Self-made wires

[fencinman89]

I have been collecting contacts from old wires for a while and was wondering if anyone had any idea where I can get insulated wire. Thanx.
-Tre'

[DHCJr]

You have 3 main choices from my experience.

1) You can get it from the manufacturers themselves. I know Leon Paul is one you can get just the wire from and all the other pieces to.

2) Rewrap wire is also a way to go. It does not stretch as much as wires from the fencing manufacturers. That can be a blessing or a curse. Also it is more difficult to take off the insulation.

3) Magnet wire. But you have to be very, very careful as the insulation, you could call a paint.

[wflaschka]

I've achieved a high level of success with plastic-coated wrapping wire from Radio Shack. I think they're sold in 3-color packages now, where the wire is wrapped around a plastic spool.

This wire has worked for me since forever. I recently gave up the habit of making my own wires, because I like the factory German ones and life is too short.

[mifencer]

I started with wrapping wire from Radio Shack and then searched online for other wrapping wire. You can get a 1000' roll for about $25, plus you can get other colors besides red, white & blue.

If you're interested try Squires Electronics (503) 357-7132 http://www.squires.com/kynar.htm

I think it's well worth making your own wires. Plus, if you search Fencing.Net, you can find a way of getting more plastic cups.

[telkanuru]

Originally posted by mifencer
Plus, if you search Fencing.Net, you can find a way of getting more plastic cups.

Heh, yeah. You get them from other armourers who are fed up with squinting and soldering, and have money to burn.

[MyraTrue]

er... magnet wire from Radio Shack. Works well, either the 26 or 30 guage. I've been making wires all week. A little shy on cups right now, but we have NO wires and some new lefty epeeists. Oops.

[mifencer]

Has anyone ever tried making epee wires? Since I'm not an epeeist, I haven't had any incentive but I'm curious if someone has been successful.

As for pastic cups, someone posted that you can use the litte red caps from cap guns. I haven't tried it yet, but sounds good.

[wflaschka]

I always put off learning how to do epee wires... but I don't see any reason why they couldn't be home-made. I think the soldering is more complicated...? I'm going to start saving epee cups against the day I try to make some wires.

All this wire-making stuff is oral tradition -- does anybody know of a written-down how-to guide?

[EDIT: Apparently MyraTrue makes 'em... just noticed the post!]

[MyraTrue]

Er... there is a "how to" in Volkmann's book (I think that's right????). It should be titled something like "How it works, What goes wrong, and How to fix it". Mine is burried somewhere in stash of fencing things. I think. I actually give my Dad the credit- I found myself with French wires and German tips right before a tournament. So, we put the French wires on the German cup. And then got the bright idea to use magnet wire, since it was insulated. I found that section in Volkmann's book afterward.

Has anyone tried free-wiring an epee? I can see it working with a foil, but I'd find it a lot harder to do with an epee, being double-wired.

Making epee wires using the old cups works out alright. Yes, you've got to solder it. I've been using magnet wire (the 30 guage, red enameled stuff), and the wires have held up for 8 months so far. The only trouble is that you'd LIKE to heat the mushroom pin contacts and solder that way, but you can't get into the cup without melting the platic. So you've got to heat the wire instead, and I am always a little leary of tollerances afterward.

But if you're patient, it can save you the money. And more so, if you have something "emergency" come up in regard to "needing wires NOW", it can be a life saver.

In addition- is it possible to just buy the cups with pins in them from somewhere? Someone mentioned distributors? I don't think I'm desparate enough to do it, but some day I might be convinced. My personal weapons rarely need a rewire- but the club destroys wires at an awful rate.

[Craig]

Originally posted by wflaschka
All this wire-making stuff is oral tradition -- does anybody know of a written-down how-to guide?

No, but that's a good idea. (How to fix your weapons for $0.39/day.)

[DHCJr]

There were a number of questions about making epee wires, which I will get to shortly. On the Foil, don't try soldering with the cup any where near the wire. Take the metal case out of the plastic, clear the hole of the old wire, tin the new wire. Heat it and push it through and let it cool. Break off the excess and thead on the cup.

The Epee is a little harder. First, it uses a hollow nail, which means you can't push out the old wire. Second, the French and German manufacturers crimp their wires on. The only one I know for sure that doesn't is PBT. They still solder, so they can be reused. Pulling out the nails from the block, you must be careful to not damage the nails or block.

As I said above you can get the Foil parts to make your own wire from Leon Paul. They also sell the parts for Epee wire.

[DangerMouse]

For epee wires, my college coach used to make all the team wires. He built some sort of electrical arc soldering device that he could use while the contacts were still in the plastic. He would also use a fine diamond bit jewellers drill to drill out the contacts. I never had a chance to learn how he did it, but only once did I break one of his wires when a blade broke. Usually, the blade would break and hang from the wire.

[gojujay]

I just "made" a wire for epee. Used the wire wrap from radio shack. I took the "hollow nails" out with a pair of new needle nose pliers (need that sharp bite) and a steady and patient hand. When I saw that they were crimped, I tried to spread the crimp with a probe ( don't remember what I used for a probe). Worked with one, but not the other; however the other was split in such a way that I was able to solder it with more ease than the non-split one (go figure). BEFORE I soldered the new wire in, I ran the wires through the cup (which looks to be a block of dielectric material that you could probably fabricate one in a pinch. Cut the shape you need then heat a slightly larger diameter SOLID wire and work it through). It seems to work without a problem but we'll see about durability.

And that insulation can be somewhat difficult to work.