Tip of the week

[Joe biebel]

Do you have a tip for better gear? Perhaps a thread for people (or armorers) to tell how they do things might be usefull. I'm starting this thread and my example is how to improve resistance in hard to get at places. The example I am showing today is how to remove corrosion from the spring contact inside the plastic cup in foils after they are already wired. This is perhaps the most difficult contact in the circuit to work on, and to do a good job on.

Need to get rid of the last couple ohms? Try this.

Step 1. Make a tool. You will need a spring (same manufacturer as point) and a Q-tip. Remove the the fuzzy end and screw spring onto shaft. See picture 1

Step 2. Insert spring on shaft into tip. Rotate by hand or drill. Note to all. I once used a Dremel tool for this, and melted the plastic cup. It is possible to get carried away. See pictures 2 & 3.

Step 3. use a fresh Q-tip and oil if you like, to remove any rust, or dirt and coat the clean contact to slow future corrosion.

[Fechter1]

Just be sure that you don't push too hard, or you might actually rotate the plastic cup with the Qtip. (More of an issue in Epee, with 2 off-center contacts...)

My tip:
A small portable vise grip can save your bacon. Transform your fencing bag into a mobile armory. (This from personal experience, when I found myself having to buil a weapon at a tournament. Glue and all. Had the weapon ready before the end of pools.)

[Purple Fencer]

Anotehr version of Joe's idea that Dan DeChaine showed us at Armorers college...go to a hobby store that carries small brass tubing that will fit in your foil barrel (I'll need to look up the size) and cut a three inch length. Insert against the contact and turn by hand....no melting of the cup...that will break away some of the corrosion.

For a little beter scouring, when I cut the tube, i also roughened up the ends a little bit.

Also....don't forget to sand of the spring when you take the tip apart. BHoth ends for foil, only the exposed end for epee.

You can run it on sandpaper by hand, or if you have a bench grinder with a deburring wheel...stick the foil spring onto a jeweler's screwdriver, hold the spring in place with a finger, but push it until the end of the spring just passes the end of teh screwdriver blade. This is to keep the spring from being tweaked during the sanding process. Turn the grinder on, let it spool up, then turn if off. While it's slowing down, gently push the end of the spring against the flat side of the wheel...don't push too hard because you don't want the spring to catch on the wheel or get ground down too much. Turning the grinder off is simply to not have to deal with all the torque the wheel will put on you.

For an epee spring, you just have to hold the tip firmly and gently sand the spring off.

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For those times when the epee contact isn't very good, it MAy be because the terminal ends of teh wires aren't level. . Again, I'll need to measure things, but you can take a punch, insert it into the tip, and GENTLY tap it with a hammer to level out the contacts. It's distressingly common.

[Duellist USA]

Ok...here's a tip ...

Search out your local hunting/archery store. You can buy Fletch Tite (the glue used to glue feathers to arrows) for around 20 for a pint. You can buy hair coloring bottles from a beauty supply place and trim the nozzles for either foil or epee and fill the bottles and save quite a bit of money..

Most archery supply places sell the little tubes for 5 dollars a tube...and use the pints to build arrows and repairs...and dont advertise you can buy it in quanity. Long as you keep it sealed the viscosity wont change and you can wire blades to your hearts content...


I have a bottle with a small hole for foils...and a larger angle cut in the nozzle for epees....


Rick Shellhouse

[fencerbill]

Originally Posted by Purple Fencer

Anotehr version of Joe's idea that Dan DeChaine showed us at Armorers college...go to a hobby store that carries small brass tubing that will fit in your foil barrel (I'll need to look up the size) and cut a three inch length. Insert against the contact and turn by hand....no melting of the cup...that will break away some of the corrosion.

Even better is what I showed Dan. You buy a smaller brass tube also and cut it a little longer than the bigger one. You prevent the contact and cup from turning by pressing with the smaller tube and rotate the shorter, larger tube to get fresh metal on the contact.

[fencerbill]

Originally Posted by Purple Fencer

For those times when the epee contact isn't very good, it MAy be because the terminal ends of teh wires aren't level. . Again, I'll need to measure things, but you can take a punch, insert it into the tip, and GENTLY tap it with a hammer to level out the contacts. It's distressingly common.

I prefer something with a flat end, about a 4 mm allen wrench. push it in and just press with a little rotation. I also have found it often helps.

[Purple Fencer]

Originally Posted by fencerbill

I prefer something with a flat end, about a 4 mm allen wrench. push it in and just press with a little rotation. I also have found it often helps.

Same idea....different techniques....as long as it works...

The double tube idea would work with a normal French or German wire....but with the German ones I get from Gary Spruill, it won't work...there's only room for one tube because the contact is wider.

'Course, the practical upshot is...if yer gonna clean yopur weapons for a big tourney, you have to clean ALL the points of contact, especially in foil.

[yeoldearmourer]

My tip is prepaired a new Blade for rewire.

I use a touch of Dawn Dishwashing liquid to remove the flim of oil to clean the blade take a damp cloth then wash off the Dawn and then dry the blade. By removing the light coat of oil the glue will dry better and you wont have wires poping out. I also fine this mentod of wiring the blade to work is pull just about a inch of wire though the barrell and then tighten the barrell this way if you catch the wire you only ruin a inch and not the whold wire.
On make sure the epee contacts are even I like doing them before pulling them down into the barrel. Also ask for their used drill bits which are very small and I have used them for different problems

[Fechter1]

My tip #2:

Dremel rotary tool. I use mine for everything ranging from recutting tangs, cleaning out blade grooves (Epee) for rewires, refinishing guards (removing rust etc), to powercleaning barrels for rewires (take Qtip, break in half, insert into dremel, add a little cleaning solution, and voila) and even engraving my guards (for ID). They're pretty inexpensive for the variety of uses they provide.

[Purple Fencer]

Originally Posted by yeoldearmourer

My tip is prepaired a new Blade for rewire.

I use a touch of Dawn Dishwashing liquid to remove the flim of oil to clean the blade take a damp cloth then wash off the Dawn and then dry the blade. By removing the light coat of oil the glue will dry better and you wont have wires poping out. I also fine this mentod of wiring the blade to work is pull just about a inch of wire though the barrell and then tighten the barrell this way if you catch the wire you only ruin a inch and not the whold wire.
On make sure the epee contacts are even I like doing them before pulling them down into the barrel.

Hmmmm...never considered the Dawn method...on those occasions where I buy an uncolored blade (and so people note....you're referring to cleaning a brand new blade...not one that's in for repairs), I usually dunk it in my acetone bath for a few minutes and then wipe it down.

The inch of wire through the barrel is how I do it...for the same reason.

Re the epee contacts...how do YOU level them out without crimping the wire??

[Fechter1]

Another way to avoid catching the wire while tightening the barrel: I wrap a layer of teflon tape around the tip threads (after seating the wire in the groove, of course...) before screwing on the barrel. The teflon tape helps the barrel stay tight. I haven't had a loose barrel in the past few years using this method.

[yeoldearmourer]

A very good tip is the use of used DENTAL PICKS, ask your dentist for their broken ones. I have use one to resolder a foil wire in the barrell I file the tip to a point and heat it up with my Zippo red hot and put on the wire and reheat the solder presto no rewire. Another time I made a Hex wrench out of one for 1mm set screw for a foil tip. great to use to clean a blade to. also to even out epee contacts in or out of the barrell. Also ask for their used drill bits they are very small but can be very useful at times

[DHCJr]

Originally Posted by yeoldearmourer

A very good tip is the use of used DENTAL PICKS, ask your dentist for their broken ones. I have use one to resolder a foil wire in the barrell I file the tip to a point and heat it up with my Zippo red hot and put on the wire and reheat the solder presto no rewire. Another time I made a Hex wrench out of one for 1mm set screw for a foil tip. great to use to clean a blade to. also to even out epee contacts in or out of the barrell. Also ask for their used drill bits they are very small but can be very useful at times

This is very good. The pick can also be used to clear the hole in the Foil contact to reuse by heating it. If you can not get a dental pick an alternative, but not as strong is probes used in Biology classes. You can get them at most colleges.