Foil Wire Glue

[Greg]

Just got my new FIE blades via UPS today and one was poorly wired with about two inches of wire sticking up from grove in the center of the blade. I don't want to bother to return it so what kind of commercial glue can I use to do this simple repair? Can you use a superglue?

[Purple Fencer]

Yeah...superglue's a great quick fix.

Put together a blade jig that will hold the blade in a bent position (basicaly take a couple of film cannisters or a pvc end cap, drill a hole in each near the rim, and tie them together with something like chain or some sort of cord. You want the length as measured from the insides of the caps to be from the tip of the weapon to the shoulder of the blade...i.e. the guard...halfway up the tang if it's a French grip weapon)

Mark where the pops are with some tape on the underside of the blade.

Insert the weapon into the jig with the point in one end and the back end of the grip in the other, making sure it bends DOWN like it's supposed to when you land a touch.

Apply the glue to the wire, going past the markers a little bit. don't apply TOO much, because too much superglue actually makes for a weaker bond.

Apply an accel;erant or let it sit for a day in the bent position and you should be good for a little while.

Some things to note...because the rest of the wire's still glued in, you will NOT be able ot properly clean the blade under the popout...so the glue may not adhere to the steel properly.

Depending on how muchy glue is stuck to the wire, you might try putting some glue directly in the grove underneath the wire before bending...otherwise you may just end up topgluing and it'll be a weaker bond.

[penguin_2000]

From whom did you buy the blade?

[Greg]

From Blade Fencing in NY.

[penguin_2000]

Originally Posted by Greg

From Blade Fencing in NY.

Hmm... that was my first guess.

[Craig]

The StM blades that we got wired from the factory had a lot of wires popping out and the wires themselves are pretty brittle. All my StM blades will now come to me bare and we'll wire them up with our LP points before selling them.

For those that really want to stick with the german points for foil there will be the opportunity for you to request that, but we've standardized on LP for our point parts.

The Leon Paul blades, however, come from the factory with good wiring jobs so I'll continue to get a mix of wired and bare blades from LP.

Craig

[fencerbill]

[quote=Purple Fencer]Yeah...superglue's a great quick fix.

Apply an accel;erant or let it sit for a day in the bent position and you should be good for a little while.

QUOTE]

If you are using thin superglue as opposed to gel, you only need a few minutes.

Water is a good accelerant for superglue.

Originally Posted by Purple Fencer

Depending on how muchy glue is stuck to the wire, you might try putting some glue directly in the grove underneath the wire before bending...otherwise you may just end up topgluing and it'll be a weaker bond.

But don't put superglue in the groove, then bend the blade, and then put more superglue on.

One secret to superglue is not to bend the blade after application. You just break the bond and then you are in worse trouble.

If you are going to put the blade under a table, etc. to bend - do it before you put on the superglue.

If you can't bend the blade: push the middle of the loop down into the groove and super glue just that down. When that sets, push down the middle of each side and so on. DON'T start from one end and glue it down. You will have a loop at the other end with no place to hide it. Doing it by halves, you distribute the excess along the entire length.

[^|EDGE|^]

Cyanoacrylate adhesive. Tough job clearing it though.

[rory]

Originally Posted by ^|EDGE|^

Cyanoacrylate adhesive. Tough job clearing it though.

Same thing as superglue.

To remove wires, I use a heat gun to soften the glue, and pull the wire out smoothly in one piece. Then I use a dremel with a cut off disc to run the remaining old glue out of the groove.

You really want your blade clamped in a vice for this, btw - or wear strong heat resistant gloves
And wear goggles when you use the dremel, bits of hard superglue will fly off.

If you don't have any of this stuff, take the point off, grip the exposed wire with needlenose pliers and slowly wind the pliers along the blade, the wire should pull out. Then use half a junior hacksaw blade with some tape wrapped around to make a handle to scrape the glue out of the groove.
Hard bits of glue can be softened with a lighter or some acetone-based nail varnish remover.

[wingnut]

Originally Posted by fencerbill

One secret to superglue is not to bend the blade after application. You just break the bond and then you are in worse trouble.

If you are going to put the blade under a table, etc. to bend - do it before you put on the superglue.

Maybe I've been doing it wrong, but I'll start off with the blade flat, glue it down, make sure the wire is firmly in the grove, and then bend the blade.

I haven't had any problems with the wire popping up........

[epeeisky]

Fletchtite is a great all around glue. It works well for both wiring a blade for the first time, and it also works well for a quick repair as it dries fairly well in about 5 minutes.

[twisterfencing]

Originally Posted by Greg

Just got my new FIE blades via UPS today and one was poorly wired with about two inches of wire sticking up from grove in the center of the blade. I don't want to bother to return it so what kind of commercial glue can I use to do this simple repair? Can you use a superglue?

Zap-A-Gap, thin set. Comes in a pink bottle. Its a CA (superglue). Small bottle of this stuff will wire about 50+ blades. CA=the thinner it is, the stronger it holds, thicker CA is a gap filler which has less holding power.

Here is an old trick: Super glue really does not like to stick to super clue: meaning; having to redo a already glued wire is tough. Trick: take some cigerette ashes; rub them into the "V" channel of the blade under the wire that is popping up; then glue the wire down. The ashes then become a bonding agent between the metal and the wire.

[Purple Fencer]

Originally Posted by twisterfencing

Zap-A-Gap, thin set. Comes in a pink bottle. Its a CA (superglue). Small bottle of this stuff will wire about 50+ blades. CA=the thinner it is, the stronger it holds, thicker CA is a gap filler which has less holding power.

Here is an old trick: Super glue really does not like to stick to super clue: meaning; having to redo a already glued wire is tough. Trick: take some cigerette ashes; rub them into the "V" channel of the blade under the wire that is popping up; then glue the wire down. The ashes then become a bonding agent between the metal and the wire.

Now THAT'S a trick I'd never heard of!!

too bad I don't smoke...

[epeeisky]

Originally Posted by Purple Fencer

Now THAT'S a trick I'd never heard of!!

too bad I don't smoke...

Just burn an old newspaper, paper bag, or cardboard. It would seem to me that it has the same principle behind it with less health consequences.