Na'vi-inspired dagger

Tìng Eywatikìte'e · January 21, 2010, 11:11:53 PM

Haha, no it's okay I just loose my sense of humor a bit when I working in an area I know nothing about...

Ayfa'liyä omumyu · January 21, 2010, 11:20:44 PM

Quote from: Tìng Eywatikìte'e on January 21, 2010, 10:58:26 PM
Heh, I've never worked with bone before, so I have no idea how it works. We have discussed this in the metal working thread on the Custom and Culture board and have come to the conclusion that it is the carbon fiber reinforcement that gives the Na'vi knives their look, as we are 99.9% sure they are made from bone.

Bone and antler work fairly readily, and primitive or improvised bone knives, arrowheads, tools, etc., can be made with no more than a few convenient stones. If you're curious about the basics, this video may be of interest:Stone and Bone (Utilizing Resources) Part 1

I agree upon the point of the Na'vi knives being bone, and carbon-fibre bearing. In making a replica, it would be possible to create a master, mould it, and cast a copy in various resins which could be reinforced with carbon-fibre. This is relatively simple to do. One could even combine bone dust with the resin in sufficient quantity to create a more-or-less castable carbon-fibre bone material. I doubt the end product would have much edge retention, but it would certainly still be lethal. Various non-metallic knives are produced which use modern synthetics, among them carbon fibre.

Tìng Eywatikìte'e · January 21, 2010, 11:30:04 PM

Fascinating. In my anthropological studies I'll eventually have to take a class on stone age tool making, where hopefully I will learn some of this. Until then, I shall leave it to the pros.

mO_Tan · January 23, 2010, 08:10:42 AM

Being an avid weapons collector myself, all i can say is...

OMG!!! *faints*

I wont rest until i have some sort of dagger like that in my collection! *serious face*

Rain · February 01, 2010, 10:00:30 PM

Quote from: Tìng Eywatikìte'e on January 21, 2010, 10:29:31 PM
Wow that's amazing! Fantastic job! My only suggestions would be of course some decoration of the hilt and finding if there is any possibility of getting the blade to the black they in the film.

Should be easy. Oeya sempul uses green walnuts (they look like hard, green oranges when they fall from the tree in the backyard) to dye his muskrat traps black. It also stains my hands, so I wonder if that would work to dye the antler black? You may end up rubbing the colour off after some time, but I don't think that would detract from the appearance.

Kaltxì Palulukan! · February 01, 2010, 10:23:38 PM

Quote from: Rain on February 01, 2010, 10:00:30 PM
Quote from: Tìng Eywatikìte'e on January 21, 2010, 10:29:31 PM
Wow that's amazing! Fantastic job! My only suggestions would be of course some decoration of the hilt and finding if there is any possibility of getting the blade to the black they in the film.

Should be easy. Oeya sempul uses green walnuts (they look like hard, green oranges when they fall from the tree in the backyard) to dye his muskrat traps black. It also stains my hands, so I wonder if that would work to dye the antler black? You may end up rubbing the colour off after some time, but I don't think that would detract from the appearance.

I gave you a cookie for oh so casually slipping in some Na'vi in your sentence. That kind of minor usage helps all of us experience Na'vi in our daily communicaions without getting lost by trying to translate entire sentences.

Irayo ma tsmukte! Oel tse'a your efforts! (or--Oel tolse'a your efforts)

Rain · February 01, 2010, 11:21:59 PM

I do try very hard. Tenses are still difficult, even if only remembering them from the top of my head spur of the moment is difficult. Sometimes I have to make up phrases to say what I want, but it seems to work in a literal sense

Ayfa'liyä omumyu · February 03, 2010, 07:01:27 PM

Quote from: Rain on February 01, 2010, 10:00:30 PM
Oeya sempul uses green walnuts (they look like hard, green oranges when they fall from the tree in the backyard) to dye his muskrat traps black. It also stains my hands, so I wonder if that would work to dye the antler black? You may end up rubbing the colour off after some time, but I don't think that would detract from the appearance.

It would be simple enough to find out, as I have about six gallons of black walnut dye sitting around. I use it to dye wool, but haven't tried it on antler. Normally I just use oil-based leather dyes for that, but I'll dunk a test piece and let you know the results.

Swizaw Nguway · February 13, 2010, 04:25:28 PM

WOW, you made this?!!? Thats amazing!

Kaltxì Palulukan! · February 13, 2010, 07:14:20 PM

Quote from: Swizaw Nguway on February 13, 2010, 04:25:28 PM
WOW, you made this?!!? Thats amazing!

I know; the guy is pretty amazing, huh?

Swizaw Nguway · February 13, 2010, 07:28:34 PM

Quote from: Kaltxì Palulukan! on February 13, 2010, 07:14:20 PM
Quote from: Swizaw Nguway on February 13, 2010, 04:25:28 PM
WOW, you made this?!!? Thats amazing!

I know; the guy is pretty amazing, huh?

He sure is, I bet he could make a fortune out of selling them.

Hiyìk · February 14, 2010, 02:09:13 PM

That is so cool!

I wish i had the skill to make one of my own

Ayfa'liyä omumyu · February 14, 2010, 05:02:11 PM

Thanks again for all your compliments. I'm glad for some of my work to be appreciated, as such is worth far more than any money to be made from it.

I did start on a steel version of this same design in 1075, but I cracked it during heat treat. I wasn't surprised by this given the strange profile and some very thin sections, but it was a good exercise nevertheless. I unfortunately won't be able to try another anytime soon due to my schedule, though I do have a second blanked out already.

The dimensions on this piece are the same as in the antler version, and as you can see, quite a lot of material is taken off during grinding. Starting weight on the blank is 1,250 grams (2 lbs. 12 oz.), but after rough grinding ends up at 655 grams (1 lb. 7 oz.) for around a 50% reduction. The holes are drilled in the tang to further lighten the piece as well as to enhance adhesion should I choose to glue grip scales on. I would expect a further 10% or so reduction in the final grind and polish, so sans grip it would have come in around 590 grams (1 lb. 4 oz.).

The idea for this was to follow as closely as possible the shape of the antler original, but it quickly became apparent that simply through the change of material it took on a more "space-age" or cyberpunk look. Had it held together I might have run with that theme but the intention was to use antler scales for the grip, which might have brought it back a bit. If I get around to grinding another I'll probably change the section to a hollow grind on one side only, with the other side being lenticular, while eliminating the fuller but retaining the diamond tip.

Profiled blank:

Rough grind:

Clayed up for differential heat treat:

Kaltxì Palulukan! · February 14, 2010, 07:06:47 PM

Oh that is cool on so many levels, and so easy to follow. What do you use to rough grind it? A (fixed point--er... buffing?) wheel? A lathe? Sorry for my ignorance. I have never worked with steel before. Wax? YES!! And all kinds of other (well, soft actually) materials, but oeya(<--dots) sempul was famous for his workshops, which I used to poke around in as a kid.

Rain · February 14, 2010, 08:46:55 PM

Oooooooohhh, do want...

Atanhì · February 19, 2010, 10:20:56 AM

Beautiful. You've inspired me- I'm starting to collect the materials to carve a set of Na'vi knives from cow rib bones, which is about as close to Ikran alar claws as I think I'm going to find on this side of the cosmos. Thank you for posting the video, Do you have any other special advice for working in bone?

Tskxe Taronyu · February 19, 2010, 05:56:20 PM

They actually made authentic Avatar items like that from the movie, even though it was all CG. There's not many but you can find them on this site: http://www.noblecollection.com/catalog/catalog.cfm?catid=86

Things range from $59 to $95.

Robert Nantangä Tirea · February 20, 2010, 06:49:15 AM

xboy777, this section of the forum is for Costuming and Cosplay, and the majority of cosplayers design their own outfits and props. There's an official sub-forum for AVATAR merchandise here --> Avatar Merchandise

While Noble Collection's replicas/props are very nice looking, we use them for referencing design because the spirit of cosplay is in creating your own.

El Jacko · February 20, 2010, 07:10:24 AM

Going back to the metal knife above, I might give it a try, depending on whether I can actually get away with a) swiping the materials from College and b) The fuzz won't take to kindly to me carrying one o those about.
It'll have to be an 'at-college' jobbie though, I don't have the means to cut metal at home.

Kaltxì Palulukan! · February 20, 2010, 01:56:14 PM

Quote from: El Jacko on February 20, 2010, 07:10:24 AM
Going back to the metal knife above, I might give it a try, depending on whether I can actually get away with a) swiping the materials from College and b) The fuzz won't take to kindly to me carrying one o those about.
It'll have to be an 'at-college' jobbie though, I don't have the means to cut metal at home.

Well, be legal, be safe, and always use protection.