How to make a working Shardblade

[Clarkmon22 He/Him]

Kind of a question, knind of a theory.

So we know there's a kinda ethereal film at the edge of a shard-weapon that makes it cut through anything and everything very easily, except for aluminum. because of this, characters in the cosmere end up making insanely impractical shardblades that look cool, just because they can. unfortunately, since aluminum stops the magic-y part of a Shardblade, it's annoying for one to cut through even a half inch of aluminum. My question: are they just not sharp enough? could the spren form into an extremely sharp shardblade that could cut through at least an inch or so of aluminum (which is an extremely weak metal).

[Qianweilian He/him]

56 minutes ago, Clarkmon22 said:

My question: are they just not sharp enough? could the spren form into an extremely sharp shardblade that could cut through at least an inch or so of aluminum (which is an extremely weak metal).

I believe the answer is yes.

Quote

Yata

Hi, the community has a [question], we have two WoBs: Shardblades can cut aluminum and Shardblades can't cut it. Which one is true?

Brandon Sanderson (Part 1/Part 2/Part 3)

Hm. Yes, I wondered last night if I'd ever answered this before. Truth is, the answer is contentious at Team Sanderson.

I've been pushing for one answer, but Peter (whom I trust) is pushing back. We will see what ends up in the books as canon.

Problem with magic like I do is sometimes you have to wait for the scientific consensus... Err on "no" for now.

Peter Ahlstrom (Part 1/Part 2/Part 3)

Oh, I think aluminum would stop Shardblades from magical cutting. But if it's too thin like foil, a sword...

...would cut it anyway. What I'm arguing is that something else that Shardblades don't cut doesn't need...

...to necessarily be made of aluminum, for various reasons.

Yata

For example Invested objects (metalmind,spike,etc) or polestones (from some SA's Quote) ?

Peter Ahlstrom

RAFO

Footnote: The two conflicting WoBs can be found here and here.

Also the "something else" that Peter was referring to is likely the Shardblade guards, which have since been confirmed to not be aluminum.

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/115/#e1442

 

 

 

 

 

 

This WoB suggests that you could just use the Shardblade as a regular sword, although chopping through even a weak metal would be harder to cut than you think. (although indestructibility helps)

[alder24]

17 hours ago, Clarkmon22 said:

Kind of a question, knind of a theory.

So we know there's a kinda ethereal film at the edge of a shard-weapon that makes it cut through anything and everything very easily, except for aluminum. because of this, characters in the cosmere end up making insanely impractical shardblades that look cool, just because they can. unfortunately, since aluminum stops the magic-y part of a Shardblade, it's annoying for one to cut through even a half inch of aluminum. My question: are they just not sharp enough? could the spren form into an extremely sharp shardblade that could cut through at least an inch or so of aluminum (which is an extremely weak metal).

A Shardblade cuts because it vaporizes the matter it strikes and also because it has a sharp edge just like any other sword. Aluminum can't be vaporized because of its resistance to investiture so it has to be cut with Shardblade's sharp edge, which is hard even though aluminum is much softer than steel and most likely the god metal that makes up Shardblades. Being able to visualize a much sharper Shardblade would definitely help.

Spoiler

[deleted]

Given Brandon's answer to a block of Cheese stopping a shardblade, how does the last clap work?

Brandon Sanderson

So, I'll admit, I've been considering the cheese question since it was asked.

I'm not sure if it has to be cheese. But any object that is sufficiently thick but also sufficiently pliable that it's going to press down on the blade while it's cutting IS going to create drag on the blade.

The Blade does, by necessity of my understanding of the relevant physics, need to be able to vaporize a tiny bit of matter into Investiture while cutting, in order to create space for the Blade to continue to slide through. This is related to why it doesn't cut things with souls.

At the same time, I'm not convinced that this is relevant to the actual question being asked. I think that I have to relent that, with a sufficiently large block of cheese and a Shardbearer trying to cut lengthwise through it, the drag produced on the flat of the blade is going to tire the Shardbearer. Making cheese legitimately more difficult to cut through than stone or metal. And a big enough block of cheese might stop the slice straight up, because the weight placed on the blade will be pretty heavy.

That said, the top replies to this thread are pretty relevant, and are correctly explaining the mechanics of the situation. There is this little "shield of vaporization" around a Blade while it cuts, so a thinner Blade (like Szeth's Honorblade) might not have this drawback at all. It depends on how far back the shield of vaporization extends, and how thick the blade is.

My current instinct says that wider blades would be stopped by this, and so those of you planning to make ten-foot-thick walls of cheese to stop an invading Shardbearer can continue in your...endeavors.

Remember, kids, keep your Shardblade thin for actual combat (for multiple reasons.) Only make the big showy forms when you're trying to look intimidating. (With a nod to the fact that a thick blade does tend to be better for getting through Shardplate, giving you more mass to hit with. Choose Adolin's Blade for Shardplate Duels. Szeth/Jezrien's Honorblade for cheese.)

General Reddit 2022 (March 19, 2022)

 

[Clarkmon22 He/Him]

@alder24@Qianweilian thanks!

[Qianweilian He/him]

Just now, Clarkmon22 said:

@alder24@Qianweilian thanks!

You’re welcome.