weapon's check board.

Hey, I was thinking of having a weapon's check board like this diagram, especially for 'Fools raid'.



Konradr

ya that really looks like it will work well and easy to make

That is a really good idea. Is there any way to make it smaller so we could get one to each weapons checker? Maybe handheld or like a five foot tall sign post?

I think smaller would be good. but I like freestanding, maybe two that we can screw together on the spot and then have two weapon's check stations. Multiple people can check different aspects of weapons.

Maybe one 2X4 can be 48" long for quick red checks. The other, maybe 36" or 24". The panel can be a thin plywood and can be maybe 2 foot by 2 1/2 feet with all the important holes, and guages cut out plus the degree examples. I have some 2 x 4's in the back yard and maybe some scrap wood. I'll see what I can come up with and post a pic.

Konradr

If you haven't started on this already Konradr, bring your 2x4's to practice and I will bring my spare plywood and we'll work something out. SHouldn't be too difficult to implement.

I'm picking up a load of people this Saturday so I have to strap gear on top of the jeep, but I'll see if I can throw the 2X4 I have. Well, I have a few on the roof of my shed that ain't keeping the rain out so I might be able to part with them. The one I have sitting out I don't know if its 8 feet or longer. I'd have to measure it.. So that one could make a 48" side, a 24" side, and two foot or foot and a half long feet. I think.

Konradr

i would leave out the flail hole. Flail heads have no max size in theory.

4.2.4 - Flails:


4.2.4.1 - The ball of a flail must have a minimum circumference of 16 inches (measured at its narrowest point) and weigh a minimum weight of 4 oz.


it has a minimum but no max. there are guys in LA with a couch cushion as the head of the flail.

The flail hole is to make sure the flail meets minimum and is not smaller, it must have a 16 inch diameter. You can measure with a measuring tape or they say if the flat of the head is 4 inches, the circumferance will meet minimum. Either way, it must meet minimum. A cut out hole of 16 inch diameter will work, or a 4 inch line for the flat.

This was a required check for ATD when they came to visit, though I don't remember if they had a flail to be checked.

Konradr

Most of the templates I have seen are a handheld board like Smithy suggested that had cutouts for blade width, one side is the length of the flail chain, then circle cutouts of 2", 2.5" and now 3.5" all from a 0.5" thick board (can't clear the other side or it fails). The other type I have seen are a collection of rings or soup cans of the appropriate diameters and a flexible tape. I have thought a lot about flex testing, but never really came up with a good system that is less subjective than the current one. A simple set of lines doesn't take into account the length of the weapon or measure the angle from the right point on the weapon. See this thread for a discussion of flex testing.

For the flail, I think you really need to use a flexible tape, because the rules discuss the circumference and it really doesn't have to be round. Under most circumstance the cutout would still be right, though so maybe for speed use a board or hoop and then measure the exceptions.

The flex angles are purely for reference for those who state they don't know what 45 and 90 degree are *taco*.

I've seen a handheld board from Ragnarock. Kurn had one. But a free standing board would free your hands up and you could just step up, check all measurements for a weapon and walk away. Not fidgeting with hands. Of course you guys have been at this longer than I. But Kilanos offered some plywood and I have a 2 X 4 I'm not using so I might experiment and we can see how it works out for our normal practice.

I tried making some handhelds too, but my board was two thin. I don't know if Kilanos plywood is .5 inch, but it looks like good wood. I will try and make a handheld as well.

Konradr.

You can eyeball it if its thinner, but the rule states no more than 0.5" through the hole, so 0.5" wood makes it easy.

Nice article on flex testing. Phew, I got tired reading it though, but I gleaned some info. I saw those flexy pics and, OMG those babies were flexing like crazy.

Konradr

Also, put measures on it for armor so you can easily check gauge/thickness, ID of rings, penny round, etc.

To be practical, that would require a separate device. And maybe even then it would be too much. If armour thickness came into question I'd use a sort of preset caliper. For right now I'd concentrate on getting the weapon and armour checkers numbers increased, maybe make a badge or something out of it so that we have enough people who can do it. The added benefit of which isthat when those people construct their own weapons/shields or armour the have a better idea of what to expect and have fewer questions along the way.

Couldn't a notch in the side of the board be a preset caliper? And a circle for minimum ID seems simple enough on this stand-up wall. Calipers are what I use right now and that works fine, but if the board is to be all-in-one, including armor is probably worth considering.

Having an all in one board does make the most sense. I was running under the assumption that we were going to check armour in one line then check weapons in another. That or have two checkers per player. Either way I see your point.

All the events that I have been to have just made piles. no lines. Every pile of weapons is put into a pile by type. Every weapon that passes going into a pile with tape or a sticker and the fails go into another. I've never really seen checking Nazi's. They check for general safety of the weapons by hit testing and then armor is usually just checked for anything loose or pointy.I've never seen armor being measured, just weapons. Even then, not all weapons were measured, just the ones with discrepancy's, to be honest, If you took the time to check every aspect, you would spend the whole entire day just checking weapons. Safety is the important thing. The last few events I've been to Sparta and The Iron Hills Clan(US) have done the weapon checking. So if we need checkers I am willing to help.

Caretaker wrote:

All the events that I have been to have just made piles. no lines. Every pile of weapons is put into a pile by type. Every weapon that passes going into a pile with tape or a sticker and the fails go into another. I've never really seen checking Nazi's. They check for general safety of the weapons by hit testing and then armor is usually just checked for anything loose or pointy.I've never seen armor being measured, just weapons. Even then, not all weapons were measured, just the ones with discrepancy's, to be honest, If you took the time to check every aspect, you would spend the whole entire day just checking weapons. Safety is the important thing. The last few events I've been to Sparta and The Iron Hills Clan(US) have done the weapon checking. So if we need checkers I am willing to help.

Though I've been to only one inter-realm event, from reading the various boards that are out there, it sounds like weapons check gets done in a couple ways: either you stand there and ask/answer questions and grab your gear immediately, or you toss it in a pile and go to get breakfast and come back to a pile of stuff and try to find yours. Good luck finding the checkers after its all done to find out why your weapon failed though! The etiquette seems to vary from player to player and checker to checker.

Since you guys are going to run the weapons check, you get to decide in advance how "Nazi" you're going to be. From my experience, the angry-to-be-awake-so-early, under-caffeinated checkers that are the usuals to perform the job go over everything pretty roughly and thoroughly. However, they'll nitpick anything that's unique or obviously wrong. I suggest you follow your rule book and temper it with common sense on a case by case basis, but that's my humble opinion.

Looking forward to seeing you out there!

Here's the weapon's check info we talked about Saturday:
http://geddon.org/index.php/Dimension_template
And here's the template:


As we talked about above, it would be nice to add a 3/16" slot for leather armor checking and a 18ga and 16ga slot for metal plate checking.

Thanks Isk, that's a good template.

Konradr