How to Make a K'nex Sword
The others are running around playing with toy weapons and your rubber bands are broken. Don't panic: You have building toys. Reaching for your handy K'nex kit, you may find several long pieces and connectors, along with potential braces and cross bars. Yes, you have the making of an epic sword the likes of which any fantasy character would be proud to wield.
Instructions
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Construct the Grip
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1
Plan your grip out. Keep in mind that it has to fit well with the hand that's going around it and consider getting some cloth or strips of leather to cover it. Also, the more the blade and grip connect together, the more stability the overall structure has.
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2
Keep the K'nex pieces short to maintain stability and retain a design that feels natural in your hand. Use pieces that curve and give, but sparingly. If you're making a weapon as opposed to a decorative sword, you don't want it wobbling all over the place.
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3
Wrap the grip. Use strips of leather if at all possible, as the stiffness and sturdiness comes between you and the grip more effectively. It also looks good.
Construct the Blade
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4
Make the frame. The outline of the blade should be over 14 inches in order to be at least a short sword. If you're going to sharpen the outline, don't do it until you have the rest of the blade in place.
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5
Support the blade by using horizontal and diagonal connections. If you're planning to use the sword as a piercing weapon, you may decide to use vertical struts to reinforce the outline as well.
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6
Insert the lower portion of the blade into the grip and connect where possible. This should involve removing redundant supports and connecting them, so you might have more pieces when you finish than you had when you started.
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Tips & Warnings
Wait until you've integrated the blade into the grip before you apply the wrap. If you don't, you'll need to unwrap and rework bits to achieve best effect--unless it's intended for decoration.
Use long pieces for the length of the blade, preferably gray. For the point, the best color rod is the metallic blue, since gray isn't available at that length (2 1/4 inches). A practical sword doesn't need to worry about color, but the long rods make for a more effective blade, since the connectors are difficult to sharpen.
