Best vendors for proper wiring

[mrvegas]

I am a foilist and epeeist that hates rewiring. My preference is generally to buy cheap blades, and just replace them when they break. However, particularly in the last 3-4 years, I very frequently seem to get blades that are pretty much improperly put together to begin with -- wires popping out when I get them or after first use, loose barrels, wiring jobs where it is evident that there is missing insulation (causing grounding and uselessness of the blade), etc. It seems to happen across vendors.

Any thoughts on who to order from to have blades that are wired right the first time? Thanks.

[ReverseLunge]

Fencing post. I've been there and have watched them wire blades. They do a real thorough glue job. Sal, the owner of the Fencing post is a quality oriented guy.

[noodle]

when i've bought blades from BG in the past, they've stayed in. i've had one blade for almsot a year that i've not had to reglue in any form. i've had another blade for a year and a half that is starting to come out and is requireing some glue to fix it.

note: i'm talking about BF blues only, not their house brand or anything.

[fencinman89]

I wire all my blades. I dont like doing it either, but to save 10 bucks, i think its worth it.
-Tre'

[trragan]

Ive ordered alot of wired blades from leon paul usa and have never had a single problem.

[mrvegas]

Thanks for your advice. Actually, I do order most of my stuff from Fencing Post and BG. They are both friendly and easy to deal with, and I've been very happy with masks, uniforms, etc, but I still have had the wiring issues fairly frequently on the lower end blades. (It didn't seem to happen as much way back when I was buying maraging stuff. I don't know why that would make a difference on the wiring job, though.)

I'll try Leon Paul. Thanks a lot again.

[wiwf]

I would contact Fencing Post and BG and tell them of your problem. You'd be surprised how few people give vendors feedback on products/services. They may not know their wiring jobs are becoming sub-par.

[Purple Fencer]

Originally Posted by mrvegas

....but I still have had the wiring issues fairly frequently on the lower end blades. (It didn't seem to happen as much way back when I was buying maraging stuff. I don't know why that would make a difference on the wiring job, though.)

A lot of times it comes down to how well prepared and cleaned the blades are prior to the wiring job....when you're buying hundreds of blades at a time and are a small operation, sometimes things slip up. I know it happens to me (although I certainly TRY to get all of my new blades clean before I put them away or wire them).

But now that you mention it, I wonder if the different metallurgical makeup of a maraging blade really makes a differance in how well the glue bonds....something I should bring up at armorer's college, unless Don Clinton or Dave Neevel have an answer??

[remise]

This may sound crazy, but I enjoy wiring blades. It is almost theraputic to me. When I have about 4 or 5 foil/epee blades to do, I look forward to spreading my stuff out at home, putting on my music, and getting to work. I equate it with fishing or doing cross word puzzles.

I know I'm probably in the minority......

[prototoast]

I am a foilist and epeeist that hates rewiring.

I have an easy solution for you...

[Robert Smith]

Originally Posted by trragan

Ive ordered alot of wired blades from leon paul usa and have never had a single problem.

Maybe they're passing all the bad ones on to the Canadian distributor. Some of our club members have had some really poorly wired foil blades from there over the last few months. Would they wire their own, would LP USA do it, do they all get wired by LP UK, or what?

[trragan]

Originally Posted by Robert Smith

Maybe they're passing all the bad ones on to the Canadian distributor. Some of our club members have had some really poorly wired foil blades from there over the last few months. Would they wire their own, would LP USA do it, do they all get wired by LP UK, or what?

I dont know, maybe Craig or Barry Paul can answer that, I can only speak from my experience. I do know that all of the shipments from LP USA have been from London. So i would therefore assume that LP UK is doing all of the wiring at least for LP USA.

[Purple Fencer]

Originally Posted by prototoast

I have an easy solution for you...

So you're standing in for Inq, huh???

[prototoast]

Originally Posted by Purple Fencer

So you're standing in for Inq, huh???

Someone had to do it.

[KD5MDK]

Originally Posted by prototoast

Someone had to do it.

Beat me to it...

[Alex_Paul]

Originally Posted by Robert Smith

Maybe they're passing all the bad ones on to the Canadian distributor. Some of our club members have had some really poorly wired foil blades from there over the last few months. Would they wire their own, would LP USA do it, do they all get wired by LP UK, or what?

It depends. We send Fencing Canada both wired and unwired blades at the moment and I am not sure what they do with the unwired ones. They may fit non LP points, wire them themselves or sell them bare, you would have to ask them.
All blades from LP UK and LP USA are wired in our factory in London.

It didn't seem to happen as much way back when I was buying maraging stuff. I don't know why that would make a difference on the wiring job, though.

But now that you mention it, I wonder if the different metallurgical makeup of a maraging blade really makes a differance in how well the glue bonds

I don't think there is anything in the metal that changes the way glue will bond to it's surface. It is more likley to be simply that people take more care when preparing and wiring maraging blades as they know that the customer is more likley to care. We try to wire all blades equally but maraging blades probably have the excess glue cleande off a bot more carefully.

[mfp]

Originally Posted by mrvegas

I am a foilist and epeeist that hates rewiring. My preference is generally to buy cheap blades, and just replace them when they break. However, particularly in the last 3-4 years, I very frequently seem to get blades that are pretty much improperly put together to begin with -- wires popping out when I get them or after first use, loose barrels, wiring jobs where it is evident that there is missing insulation (causing grounding and uselessness of the blade), etc. It seems to happen across vendors.

Any thoughts on who to order from to have blades that are wired right the first time? Thanks.

The best wiring and assembly quality I have found (by far) has been from Fechtsport-Langenkamp. Even his lower end merchandise has been wired meticulously. I have purchased from him both via the web and in person at his workshop located near Frankfurt. Unfortunately rise of the Euro this past year has made ordering directly from Germany a more pricey proposition than it has been in the past.

So most of my epee these days have been purchased from the Fencing Post. The quality generally has been pretty good, but there have been some problems, though usually with tips, not glue jobs. The couple of times I've received dodgy equipment, I've put it aside, waited till I saw them at an event and asked them to make things right, which they gladly did.

I recently tried out Absolute Fencing and ordered a Vniti FIE epee from them. I was pleased enough with what they shipped, that I ordered a second FIE weapon along with a non-FIE one. The non-FIE weapon arrived with a completely loose barrel and the FIE weapon arrived with the wire popping out. I might buy from Absolute again if I see them at an event and can inspect the gear in person, but I won't be ordering weapons from them again by mail.

I have also purchased weapons from LP both in person in Camden Town and from their UK website and the quality was fine, but it's been awhile since I've bought the last weapon from them.

[remise]

This question is directed to Alex Paul, or to anyone who would know the answer..........is it not ok to put another base and point on an LP blade? I thought it was ok to put any tip on any blade as long as the base, tip, screws, spring, etc. all matched and were from the same vendor.

[DHCJr]

Yes, it is required that all barrels and blades have the same thread size. Foil is 3.5 x 0.60 (M.12.4) and Epee is 4.0 x 0.70 (M.20.4).

That is not to say they will do that without modifications. You will notice some of the rules are SUGGESTIONS. Some barrels have threads going all the way down to the base, while other the thread start farther up to cut down on cracking. Also the number of threads that are cut on the blade are different.

Also there is what is called class fit. French, German and Leon Paul Epee screws are all the same size, but you should not intermix them. This has been discussed endlessly in this forum.

You can switch tip assemblies. I like to test different parts in real life situations. I have some blades, that I have fencers I know test. I put in different tips, that stay 6 months to a year and sometimes longer, then I rewire with other tips.

[Duellist USA]

We actually rewire any blades we receive wired reguardless from the boys in London. We believe if it has our name on it...it has to be right. Duellist USA would rather destroy a good wire just to be sure.


Just F.Y.I.


Rick Shellhouse