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This bionic hand was designed for melee combat, with the purpose of inflicting deep cutting wounds by a powerful clawing attack. The fingertips end with large steel claws with a cutting edge, that are solidly mounted but can be fully retracted backwards at the user's will, which allows for normal hand usage when the claws are not needed.

The bionic analogues of muscles used for clawing can also exert much greater force than would normally be possible, allowing for undisrupted clawing motion even when cutting through tough tissue.

What is the optimal shape for claws mounted in the aforementioned bionic hand?

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  • $\begingroup$ how many blade the claw must have when it drew out? if theres no restriction i say single blade like in deadpool wolverine origins or what nick012000 already say, it can give deeper cut, and make the blade in reverse curve just like common predator claw or like falx sword otherwise i dont think theres much you can change to make it deeper cut if it draw the blade in all the finger unless its super monomolecular sharp. $\endgroup$
    – Li Jun
    Jan 11, 2020 at 5:37
  • $\begingroup$ or if you want to cleave the opponent you can use the blade like falchion or Dao type but i think that would be awkward in the finger singe they need certain weight and majority of the weight is around the tip like axe and lack of space so you may have trouble in controlling each blade in the fingers while need to swing the hand hard to give deep cut rather than using the finger motion to cut or scratch like clawing, they can use to draw the blade to inflict cut but not as effective like the falx type. $\endgroup$
    – Li Jun
    Jan 11, 2020 at 5:55
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    $\begingroup$ It probably doesn't matter what shape the blades are. You'll just end up being killed by someone who values practicality over showy silly weapons... $\endgroup$
    – Starfish Prime
    Jan 11, 2020 at 9:27
  • $\begingroup$ @StarfishPrime well claw weapon exist in real though some use to catch enemy weapon including directing spear shaft (require a good reflects though) or as blade brass knuckle, usually done by asian duelist or martial artist in the past, but usually they dont wear it in both hand so one of the hand wear another weapon such as sword, but there also some that wear both specially when use as hidden weapon for assassination or catching opponent, some use for climbing or digging tool but also can become alternative weapon, so its not just showy silly weapon. $\endgroup$
    – Li Jun
    Jan 11, 2020 at 23:06
  • $\begingroup$ now that i think about it since its a bionic hand after all the Dao or falchion type may work if you can spin it like saw machine, this help mitigate your body balance and inertia problem, the falx or sickle type may end up tangle or sudden stuck using this method though, its still gonna be awkward and you need some gap length in the finger for the blade to spin properly and you cant suddenly stop either you need to gradually slowing the spinning till it lose its momentum and this may not a claw weapon that you imagine anyway. $\endgroup$
    – Li Jun
    Jan 11, 2020 at 23:43

2 Answers 2

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Don’t use fingertip claws. Use a blade stored in the forearm instead.

The length of a retractable blade will be a function of the length of the body part it’s stored in - fingertip blades would, as a result, be limited to the length of the last joint of the finger. By contrast, a blade stored in the forearm could be about a foot long. By using a longer blade, you would be able to more easily inflict deeper wounds - for instance, you couldn’t cut someone’s arm off with a single hit from a one-inch blade.

A forearm blade like this might resemble the sword-like blades used by Adam Jensen from the Deus Ex series, or the mantis blades used by V from Cyberpunk 2077.

An exception to this might be if you can change the shape of the blade for storage- for instance, if you could make a “mono-molecular wire” that has very high cutting capacity that you could spool up into a small part of the body, or some form of “liquid metal” that you could store in a tank then reform into a blade.

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  • $\begingroup$ I didn't say they were stored in the fingertip. In fact, I planned for the blades to retract even deeper, all the way through the finger when it's in straight position and then into the back of the hand. $\endgroup$
    – DarklingArcher
    Jan 11, 2020 at 0:07
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    $\begingroup$ @DarklingArcher Even if you got this to work somehow (e.g. robot fingers that don't use cartilage between joints), you'd still be limited to the length of the hand, which, while longer than the length of a fingertip, is still quite a bit shorter than the length of the forearm. $\endgroup$
    – nick012000
    Jan 11, 2020 at 14:55
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It should be shaped like the biologic claws it emulates.

Why would someone the the tech prowess to make bionic claws choose to fight with bionic claws, rather than some sort of weapon that let you keep your enemy at a distance? It must be because there is some cultural mandate to fight with claws, because that is what this cultural group does. Therefore the claws should be made to emulate the biologic claws that it replaces. The bionic claws should be no stronger or weaker than the biologic claws; that would be unfair to your opponent with biologic claws.

I can imagine a maimed Kzin with bionic claws that it would use in ritual fights with other Kzin. The claws on its missing paw should be made to match its intact claws. The point of a ritual fight with claws is to use claws, not to obliterate your rival (who may not be your enemy) with tech. Perhaps a non-Kzin might need to engage in ritual combat for cultural reasons - like Kirk fighting Spock for the Pon-Farr. A set of bionic claws might be kept handy for nonclawed individuals participating in such fights.

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