Screwless Foil Tips

[HerrKleinerFencer]

Has anyone tried either the D3000 Estoc tip from Sword-Masters or the Schermasport tip(even though it's insanely priced) from Amfence? Are they any good/worthwhile?

[Linkthealmighty]

Not sure about them from any personal experiences, but I did fence with someone over the summer who used one. He said that he was testing it out to see what it was like and he seemed to like them ok. I saw him use it most of the summer and I don't ever recall the weapon breaking because of it or the tip popping off and flying across the room, so they seem to work fairly well.

[HerrKleinerFencer]

Any idea which brand he was using?

[brtech]

A club near me uses the ESTOC quite a bit, and have done so for over a year. I've worked on them a few times. The bottom line is that not having screws is great.

The ESTOCs do occasionally need the center spring length adjusted. Adjusting is a pain, because you have to assemble, test, diassemble, adjust, reassemble. It takes at least twice as long as a German/French tip to do the adjustment. However, once it's set, it does tend to stay adjusted somewhat longer that the traditional one.

The assembly seems to last quite well.

You need the right wrench to assemble and disassemble them: many "regular" wrenches are too thick to fit on the top flats.

[Linkthealmighty]

He was using the ESTOC I think.

[HerrKleinerFencer]

Thanks. I think I'll try one out.

[Joe biebel]

I've tried the Estoc "screwless" foil points and it did have several advantages, mostly having to do with the screws. Unfortunately all three broke (different parts of the tip) in a few months. I found that I simply was changing to different problems. If you really want a point that will get rid of the problems associated with screws, get the Leon Paul GT point system. Yeah, they have screws, but trouble free screws.

If you think about it, what are the most common problems associated with screws? Smashed screws (what you get with the German style system) are extremely difficult or impossible to remove. The screws on the French style points have to be completely removed to work on the tip. This makes them easy to drop or lose. The German tips and the French tips have a separate contact that need to be held by the screws. The contact plate that holds the screw contact in place, can and does work loose, causing off-targets or short circuits or no tip to be present without an off-target.

The Leon Paul system has a vastly superior barrel, tip, and screws. You do not need to remove the screws to clean or adjust the tip. Merely "backing them off a bit" to remove the tip will do the trick. There are less parts in the point and the main part of the tip is a single piece. This gets rid of the tip pulling free or coming loose because of bad or failed "peening" of the contact.

Since I have started using this point a year and a half ago, I have not had a single rewire. I have gone through four maraging blades (broke the blades) without the need for a single rewire. Almost all of the rewiring I have done for my equipment (in the past) has been associated with problems from barrels or screws. I have yet to have a single failure (wire, tip, barrel, screw) in that period of time. This is the way it should be. The ideal electric foil is one that you wire and then use it until the blade breaks. This is possible witht the LP point.