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[Girlinhat]

I believe adamantine could vibrate perfectly fine, albeit vibrating all over.  If you had a pole of addy acting as a guardrail on the highway, and struck it, it wouldn't just shake a bit.  It would shake the whole guard rail.  Although, I believe that also means the force would be greater, so to actually vibrate the whole thing you'd need enough force to cause the whole thing to vibrate.  A large vibrating blade would be difficult, but a small knife edge might work.

Although to be perfectly fair, I don't think vibrating blades actually do anything.  They sound fancy and sci-fi, but I don't think there's any actual science to support their cutting factor.  Now an oscillating blade, that would be more terrifying, especially if it was toothed.

[LordHavoc]

Here goes - All hypothesis, and I'm purposly leaving out math because I'm not good at it.

A molecule thick addy axe that is ridged would produce near zero friction due to the complete uniform surface.

The leading edge therefore would be the only course of friction when it hits the solid that it is intended to cut

Since the area of the cut would be length and width of the impact (that would be one molecule width and several inchs length)...that would equate to a surface area of tiny proportions, even a tip of a very sharp needle wouldn't be close...that would be your friction.

Now add 160g+force being applied & the speed of the swing. I would guess that you would be able to swing that through several centimeters of steel without too much effort

[Girlinhat]

Except that there is friction.  If you're slicing straight down, perhaps not, but if you're slicing to the side, then you'll cut into an object, and the area above the cut will be pulled down by gravity, pressing against the blade's flat.

Ever tried to cut a tree branch with an oscillating blade?  If you got at it the wrong way, the branch to clamp down on the blade and you risk breaking it.

[LordHavoc]

Ever tried to cut a tree branch with an oscillating blade?

Oh, I missed the conversation about oscillation. My hypothesis is based off a non-oscillating blade.
Which continues:
The uniform nature of the molecule alignment should make it very difficult to clamp onto in your tree example; it should slip out cleanly on the same axis as entry.

In extension to the above, if the target was very thick (more deep than the blade itself). The target entry point could potentially (partially) close up behind the blade (with force); The blade could still be removed but with a bit more effort - due to the lack of momentum.

Naturally though, the more dense the target the harder it'll be to get the axe through because the friction on the leading edge would be greater.

Covering the oscillation

For a mono-filiment blade, oscillation would be counter productive since it encourages too much movement on non-trajectory axis.

[Girlinhat]

The issue is that anything above the slice will be pulled down by gravity and clamp down on the blade.  Just because it's smooth doesn't mean it's frictionless.

[Musashi]

That is an instructive thread!
I'm not sure what I'm learning exactly, but I'm learning it. 

[forsaken1111]

The issue is that anything above the slice will be pulled down by gravity and clamp down on the blade.  Just because it's smooth doesn't mean it's frictionless.

If it is perfectly smooth then it would be near frictionless. Most 'smooth' surfaces are not actually smooth at a micro level, and have microscopic depressions and projections. The interlocking of the irregularities of the surfaces in contact causes friction. If one of the surfaces is perfectly smooth down to and beyond the microscopic level, there is nothing for the other surface to catch or grind against. No amount of pressure is going to change this, because Adamantine is perfectly rigid and will not deform under pressure like other surfaces such as steel would.

[Girlinhat]

Then what makes you think adamantine is perfectly smooth?  It's shaped by hammers psionics dwarven face-smashing against hot metal.  It's not going to be molecularity smooth, not matter how fine a material it is, it's still suffering industrial limitations.

Glass is a smooth material, but if formed poorly it'll be rough.  Adamantine is a unique material, but that does not automatically make it frictionless.

[forsaken1111]

If they're able to make a mono-atomic blade thickness out of a perfectly rigid material which cannot be worked by any known method, making the surface perfectly smooth would be child's play. It's a reasonable assumption.

[Girlinhat]

Although there is nothing supporting the idea that the blade is that thin.  We know that the edge gets very thin, but everyone has jumped on the "molecular filament katana" bandwagon.  There is zero proof that anything is that thin, and no suggestion for it either.  The very edge may be that fine, but the whole weapon likely is not.

[Blizzlord]

If the whole blade was as thin as the edge the blade would shatter at the slightest touch.

[forsaken1111]

Although there is nothing supporting the idea that the blade is that thin.  We know that the edge gets very thin, but everyone has jumped on the "molecular filament katana" bandwagon.  There is zero proof that anything is that thin, and no suggestion for it either.  The very edge may be that fine, but the whole weapon likely is not.

Oh good, now we're arguing proof about a mythical substance in a fantasy game. Of course there is no proof, there never will be proof because it doesn't exist.

[Girlinhat]

You must have missed the whole 16 page thread.  This has been one ongoing debate about fictional materials.

[khearn]

It has already been established that adamantine, although rigid, can be broken. It just can't be bent. A one molecule thick blade would shatter with very little force.

And atomically smooth materials do still have friction. Graphite is formed of atom thick layers of hexagonally bonded carbon, and one can cleave it so one face is just one smooth layer. It still has friction, though.

[wierd]

Better analog is "metallic glass"

wiki page

By not posessing a crystalline structure, the atoms can form the lowest possible volume, remove cleavage domains, and attain maximum atomic density at room temperature. This makes them tougher, harder, and stronger than ordinary metals.

These same properties would be necessary in adamantine in order to be so smooth, otherwise crystal domain boundries would give you grief.

This is why obsidian is waaaaay sharper than steel. Obsidian is an amorphous hard solid. Eg, a glass.