pell:

[Sir Brian]

Me thinks I’ll be making mine out of some left-over landscaping ties. Anyone else have one? Post some pictures to give me some additional ideas to work with. Oh here is some reference info I got off the net.
 
http://www.thearma.org/essays/pell/pellhistory.htm
http://www.thearma.org/essays/pells.htm

[Sir Edward]

I saw somewhere on myArmoury (I think) that someone had made one out of old car tires. If I remember correctly, he suspended them with ropes from both the floor and the ceiling, so that they wouldn't move far when struck, but had some give to them. Rubber is pretty safe for blunted swords to strike, and tires will take a lot of abuse, so this isn't a bad idea.

I haven't had the space to build one, so I'm curious to see what you come up with. I'll want to make one after I move to a new place.

[Sir William]

Sir Edward, that would be Mr. Bill Tsafa...and he's used sharps to test out each sword's ability to hold up to repeated strikes.  Here's a link to his site with some pictures and his reviews on a number of swords that he's done pell work with along with his results.

http://mysite.verizon.net/tsafa1/swordreview.htm

I remember a few years ago on SFI where he'd met an incredible amount of ridicule and negativity- I liked how he faced them all down; I'd kept tabs on that particular thread for a couple of years to see what else came about.  Eventually the outcry died down as far as I can tell, and Bill's gone on to fight in the SCA and I hear he's taken a liking to firearms now.  lol

My plan is to buy a house with a yard so I can setup my own pell and test cutting stations in the backyard...yes, it is a dream.

[Sir Edward]

It's not the exact one I saw, but the same idea. The one I'm thinking of had 4 or 5 tires in it with a rope suspension. This looks like a pretty good solution too, using a stand and weighting it down at the base. I'll bet people do it this way more often, if they opt for tires.

EDIT:  I do remember seeing at least a couple of his posts before though, and some of the flak he took over his cutting tests, in terms of how useful the data was when comparing the swords, etc. Still, taken in the right context, I guess no data is truly bad data.

[Sir William]

Yea, at the time he seemed to be the only one doing that sort of durability testing...I can't recall seeing him doing a cutting session, but then my presence on SFI has been near nil since 2007 I guess.  They got so tight with the rules that it took all the joy out of being there that I used to feel in the first place.

[Sir Patrick]

Here's another link on pell contruction: http://www.forth-armoury.com/photo_gallery/Pell/pell.htm

[Sir James A]

No pics handy, but I have about half of mine finished out of some random extra 2x4s I had laying around. I made armor stand frames from them, had some leftovers and used them for a cutting stand, and will be using that same design for a pell, just larger .. and wrapped with a pool noodle/camping mat/whichever fits.

Mine is essentially a pair of 2x4s screwed together, which would make the pell, and then from there, it has 4 legs, each going 90* apart from each other, and each attached to one side of the pell, overlapping each other at the flat ends. I'll see if I can whip up a sketch tomorrow, I'm sure my description is as clear as mud.

[Sir James A]

Finally got around to getting out my cutting stand and getting a picture:



Far from pretty, but functional, and about $4 in materials.

[Sir Edward]

Nice, much cheaper than mine. I bought the starter kit from Sword Fodder, and so I use that stand. It's a steel pipe sticking up from a flat board, and takes a wooden peg at the top for using foam or tatami targets.

[Sir William]

Sir James, an excellent cutting stand you have there.

[Sir James A]

Sir James, an excellent cutting stand you have there.

I've got a large stash of water and 2L soda bottles that are ready to be "strategically disassembled" by some sharp objects later this year. I'll post a thread when the weather is better if anyone wants to come out and bring a sword to do some cutting; I think I have ~50 bottles, and I have a 6' privacy fence so the neighbors won't see or care.

[Sir William]

Sir James, from where do you hail?  That sounds like a great afternoon- and we could bring extra bottles!

[Sir Edward]

Yep, when the weather warms up, I think a cutting party is in order.

[Sir James A]

Sir James, from where do you hail?  That sounds like a great afternoon- and we could bring extra bottles!

Charles Town, WV, so I'm roughly in the middle of Sir Brian and Sir Wolf, I think?

[Sir Brian]

Hey left nut!