When did you do it the first time ...

[The Armourer]

well now that I have your attention. I am interested to know when you started to maintain your own weapons, or if in fact you still rely on others to look after them for you.

I became involved in armouring because of my boys but as soon as they started doing overseas competitions I taught them how to do the basics because they had to know. I am a little surprised at the number of people that I have come across that have no idea what to do if something goes wrong. That said if you play tennis and a string breaks repairs on court are impractical so you wouldn’t need to know restringing techniques for example.

[Asphalt]

Used to be a motorbike mechanic so i'm always taking stuff apart.. then trying to put it together again... so from the very start really.

But i do buy new blades pre-wired... purely to save time!
If i get stuck i simply ask...

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

Night before JO quals, and all through the house, not a weapon was working, not even the mouse. With the internet down, and no fencers to help me, I figured it out myself, god helped me. I rewired my weapons and fixed my bodycords because I had no choice... that was about a year ago, and since then, I havent found a problem I couldnt fix, and was soon deemed the club armorer. It pays big time to be able to fix your stuff.

[remise]

My kids would break everything they touched. A new foil would go out on the strip - 2 days later it would come back broken. Never mind how....someone stepped on it - someone sat on it - a car ran over it - I'm not going to bore everyone here, but, I would literally cringe when I saw them approach me with weird accounts of this or that. I began reading everything on the armoring section here in this site. I bought Rudy Volkman's book. I attempted to wire foils at first and went through 5 or so wires before I got it right, but eventually I DID get it right.

Now, thanks to the folks here and the kindness of the armorers that I've met and studied with around the country, all I do is roll my eyes when my kids approach me. (They still break everything).

[daveappr]

Waaaaay back in high school one on my coaches decided, (and wisely so), that if anyone was borrowing school weapons for USFA tournaments that they should be able to make minor repairs/ troubleshoot the weapons that they took with them. Taking this point further, he also mandated we learn to fix any problem our use/ mis-use may have caused. That was 20+ years ago and in our club today it is a guideline we hold our members to. I think it's important to know how to do things such as make minor repairs/ troubleshoot on the fly as it is not only necessary at times, but if you have been instructed in it, and things go south with your weapons, as they often do, you'll be less frazzled and more able to regain your focus on fencing not the 'broken' weapon/ cord/ etc.

[Alain]

Er, I can do most stuff myself. Failing that, I just say: "Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad.. ."

[Zara_athlen]

basically there was nobody else. Or you could pay someone else who would do a crappy job and for the same price buy a new foil. It took quite a few trys but now my re-wire jobs dont really break. The foils I always have to re-wire are the ones that the stores send me. Re-wiring can be a bit frustrating at first but once you get a good system established you get more and more efficient.

[aikijohn]

I believe I started maintaining my own stuff after getting frustrated that even when my coach would "fix" a tip or rewire for me, things weren't really fixed for long. My coach, bless him, is more of a jock rather than a mechanic so he tends to concentrate on the sport itself rather than the implements. As an engineer and something of a gearhead, having my weapons be reliable is more of an issue for me than some. Now, a great deal of my satisfaction in fencing comes from dinking around with the gear itself; the perfect rewire, the smoothest tip, the perfect combo of grip and blade, that sort of thing. I'm too old to be concerned with winning/losing.

[DJ Apostrophe]

Before I started fencing, I would go watch my girlfriend fence in collegiate meets, and of course weapons would stop working for one reason or another. Her team mates would give me a weapon or body cord and explain how to fix whatever was wrong and I would do my best to fix it.

I learned a lot about how weapons worked just by looking and analyzing (having an analytical mind and enjoying taking things apart (and putting them back together) really helped).

That said, when my weapons need to be re-wired now, I have one of the coaches at my club do it. He does a better job than I do, only charges $10 to do it, and it saves me the time.

Little things like weights / shims / screws / body cords I always fix on my own.

-w

[Kismet]

Heh, I ask others for help. I have no clue how to look after my stuff. I intend to learn this year though, because my epee isn't working at the moment, so it's perfect time to get someone to show me what to do.

[D'Artag-NOT]

I would love to learn how to fix my own stuff. However, until I get my new glasses (curse LensCrafters!) my eyesight won't tolerate much close work--have had some problems and 3 eye surgeries over the last 3 years.

Also, can someone please tell me how you learn this? I have no background in fixing mechanical stuff (though I'm good with needlework-type stuff). Is Volkmann's book the gospel on the subject? Is there a training video on it? Do you need to buy special tools or learn metal-shop skills?

For now, I rely on my club armorers, with varying degrees of success, and on my good friend Purple Fencer.

[Zilverzmurfen]

Also, can someone please tell me how you learn this?

If you don't have anyone who can teach you you could have a look at these pages: http://www.leonpaulusa.com/fencing/armoury/armoury.htm

I think they're very informative.

[SJCFU#2]

At my first epee tournament, after my first opponent started the bout with a score of -1 (this was back in the days when a low score was a good thing).

Taught me two lessons: 1) Always check your travel; 2) Never assume that a brand new weapon is properly set.

[Alain]

Also, can someone please tell me how you learn this?

There are some pretty good sites here...

http://www.thearmourer.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/

http://grove.ufl.edu/%7Efencing/docs/epeeguide.pdf

http://www.readingfencingclub.net/ht...intenance.html

Best of luck!

[D'Artag-NOT]

If you don't have anyone who can teach you you could have a look at these pages: http://www.leonpaulusa.com/fencing/armoury/armoury.htm

I think they're very informative.

Dude, thanks, I think even I might be able to learn from these.

[Zilverzmurfen]

Dude, thanks

You're welcome...but "Dude"..? *ahem*

[Inquartata]

Maintained my own weapons from day one. Of course as a sabre fencer that isn't saying much; there isn't a whole lot involved in maintaining them...

[CvilleFencer]

You're welcome...but "Dude"..? *ahem*

Don't go all Swedish on us! Dude can be applied to either gender, although Dudette is used in some US subcultures, primarily by stoner surfer types.

[mollusk]

I've always fixed my own equipment and now make my own wires. I also fix just about everything around the house.

[D'Artag-NOT]

You're welcome...but "Dude"..? *ahem*

I was using "dude" in its very informal meaning of, "O most friendly and helpful person for whom I feel the warmest regards!" Only, in California this gets shortened to "Dude!" no matter the age or gender of the person to whom it is addressed. (As it happens, I'm of the "dudette" persuasion myself.)

So--Dude! Thanks.