Could a master blacksmith make a zipper?

[tonym]

Is it possible for a master blacksmith to make a zipper?

Would magic need to be involved, to help make the teeth perfectly similar so the zipper wouldn't jam?

Tony M

 

[Bihor]

You don't need a zipper just rippe your clothes to take it off, and a little mending should do the trick.

 

[Len]

If I wanted someone to make a zipper, I'd ask a jeweller/goldsmith rather than a blacksmith. Someone who's used to working with tiny bits of metal. I don't think a blacksmith would have tools small enough.

No need for magic - after all, someone really did make a zipper without using magic!

 

[Mythmere1]

You could use soft metals to make a zipper with medieval technology, but it would take forever. No way with iron. So, a whitesmith probably could, but not a blacksmith.

 

[Jdvn1]

Could you use a zipper mold?

 

[adwyn]

Could you use a zipper mold?

You would almost have to use a mold, but as has been said, the metal is likely to be soft i.e. gold or silver. On top of that you'll need to cast each tooth and then sew them together. And a button will probably still be necessary for strength - look at jeans.

The real questions is why? Without mass mechanical reproduction the zipper is a ridiculously expensive and elaborate contraption to replace a few cheap buttons. Could work well for a pirate with a hook for a hand, but otherwise its just an anachronism.

 

[haakon1]

The real questions is why? Without mass mechanical reproduction the zipper is a ridiculously expensive and elaborate contraption to replace a few cheap buttons. Could work well for a pirate with a hook for a hand, but otherwise its just an anachronism.

Why is one question.

How he'd know what a zipper is to make one is another question. I'd say a highly skilled smith could make one (DC25+2 for it never having been done before), but only if he had an example to work from. Coming up with the idea for a zipper -- or Velcro, or gunpowder, or rocket ships -- is not something I'd allow a PC to do, unless the PC was introduced to the appropriate technology already.

For example:
- DC for a blacksmith to repair a zipper for a Stargate character stranded in Greyhawk: DC20.
- DC for a blacksmith to make a new zipper for a character with one (from a Stargate dude, or wherever): DC25
- DC to invent the zipper: shut up and play the game

Similar logic would apply to replicating other items . . . an AK-47 could probably be copied by a skilled smith, but it would be low in quality (low knowledge of alloys, little concept of standardized part making) . . . on the other hand, inventing gunpowder is something I'd flat out not allow. If some Stargate chemist told a Greyhawk alchemist the formula, I might allow it, or I might say it just doesn't work in Greyhawk, as a rule of magic.

 

[Templetroll]

A potter might...

http://www.art.net/Studios/Sculptors/Kendra/Sculpture/zipper.htm

a lil history

http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa082497.htm

This is cool

http://www.spudart.org/etc/zippers/images/205-0584_IMG_640.jpg

Finally, a Busby Berkeley aquatic 'zipper' dance routine!

http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue05/features/footlight.htm

Gotta <3 Google!

 

[Stik]

Making the zipper is the easy part.
INVENTING the zipper is the hard part.

 

[domino]

What everyone else has said. With the right dies (and that's how you'd probably do it, for the best similarity) it wouldn't be terribly hard to make. But justifying how your character comes up with such an idea is going to be nigh impossible.

Likewise gunpowder. How do you explain, in character "I'll take this charcoal, saltpeter, brimstone, mix them together, pour urine over the whole thing, run it through a mesh, let dry, urine and strain again, and then cram in a metal tube with this piece of metal at the other end." when most people don't even know the basics of pressure?