Sliding weights

[Jens Nordlunde]

Jeff, thanks a lot, I will try to have a look at it if possible.
Fearn, interesting what you write, but let us wait and see what I can come up with.
Rivkin, hold your horses till I - maybe can come up with something else.

Gentlemen it has been a pleasure

Jens

[Jim McDougall]

OK Fearn, I spent the better part of an evening thumbing through Stones, and didn't find any evidence of sliding weights or anything similar....but must say it was still enjoyable as always.I really love that book!! No matter how many times guys like to hammer away at Stone for the occasional errors, it's still fun to read so much very early data.He really set the stage for weapons research, and encouraged future researchers, such as us, to correct the inevitable errors with new evidence and revised data.
One thing I did find, and at the risk of mentioning something which applies only indirectly and is most probably irrelevant, I found:

"...Cestus: Heavy leather things, often weighted with lead or iron, wound around the hands and arms of Roman boxers to give additional weight to thier blows"
-Stone, p.168

Once again, leave it to the legacy of the ancients. Obviously, this note is purely speculative correlating the concept in dynamics and influences of many aspects of earlier cultures in application in later times. Clearly one would not need to seek such simplistic dynamics for the increase of force in a sword in ancient boxing, but the coincidence seemed worthy of note.

The search for the elusive sword with the slide continues

Best regards,
Jim

[Rick]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

OK Fearn, I spent the better part of an evening thumbing through Stones, and didn't find any evidence of sliding weights or anything similar....but must say it was still enjoyable as always.I really love that book!! No matter how many times guys like to hammer away at Stone for the occasional errors, it's still fun to read so much very early data.He really set the stage for weapons research, and encouraged future researchers, such as us, to correct the inevitable errors with new evidence and revised data.
One thing I did find, and certain unnamed parties will go berserk ranting about unrelated or irrelevant data or free association etc. by my mentioning it.....

<snipped>

Best regards,
Jim

[Jim McDougall]

Man you're fast Rick!!!!

[Rick]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

Man you're fast Rick!!!!

Eight years of memories Jim .

[ariel]

The only such weapon I can imagine being workable is an ax. It necessarily goes only up and down. Anything staying for some time in a horizontal position and /or requiring lateral movements would be unworkable.

[fearn]

Originally Posted by ariel

The only such weapon I can imagine being workable is an ax. It necessarily goes only up and down. Anything staying for some time in a horizontal position and /or requiring lateral movements would be unworkable.

You don't like the idea of a pile-driver rapier, Ariel?

F

[Andrew]

There is a tool used in orthopedic surgery for driving and extracting nails in bone. The concept is simple, but effective: the tool's head is placed on the nail head, and a sliding weight is forceably impacted in the desired direction. Forward to drive the nail, back to extract.

As with Jim's observation, this is not directly relevant, but may be edifying.

[fearn]

Jim, thanks for checking Stone's glossary for me. Now I'll have to figure out what stray memory I was thinking of. Possibly it was a sliding sleeve on a spear (for the forward hand, so you don't sand your palm off jabbing with the spear). Otherwise, I agree with you about the value of that book. I discovered my parents' original copy as an impressionable pre-teen. Now I'm here. Go figure.

Fearn