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Message: <blockquote data-quote="tarchon" data-source="post: 2096669" data-attributes="member: 5990">Well, there's a reason why steel swords didn't commonly have lead plates welded on, even though it's quite possible and it would amplify the weight of the blade. I think you're vastly underestimating the complexity of both the physics and the swordplay. Different qualities are required for different purposes, which is why there really were such things as bastard swords, spathae, gladii, rapiers, kris, scimitars, etc., all of which had very different merits that were sufficiently apparent for their users to bet their lives on these diverse weapons. If nothing mattered but the hardness and density of the sword, I doubt such a variety of forms would exist.For instance, with the edge, there's also the consideration of stiffness. A weak metal can only be honed to the point where the leading edge just has enough thickness to hold its shape. This is related to hardness of course, but it isn't exactly the same thing. If you have a metal stronger by volume, the angle of the leading edge can be shallower. Also, in transmitting the kinetic energy of the sword into the edge, there's a certain disadvantage to elasticity in that when the edge strikes and object, the body of the sword will actually flex somewhat, reducing the efficiency of energy transmitted into the blade, so stiffness would make a difference there as well.Very much so - there's much more to it than density and hardness, but "tend to" isn't quite the same thing as "always does." The modern metallurgical solution is obviously to use a composite structure, which is exactly what's done with a lot of high-end cutting blades (and effectively what pattern welding does). Plus, I actually saw descriptions of steel swords made of alloys with HRC 65 on the net, so it's clearly far from impossible.</blockquote>

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