Bulk wire for epée body wire

[esquiveur]

Does anyone know where to purchase 18 gauge, triple conductor, transparent sheath, speaker wire for building epée body wires? It's more economical to assemble body wires for club use since they usually get abused by fencers. It's also useful to have spare wire on hand, in case one is damaged the plugs can be salvaged and placed on a new wire. Our local fencing equipment supplier won't sell us a spool since they want to sell full body wires not just plug ends.
I can find double conductor wire for making foil body wires at any electronics store but I can't find any triple conductor wire. I searched on the web with no success. If anyone knows of a good wire supplier please let me know, thank you.

[fencerbill]

Originally Posted by esquiveur

Does anyone know where to purchase 18 gauge, triple conductor, transparent sheath, speaker wire for building epée body wires? It's more economical to assemble body wires for club use since they usually get abused by fencers. It's also useful to have spare wire on hand, in case one is damaged the plugs can be salvaged and placed on a new wire. Our local fencing equipment supplier won't sell us a spool since they want to sell full body wires not just plug ends.
I can find double conductor wire for making foil body wires at any electronics store but I can't find any triple conductor wire. I searched on the web with no success. If anyone knows of a good wire supplier please let me know, thank you.

Two possibilities:

1. Run 3 conductors in a plastic tube, and

2. Split out the two conductor wire and braid 3 together. I have seen a couple of fencers with braided body cords.

[yeoldearmourer]

And I do a good job of braiding them comes from making my own reins from my cowboy days riding the range.

[oiuyt]

http://www.northamericancable.com/overstock/

First entry on the page:

12285209 3 Conductor, 18 AWG speaker wire 500 $48.00 500'

I don't know about the insulation color (or lack thereof).

-B

[Fishkillfencers]

Leon Paul sells their epee body cord wire by the meter.

Also, I once found 4 conductor speaker wire at a Dick Smith store in New Zealand:

http://www.dse.co.nz/cgi-bin/dse.sto...uct/View/W2023

Sorry, I don't know what gauge those are.

[twisterfencing]

Originally Posted by esquiveur

Does anyone know where to purchase 18 gauge, triple conductor, transparent sheath, speaker wire for building epée body wires?

20 to 22 awg is more like what you may be looking for.
If you are in a pinch, go to your local electronic surplus store. Ask them to show you compaq or sony power cords. These are parallel bonded (flat) 3 conductor. Most times they are black, but if repairing a body cord, who cares.

Another supplier is: purple fencer. He stocks wire for his body cords as well. Give Sam a cal
Almost all the vendors stock it. They sell it for floor cords, body cords and so on. Triplette also sells it as well. James keeps a ton of it at Triplette. Give them a call.

Wanting to buy this in bulk?
Just a quick note: manufactures want to sell at a 5000 foot min for an order. Break out the check book for this kind of order.

Hope this answers some of your questions.

Gary Spruill

Follow up: Just got off the phone with James at Triplette: He has a ton of body cord wire right now. I needed some myself and ordered 50' of the stuff. Its OK wire. It's not a Negrinni, or Sam's (purple fencer) wire, but its good enough for kids to beat the heck out of. Here is they're phone: 336-835-7774, give them a call, you might be surprised at the price. Very reasonable.

[Purple Fencer]

Originally Posted by twisterfencing

Another supplier is: purple fencer. He stocks wire for his body cords as well. Give Sam a call

Heh....while I greatly appreciate the push...I don't have any in stock at the moment. In the future as money becomes available to buy more.

I'll let it be known when I have surplus cable.

[DHCJr]

I still have almost 500 feet. Besides Leon Paul, I have bought wire from Negrinni.

[twisterfencing]

Originally Posted by DHCJr

I still have almost 500 feet. Besides Leon Paul, I have bought wire from Negrinni.

Donald,

You have 500 feet of wire: is it from Negrinni or another vendor?

I am always looking for a deal on Body Cord wire. I help a University in TX with fencing supplies,,,,you know the rest of the story.

Gary Spruill

[KD5MDK]

I know DHCJr bought a fair amount of Purple Fencer's wire, so I suspect he's referring to that when he talks about "still having almost 500 feet". However, Negrini wire is also nice to have, of course.

Me, I'm still trying to use up my 100ft of Radio Shack speaker wire. Advice to everyone: Don't get thicker wire just because you can, it's much less convenient. I might end up just using this stuff for actual speakers...

[Purple Fencer]

Originally Posted by twisterfencing

Donald,

You have 500 feet of wire: is it from Negrinni or another vendor?

I believe it's my wire, Gary.

[DHCJr]

The almost 500' is the wire that Sam had made up. the amount of wire I have of Negrinni and Leon Paul is enough for a few body cords, not enough for even one floor cord.

[erik_blank]

Just as a note of caution, some speaker wire has intentionally pierced insulators. How do I know? I had used some good old fashioned 18 gauge Radio Shack speaker wire to make LOTS of foil wires about 10 years back, and after about three months of use, I started to notice strange dark spots along the insulated portion of the wire. After a few more months of use, the dark spots had increased in size and the resistance within the wires had gone up to the point of failure. It seems that (as someone tried to convince me) the wires are intentionally pierced to allow for the escape of excess heat. While I don't buy this explanation, I definitely did have an entire spool of new speaker wire that on close examination had been pierced about once every inch or so. Fine as long as it is used in a dry environment, but get one under your uniform and just watch the corrosion go!