Fencing.Net - Your Guide to Fencing & Fencing Equipment

Joe biebel · 07-19-2006, 01:16 PM

Eigertek makes an amazing scoring machine with lots of excellent features. I recently bought several and am quite pleased with them. I wanted a good way to mount the machines on the wall or perhaps hang them on a "T" bar for use, like extension lghts, at tournaments.

I have attached several photos that show the case I devised. The sides and bottom are made of an Olefin based carpeting a little over 1/8" thick. The front face is .060" thick vinyl. The vinyl has one hole in it that is directly in front of the audio signal. The top is open. The bottom inside has velcro sewn to it, to attach the box (which also has the peel and stick Velcro-like material that comes with the box, attached to it) to keep it from accidently sliding out. Very robust, lots of protection for the machine. Allows many ways to mount it.

If you want to copy it fine. If you would like to buy one (or several) from me I would charge $30.00 apiece, plus $5.00 S&H. Let me know if you have interest. The price includes the cover and the vinyl mounting strip that you would attach to whatever.

HDG · 07-19-2006, 01:48 PM

How is the vinyl with glare in a sunny gym or one with harsh, fluorescent light?

Joe biebel · 07-19-2006, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HDG

How is the vinyl with glare in a sunny gym or one with harsh, fluorescent light?

It's pretty darn good. The one attached photo showing the front of the case does have noticable glare on it, mostly because it was taken at the odd angle. The lights of the machine are quite bright and the angle is easily adjustable. Some sort of shielding might be nice or even necessay in extreme conditions.

Joe biebel · 07-19-2006, 02:13 PM

Attached are 2 more photos that show the unit with lights lit with worst glare I could produce with our unshielded flourescent lights.

reawl · 07-19-2006, 10:10 PM

I'm not sure I see what the case offers over a good strip of velcro for mounting besides adding some degree of glare. Do you travel with these boxes a lot? Are you concerned about harsh operating conditions (leaking roof, soda explosions, etc)?

Inquartata · 07-20-2006, 03:29 AM

A club in my area has its ( St. George ) boxes mounted on the wall as shown. The strip is right next to them. I have refereed bouts at tournaments held there where the fencers' weapons hit the box 3 or 4 times...and switched it from sabre to epee. Such a front shield would help.

If the box should fall off the wall or get bashed around in transport, a padded case would help.

If you should ever want to sell the box, a padded case would keep it in better condition---no scratches, dings, or remnants of Velcro glue.

I probably wouldn't pay $30, but it's still not a bad idea.

Joe biebel · 07-20-2006, 09:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inquartata

A club in my area has its ( St. George ) boxes mounted on the wall as shown. The strip is right next to them. I have refereed bouts at tournaments held there where the fencers' weapons hit the box 3 or 4 times...and switched it from sabre to epee. Such a front shield would help.

If the box should fall off the wall or get bashed around in transport, a padded case would help.

If you should ever want to sell the box, a padded case would keep it in better condition---no scratches, dings, or remnants of Velcro glue.

I probably wouldn't pay $30, but it's still not a bad idea.

Yeah, it's the padding. The clear front shield is quite thick and will protect against all but the most severe hits. I think it is probably very rare for a club or a venue to have the machines "out of reach" of the weapons. I used the thin carpeting on the rest of the case for padding against hits and transport accidents. I've seen numerous instances at tournaments and at practice of machines getting mashed. I don't know how often they get "beat up" in transport, but the cover will help a lot there as well.

One of the great things about the Eigertek machines is the weight. It is, even with it's robust ABS plastic cover, very light. This has the unintended consequence of being very easy to tip over during use, but also allows the box itself to be mounted on a stand, acting as it's own extension lights, above the heads of the fencers. The case I designed can easily be adapted for this purpose as well as wall hanging. The back hanging tab and it's mating piece, has a 2" wide velcro strip 6" long. The strength of this is enormous. But, since the tab is soft and flexible, it has an advantage over a "hard" wall mounted machine. It will give, move a little bit, allow energy to be absorbed better, or deflected, when struck.

If I were going to do runs of hundreds or thousands of these things, the price would go down substantially. At $30.00 each, you could not buy the materials, go through the protoypes to get the patterns and features right, cut out and sew the material (were talking thin carpeting here) on an industrial lock stitch machine. Your one or two cases might cost many times the $30.00 if your time counts for anything. Can you do it? Most probably. Should you do it? Well if your division has a number of these machines and you wanted to set them up to use like extension lights on tables, it might be worth your while to design and make your own case. Otherwise $30.00 looks pretty good.