I have my Albion Reeve, I met up with my friend Elliot and we decided to cut targets with swords, we had one milk jug a bunch of newspaper targets and some seltzer bottles to cut. For some reason the seltzer bottles did NOT get cut even when I used proper method.
"Proper method" is something that can take years or decades to learn. I'm still a novice with it. The seltzer bottles may be thicker plastic, which is less forgiving on any slop in cutting technique. It also requires a better edge just to get that initial "bite" of the cut into the plastic; a sharp Albion should be sufficient, but I've got a bunch of carbon steel swords with duller edges that do the same thing almost regardless of technique.
Sir Ian caught me grinning in enjoyment at VARF earlier this year during a cutting demo we did at the last show, when I was doing the "shaving" down inch by inch that Sir Edward mentioned. Granted, it's cabbage, not a milk carton, but they both cut easily and the idea is the same... keep making thin slices until it is gone. Probably could have done better without the gauntlets, and had I not been doing the combat demo 3 times earlier that day. I did okay though.
I think I got 6 or 7 cuts out of that one.
It was a little awkward since the stand wasn't overly steady, but I didn't remember to bring mine so we had to improvise one. When you get that perfect horizontal mittelhau (however it's spelled!), the sword should be almost "invisible" like mine is in the picture; it shows that the edge alignment stayed flat and true. Keeping the edge aligned properly through the entire cut is something that takes *a lot* of practice. Again, I'm still pretty novice, just lucky that Sir Ian caught me during a good one.
I had no problem getting through the milk jug and even neatly cut the top off. The seltzer bottles simply got batted away and never would get cut, when I took a mace to them they CRACKED and exploded literally.
Milk jugs are thin and cut very easily. You can cut them with junk stainless steel wall hangers. That makes them useful to analyze your cuts on. And maces are certainly fun; I've hit full bottles with an 8 pound sledgehammer just for the thrill of it. And to yell "I. Am. THOR!" afterwards, of course...
My question is does anyone know where I can get more cutting targets and perhaps a stand to put targets up on.
I've got some rough cell phone pics of a couple cutting stands I made, on my website:
http://www.james-anderson-iii.com/wma/pages/the-pell/One is simply a 4x4 post that I cut to size and put in the ground with a removable 4x4 post stake. The 2x4 one doesn't go into the ground at all, and requires almost no woodworking skills; it's literally just cutting pieces to length and then screwing them together. It can be done with a hand saw and screwdriver, but much faster with a compound miter saw and power drill w/screwdriver bit. If you want to make one let me know if you have any questions, they're pretty easy.
Also does anyone know a cheap source of targets that can literally just be disposable, as doing this stuff is quite addicting honestly and a good work out, much better and entertaining than lifting weights which I stopped doing cause it was so boring.
I use 2 liter bottles, water bottles (the 16 oz ones), kitty litter jugs and milk jugs. Ideal since I acquire them just by drinking/using stuff, and since it's all recyclable material, once it's cut up, I just gather up the pieces and toss it in the recycle bin. No waste!
One thing you can do, is not just think of "I cut it" or "I didn't cut" it. Examine the cut pieces:
* Did it curve upwards or downwards?
* Did it cut most of the way through and leave a jagged edge where it failed by momentum strain instead of a clean, perfect slice?
* Do you have a straight, smooth cut?
Video to review from is also probably great. I want to do that at some point. It lets you see your technique slowed down to see exact edge alignment, it lets you see if you are striking on the best part of the blade, it lets you see your foot work and other minor-but-important details that help bring the whole of the art of cutting together cohesively.
While expensive and a bit burdensome, tatami is excellent for that kind of technique review since it is "solid" all the way through as compared to bottles. I'll try to get a picture of mine later from Longpoint 2011 when I did the cutting class with an Albion; it is very good at showing the trail of the cut.
One of the coolest things I saw at Longpoint in 2011 was when Edelson started the cutting class and did a "hanging cut" (not sure of the proper term); he had a tatami mat on the stand, and he did a forward cut, followed by a reverse cut from the forward cut, and another forward cut - 3 cuts really quickly - and then the tatami pieces fell off. He literally cut so quickly and so smoothly that it slid off like the crazy katana cartoons. It was WAY too cool.
