Birthday swords

[watervole]

On my birthday, my family and I started playing around with my longswords.  I set my husband and daughter a challenge to see how many locks they could find using six swords.  In the process, they invented one new one and created an improved version of one that I've seen in a book.  Here's some of what we came up with. 

This is the Mohr lock - I learnt it from an American Rapper dancer

Black Joker lock (or you can call it a farm gate if you prefer.) This is a more rigid version of a known lock.

I found a good way of making it quickly, too.

Lindsey's lock. She found this one that I hadn't seen before.

Richard's Yacht lock.  This may actually be one that nobody else had before.

If you want to play yourselves, just cut out some strips of cardboard from a cereal packet or similar, and interweave them.

You'll probably manage to fins the six pointed start before long, but there are others, as well, that I've not shown here...

Comments

[kerravonsen]

I can't see any of the pictures. 8-(

[watervole]

Try now. I'd forgotten that it's impossible to link to things in Google Photos. Right pain (photos taken on my mobile are easy to upload there)

[kerravonsen]

Nope, still can't see anything.

[watervole]

Wretched machines...

Is the direct link https://watervole.dreamwidth.org/639401.html any better?

[kerravonsen]

That's what I've been using. I've also checked your LJ crosspost and I can't see them there either.

[watervole]

REdone photos using Flickr. Cut and paste from Google photos didn't work either..

Try now

[kerravonsen]

Works now!

Cut and paste from Google photos didn't work either.

Of course it wouldn't. If Google photos is set up so that other people can't view the pictures from outside the site, changing the way one gets the URL isn't going to make a difference. It's a matter of configuring the server to prevent hotlinking of images. I assume that's what they did.

[kerravonsen]

I can see why you called it "Richard's Yacht"!

If you want to play yourselves, just cut out some strips of cardboard from a cereal packet or similar, and interweave them.

Or popsicle sticks might be better, since they are made of wood.

[watervole]

They would be ideal.

go forth, see what you can come up with!

[aunty_marion]

Or an even more miniature version - coffee stirrers (the flat wooden kind).

[watervole]

I think they're too short to flex past multiple other stirrers, though it's always worth experimenting.

[aunty_marion]

Indeed. So I grabbed a bunch (they're useful for all sorts of craft stuff!), and experimented. 6" ruler for scale.

[watervole]

Woo hoo!

[elisi]

That's so cool!

And Happy Belated Birthday. ♥

[vilakins]

Aha! Now I can see them; before it was just the forbidden logo. Interesting! There's probably a specialised branch of maths that could predict new locks. :-) Your wooden swords must be fairly flexible to get into some of those.

[watervole]

It's related to topology.

There are ways of calculating the number of crossover points and finite numbers from each option, but swords cannot do more than four bends, so that limits options.

A lot of possibilities are not stable. You have to weave over and under for most of the crossings.

There is only one possible lock for 4 swords. See if you can find it!