Shardtools

[soulcastJam he/him]

So I was thinking about carving into rock with a shardblade and how you could make precise cuts.  I was thinking of making some sort of circulating saw where the blade is perpendicular to the plane of rotation so you could carve perfect circles.  If you mounted the blade on a lathe you could do that pretty well, and that gets over the problem of having multiple parts for your shard-tool.  

So what other tools can we create which would work better with having a single piece made from a spren?

Ooh!  We could also get over the problem of multiple parts by having multiple spren collaborate on creating something.  Shard-bow + shard-arrow = Awesomeness.  But would they collaborate...

[zmunkz]

Wow, a shard arrow is a scary thought... a shard shrapnel grenade is even scarier.

Might be a n00bie question, but what is the multiple-parts problem? I've read through WoR (though not so recently) so maybe I'm forgetting about something...

[CarolaDavar she/her]

13 minutes ago, zmunkz said:

Wow, a shard arrow is a scary thought... a shard shrapnel grenade is even scarier.

Might be a n00bie question, but what is the multiple-parts problem? I've read through WoR (though not so recently) so maybe I'm forgetting about something...

Well, say you want to make a shard car. But, you only have one spren. The spren could be a piece of the car, but not the entire car. Even if you wanted to make something more simple, like a shard bow plus a shard arrow, the spren could still only be one. So, the theory is, two spren -or however many soren yout need- could work together to be whatever necessary. Make sense?

[zmunkz]

Oh I see, so each part would require a different person and their spren working in unison if you wanted multiple shard parts.

But mounting a single shard tool on normal construction is feasible, right? Soulcasting probably makes small part manufacturing pretty quick and easy, so we could build some very steampunk-esque weapons that only required one actual shard part. Along the bow idea, a mechanical crossbow only needs the bolt to be shard to work.

I wonder if shard material cuts through everything no matter what (like a lightsaber), or only when it is honed to an edge. This would affect how shards could be attached to non-shard materials. Considering you can hold a shardblade's handle without plate, I assume only honed edges get the magical cutting ability...

[CaptainRyan he/him]

8 hours ago, zmunkz said:

[snip]

I wonder if shard material cuts through everything no matter what (like a lightsaber), or only when it is honed to an edge. This would affect how shards could be attached to non-shard materials. Considering you can hold a shardblade's handle without plate, I assume only honed edges get the magical cutting ability...

Words of Radiance spoilers:

Spoiler

If you recall during Kaladin's and Szeth's duel, Kaladin hit Szeth with a "Shardhammer" (Syl in the form of a two-handed warhammer) and it did not cut through Szeth but rather broke his bones. Only an edged Shardweapon seems to have the, well cutting edge haha.

 

[Argel he/him]

Spoiler

Quote

If you recall during Kaladin's and Szeth's duel, Kaladin hit Szeth with a "Shardhammer" (Syl in the form of a two-handed warhammer) and it did not cut through Szeth but rather broke his bones. Only an edged Shardweapon seems to have the, well cutting edge haha.

I wonder if it would be better at crushing damage though?

 

[soulcastJam he/him]

And Adolin jumped off the flat of his blade once.

[Magestar he/him]

I wonder about an Axe.  Or a Maul.  They both have sharp bits placed next to bits that usually stop when they hit.  I assume a ShardAxe would cut all the way through, but would the spikes on a ShardMaul cut the soul? Or would they just smash more?  

 

What about Bladed ShardKnuckles? 

[zmunkz]

I wonder if shard could take the form of a cutting wire (or net), like in that weird movie Cube. Tie the shardwire between two horses a few hundred yards apart and charge across a battlefield.

[Massik he/him]

Given Syl forms a spear for Kal, I should think that any shard weapon coukd be made with living spren. 

As for the moving parts, is that not what Fabrials are useful for?  with the right gearing the levitating platforms that Navani makes could essentially make a vehicle.

Moving back and forth in location A could mean locomotion in location B.

 

[Magestar he/him]

14 hours ago, zmunkz said:

like in that weird movie Cube.

Yeah....  That was creepy.   I can't unsee that.

Anyways.

With a shardwire there would be no blood, and I am not sure that it would cut like that, what with it being organic matter. Another thing is there would be no flexability.

Edited July 14, 2016 by Magestar

[Stormgate he/him]

Depending on the maximum size of the Shardblade, it could become the ultimate drilling machine.

[zmunkz]

I've been thinking about this (more than I should). We see multiple times in the books how they plunge shardblades into the ground, or into tables, etc, and the blades never slip down to the hilt.  Sanderson also describes the slight tug as the blade passes through Parshendi.

The latter case shows us there there is some coefficient of friction between shard material and regular matter, and the former case seems to indicate the friction grows exponentially the more the blade is enveloped by something. Otherwise you would expect the sword to sink under its own weight, or certainly the thrust of someone jamming it into the ground.

This has implications for tool-based cutting and drilling. It makes me wonder if an arrow would actually work, for instance.

**EDIT

The situation is even worse if the relevant factor is the owner's strength to keep blades moving/cutting.  Eg., if the blades do not continue cutting on their own, only when pushed or driven by someone. Are there any instances in the book when a blade is thrown and still cuts?

Edited July 14, 2016 by zmunkz

[Stormgate he/him]

2 minutes ago, zmunkz said:

I've been thinking about this (more than I should). We see multiple times in the books how they plunge shardblades into the ground, or into tables, etc, and the blades never slip down to the hilt.  Sanderson also describes the slight tug as the blade passes through Parshendi.

The latter case shows us there there is some coefficient of friction between shard material and regular matter, and the former case seems to indicate the friction grows exponentially the more the blade is enveloped by something. Otherwise you would expect the sword to sink under its own weight, or certainly the thrust of someone jamming it into the ground.

This has implications for tool-based cutting and drilling. It makes me wonder if an arrow would actually work, for instance.

The tug from killing Shades on Threnody is similar to the tug when cutting organic matter, and is believed to be the resistance caused from cutting the Cognitive aspect of a living thing. The Shardblades probably don't sink down to the hilt because of a mental command from the Shardbearer.

[galendo]

30 minutes ago, zmunkz said:

The situation is even worse if the relevant factor is the owner's strength to keep blades moving/cutting.  Eg., if the blades do not continue cutting on their own, only when pushed or driven by someone. Are there any instances in the book when a blade is thrown and still cuts?

Yeah, at one point in WoR Adolin is practicing throwing his Blade at rocks.  I can't remember 100% if it's mentioned that the Blade cuts or not, but it'd be a pretty silly maneuver to practice if it didn't cut when thrown.

[Jondesu he/him]

2 hours ago, galendo said:

Yeah, at one point in WoR Adolin is practicing throwing his Blade at rocks.  I can't remember 100% if it's mentioned that the Blade cuts or not, but it'd be a pretty silly maneuver to practice if it didn't cut when thrown.

It certainly sinks into the rock when it finally hits, showing that it does cut somewhat. I don't think it cut all the way through, though I can't remember how it's described.

jW

[Pathfinder]

I would need to pull up the quote, but I believe it was Dalinar that remarks that when cutting into stone, you have to keep the motion going because if you stop, the blade would get stuck and you would have to try and yank it out. So it isn't like a lightsaber in the sense that anything it automatically touches is cut. There seems to be some pressure required. 

[Assassin in Burgundy he/him]

This isn't a weapon, but how about a Syl-phone?

[Stormgate he/him]

My, my, my. You certainly are getting around the Shard, @Assassin in Burgundy. I believe that the spanreeds make a Syl-phone almost pointless. Perhaps an adaptation with smaller parts could transmit sounds. One maybe involving Lightweaving...

[Assassin in Burgundy he/him]

Oh yeah, I forgot about spanreeds. And then again, those don't need service or wi-fi.

[zmunkz]

On 7/16/2016 at 10:25 PM, Assassin in Burgundy said:

This isn't a weapon, but how about a Syl-phone?

 

[Assassin in Burgundy he/him]

HAHAHAHA Live Long and Prosper zmunkz

[Stormgate he/him]

I just had a facepalm moment where I thought that the image on top was a griffin or something.

[Assassin in Burgundy he/him]

44 minutes ago, Stormgate said:

I just had a facepalm moment where I thought that the image on top was a griffin or something.

A griffin??!!

<facepalm>