Basket hilt question...

[Glaukos the Athenian]

I have not seen welded "cage" type Aluminum basket hilts, though they make cup style of the same metal.

Is there anything inherently difficult about welding aluminum, or just lack of demand?


Glaukos

[AwP]

Welding aluminum is more difficult than steel, though it is certainly doable.

[GuntherofOrkney]

the problem is that aluminum isnt as hard as steel so the bars would have to be thicker then the usual so it would be a very bulky lookin hilt. i have seen one before,it didnt look that good. also after welding it you will have to have it retempered or the bars will be super soft.

[Glaukos the Athenian]

Thanks,

I wonder if a basket made out of a weave of aluminum strips would be possible...

Something conceptually like the Valsgarde Helmet kit that Zweihammer used to sell...

http://www.zweihammer.com/tutorials/ass ... tions.html

Glaukos

[losthelm]

It should work but the time to fabricate goes up when you have that many rivited pieces.

[raito]

Well, the welding process is slightly more difficult, but the equipment is more expensive.

[Johann Lederer]

Didn't mrks on here make titanium baskets?

[Frederich Von Teufel]

Aluminum cage-style basket hilts require superior craftmanship. Welding aluminum, particularly buttwelding large rods of aluminum, requires a high level of skill as well as very good equipment.

Since the prime influence on end cost of a product is the amount of time spent manufacturing, aluminum baskethilts end up an item that is priced out of the market by it's competitors. Mild steel cage-style baskets are comparatively easy to weld, uses easily acquired, and cheap, welding equipment, and can be produced rapidly. As an armourer, would I rather produce 20 baskethilts that I know I can sell at $40 each, or 5 baskethilts that I would have to sell at $200?

The aluminum baskethilts you will find on the market are of the type made by Anshelm; simple sheet requiring minimum shaping and long buttwelds.


Frederich