Wow! That is really, and literally…fantastic…and quite beautiful
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So good!
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Holy wow!
I’ve been telling the teachers whichever kid shows up for weaponry and declares they MUST create a bat’leth will immediately win my undying love.
I’m totally showing them these pics.
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Stunning!
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Do you know what the cool thing is about these pictures? especially the first one? it looks like there’s room on that sheet for you to make another one! HOW MUCH!?
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By design. 
My Son, a metallurgical and materials engineer immediately laid claim to the next iteration!
The problem is it’s all freehand, and my lightweight plasma cutter is painfully slow, operating at the top end of it’s duty cycle on material thicker than it is designed for. (1/4")
Funny thing is, he owns a CNC GoTorch coupled to a Hypertherm Powermax 45 Plasma that will easily cut 1/2".
My avitar, a lifesize likeness of Frank Zappa in 16 guage he cut in about 15 seconds. With his rig (I’m in Denver, he is in Nashville) I could do them at a good price. Took the better part of a day for me to cut that thing out. Grinding the edge took even longer. That was an education.
I learned the cut marks left by the grinding disc have to be contiguous to show an unbroken sheen. (remember freehand) No matter how hard I tried to achieve the same alignment, whenever the grinder was lifted off the edge, beginning again presented a misalignment that was glaringly obvious in the way light reflected off of it leaving a distinct light/dark line. That’s 48 inches of edge per side where the grind must register perfectly.
It was the first time I ever had to grind with 10x magnification and have my face two inches from the interface of the tool and material! Slow going but I finally nailed it. As you tip it, he reflection from the edge slides unbroken from end to end. Perfect. Now the other side…
The next issue is shipping. It will require a sturdy plywood crate so it doesn’t kill anyone as it’s thrown around in transit.
Hacking it out by hand is cost prohibitive.
To offer a reasonable price, I would need to buy a 4’x8’ sheet and have their production shop blow out the blanks for me to finish - OR spend the $1600 for a real plasma cutter and $2500 for the GoTorch… which is next.
I’m flattered, but unless you are set with about $600 of disposable income, you would want to wait for my shop upgrades. 
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#BarnstormersLament #FistBump
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Story of my life… 
How can I manage to do that, with this?
Very slowly 
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Really Kahless worthy.
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Beautiful work! Ya’ know a miniature version would make a great novelty bottle opener
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Thank you @marmak3261 and @lcuellar63!
I worked a week on the blade profile before I was satisfied enough with it to commit to material, and I liked it better than the designs I saw on screen.
It would have looked good in the hands of Kahless, and the bottle opener is a worthy idea!
Qapla’!
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I am a patient person, so I may wait for your shop upgrades. There’s a product I’ve been working on since july of last year. It started with some sketches on graphpaper, now I’m almost done. Got the prototypes all laser cut out, i’ve assembled about a quarter of them, and are ready to be mold alphas. The good news is, is that from people I already know, I’ve got about 2-3 grand in sales waiting for the finished mold shots. I have decided to reward myself a little bit after the initial product batch is done.
For those that read hot seat, being a founder and putting in time for free to start something, feels a lot like what I’ve been doing. But I have had my eye on some purchases I normally wouldn’t make until I had that kind of money. Yes, the batleth is one of them. A pair of swords from SAO (dark repulser and elucidator) had also caught my eye.
Now I worry that I may not get the money before the GF hits and your attention will be taken away by that, and unable to spend time with “other tools” lol.
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Yes! There are those thresholds you achieve where a celebration is in order!
When an idea inspires you, there really is not an option to ignore it, and the time you poor into it eventually pays off in your satisfaction, if nothing else.
As winter’s grip slips into spring, I have been anticipating the outdoors again, then a laser is going to show up and I will spend summer in the bowels of my shop! And yes, dust will gather on everything except the laser.
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Well, the bottle opener size batleth is readily available for anyone who wants. Thinkgeek (and many other places I am sure) has a letter opener batleth for $20.
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I’ve got a 9-year old. Swords work. And kids give gifts to other kids… younger cousins and all. I’m not saying it’s the only project; but it would fly pretty well with a segment of your population.
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Even better, toss some aluminum tape on it and brush it lengthwise with steel wool and it’ll look like real metal. (Thanks Adam Savage!)
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