Behold the pink fuzzy!

[Sword Hobbit]

and they can't cost much to make.

Really that pink fuzzy fabric costs a pretty penny.

[Monash_Armourer]

An epee has moving parts, and would most of all require point control (and higher brain function), FAR too complex... I was thinking more like a rock duct taped to a stick that somebody had built for them...

Darcy.

[seven6ty]

The only thing about that picture that puzzles me is that the fuzzy pink blade covers are being used for foils... instead of epees, where they clearly belong.

Oh c'mon now, we all know foils are the most feminine of all weapons. With that cute, dainty little hand guard and supple and slim flexible blade, oo boy! I'm getting all hot just thinking about them!

[shlepzig]

Originally Posted by epeeisky

It seems like I am the only one who just has bare PVC pipe with my name on it.

I put my name on my weapons, after receiving several PVC pipes back in the mail I thought I might be doing something wrong.

Shlep

[the reluctant fencer]

anything you want to do to keep the rust from your weapons from applying rust to your uniform is fine. I just use PVC with an elastic band through one end. If you want to spend the time building a pretty weapon cover rather than tweaking a tip contact spring length or perfecting the pressure spring pre-load or polishing the inside of your tip barrel...that is fine...I would rather spend my time to have a built tip rather than a pretty blade cover. If I was a recreational fencer I would have some contraption to hold all my stuff but I just use a wheelie bag with the wheels and board pulled out for fabrication of a roll cage to keep my stuff from being crushed. It is all about function over form for me. I would rather have a mirror finish inside on my german barrel than a shiny bell guard. But that is just me.

[General Sweetpants]

Craig, I love this fuzzy pink thing you show to us! It is very cool! It simply SCREAMS General Sweetpants! I must get them and the ladies will simply SWOON!

[Purple Fencer]

Originally Posted by Monash_Armourer

An epee has moving parts, and would most of all require point control (and higher brain function), FAR too complex... I was thinking more like a rock duct taped to a stick that somebody had built for them...

Darcy.

Oooooo.....NICE!!!!

Uh...uh...Thag lunge!!

[Epeecurean]

Originally Posted by the reluctant fencer

...rather than tweaking a tip contact spring length or perfecting the pressure spring pre-load or polishing the inside of your tip barrel...I would rather have a mirror finish inside on my german barrel than a shiny bell guard. But that is just me.

Small thread digression, but can you tell me if polishing the inside of the barrel makes a big difference to the smoothness of the tip action. What do you use to polish it?

[the reluctant fencer]

here we go...into one of my discussions...
If you polish anything it will make it smoother. The smoother your point barrel is the less friction in your tip. The less friction there is in your tip the easier it will be to score and the more pressure you have to run with your main spring. Your tip won't snag on any internals such as the inside of the set screw channels that tend to get rough and cause drag inside the tip after a lot of use. I just strt out woth like 240 grit if it is really rough and then advance to 400 grit. If it is a new tip I will just use the 400 grit. get out an old bare aluminium grip and hit it with some 400 grit sandpaper and lots of water and you will be suprised how clean and smooth it will get. You can get a grip to a mirror finish by advancing from 400 grit to 800 grit to 1200 grit and then finally 2000 grit if you really want it so you can see your face in your grip and blind the opponets. Be sure to keep water on the aluminium or you will clog the sandpaper.

[sjpfencer220]

Originally Posted by epeeisky

It seems like I am the only one who just has bare PVC pipe with my name on it.

That makes two of us actually.

Originally Posted by General Sweatypants

Craig, I love this fuzzy pink thing you show to us! It is very cool! It simply SCREAMS General Sweetpants! I must get them and the ladies will simply SWOON!

He really should not be allowed to get these anywhere near his possession...

(Ooh, and I got it to say General Sweatypants instead of his real name, I've been trying to do that {refer to fake lesbian soap opera thread which I am too lazy to put a link to})

[erooMynohtnA]

Originally Posted by the reluctant fencer

here we go...into one of my discussions...
If you polish anything it will make it smoother. The smoother your point barrel is the less friction in your tip. The less friction there is in your tip the easier it will be to score and the more pressure you have to run with your main spring. Your tip won't snag on any internals such as the inside of the set screw channels that tend to get rough and cause drag inside the tip after a lot of use. I just strt out woth like 240 grit if it is really rough and then advance to 400 grit. If it is a new tip I will just use the 400 grit. get out an old bare aluminium grip and hit it with some 400 grit sandpaper and lots of water and you will be suprised how clean and smooth it will get. You can get a grip to a mirror finish by advancing from 400 grit to 800 grit to 1200 grit and then finally 2000 grit if you really want it so you can see your face in your grip and blind the opponets. Be sure to keep water on the aluminium or you will clog the sandpaper.

Friction generally decreases as surfaces get smoother and increases when surfaces get rougher. But, there is a point at which friction actually increases as surfaces become smoother. However, I'm not sure you can reach that point with sandpaper alone.

Also, have you ever looking into buffing whatever you happen to be working on? Sandpaper is good, but it doesn't really polish (I realize it fits the definition in the dictionary, but I'm using the word in a very narrow sense), it just scratches. It still leaves a "grain." That is, there will be tiny scratches all running in a common direction. If you use a fine buffing compound, you can rub those out. You also get that extra shine that is different from sanding.

[the reluctant fencer]

yes. But you should try to feel how smooth aluminium gets with 400 grit. I plan on moving to a higher grit and then using "Mothers" aluminium polish on the aluminium parts like bellguard and grip. I don't know what I am going to use to polish the barrel since I don't know what alloy it is. I have had steel chromed ones and aluminium ones.

[erooMynohtnA]

Originally Posted by the reluctant fencer

yes. But you should try to feel how smooth aluminium gets with 400 grit. I plan on moving to a higher grit and then using "Mothers" aluminium polish on the aluminium parts like bellguard and grip. I don't know what I am going to use to polish the barrel since I don't know what alloy it is. I have had steel chromed ones and aluminium ones.

I actually just finished sanding a foil blade with 400 grit sandpaper last night, and it is unbelievably smooth. However, it still has a pattern to the shine on it, so I'm going to take it over to a buffing wheel, because you just can't get that mirror polish without it. I'll probably throw some tripoli on it, although there are other buffing compounds you can use (white rouge for aliminum). I think an aluminum polish is used to remove staining, oxidation, etc, but I don't know if it will actually smooth it (never used it myself).

[the reluctant fencer]

cool. I noticed the same thing about it leaving marks...just use higher and higher grit paper until you get to like 1500 grit and a steel mirror.

[KD5MDK]

What good does an ultra-smooth grip do you?

Also, sounds like you're making your guard a big target for some fencers to me. Of course, the more hits there, perhaps the fewer on you, eh?

[Inquartata]

Really, you know, the pink fuzzy belongs on the inside of the PVC, where it will cushion the frail, delicate moving parts and wires of foils and epees against the hard, unyielding piping.

What you guys want is a length of PVC split longitudinally with piano hinges along one side and catches along the other, so it can be opened like coffin. Then you could line it with velvet-covered foam rubber, to keep your "weapons" from experiencing the slightest shock or vibration..like, you know, the sort they get as a matter of course when you fence with them.

Oh, and rubber gaskets, to make an airtight seal, so the steel won't rust through. Because of course they'll never break before they have the time to rust substantially...

Oy.

[JasminaJ]

I'm not swooning. Compared to my plain pvc pipe covers, these are pimped.
Nice, Craig.

[slowgraffiti515]

the first one reminds me of a muppet arm.

[fencingiraffe]

Originally Posted by Craig

Some blade socks that I saw at a recent tournament. They stretch over the PVC pipe people use for blade hard-covers.



Craig

hm...i have seen those before. did you buy them at may melee?

[BySword]

Originally Posted by fencingiraffe

hm...i have seen those before. did you buy them at may melee?

Did you have too much chocolate? They are made my Mrs. Rolla! Of course you have seen them before.