Probably a stupid question, but...

[lefty_monster]

I just ordered a spool of wire from leon paul to try and fix my own epee wires. Anyway, i wanted to know if all wires are the same. Are French, German and LP all the same kind of wire?

And also, are LP epee wires and parts the same as French? I order blades from them, but i've been getting french wires from other places and wiring them myself.

Thanks in advance for the help!

[Beloit Fencer of Old]

Wow, great question. Do you mean you're going to attach NEW WIRE to a tip? The kind of wire probably doesn't matter much, but I have found that the French wires stretch a little more than the German wires. Back when I used French, I used to stretch the wire slightly before wiring the blade. I discovered that doing that with German wires caused a separation of the insulation.

[DHCJr]

Beloit Fencer of Old advice is good. Most wire you will find is the same size. If you make your own wire making use of your old contacts you will find a problem with most wires. The Germans and French crimp on their wires which makes them very difficult to reuse. PBT wires are soldered. You can get new contacts from LP. You can use the French plastic, but one warning these are made in two parts. Make sure you only have one spacer in the barrel.

[DesertFencer]

What is the actual guage of blade wire?

[twisterfencing]

Originally Posted by lefty_monster

I just ordered a spool of wire from leon paul to try and fix my own epee wires. Anyway, i wanted to know if all wires are the same. Are French, German and LP all the same kind of wire?

And also, are LP epee wires and parts the same as French? I order blades from them, but i've been getting french wires from other places and wiring them myself.

Thanks in advance for the help!

Are all wires the same: No! There are diffrent types of grade of copper used, diffrent insulators used and many combinations of both. LP is an OK wire.

Just a note: The LP plastic cups and brass pins for the epee (looks like mini nails) are neither soldered nor crimped, they are free held by presure alone.

I think the question you are asking "LP wires same as French", yes, the inside diamator is the same.

Originally Posted by DesertFencer

What is the actual guage of blade wire?

Most wires on the market right now are between a 26 to 29 guage. Negrini uses the higher guage wire with the stainless steel (actual copper clad) wire. All others are mostly 28 guage. Stm uses a 30 guage which easily breaks. Not a commom wire though (good).

Hope this helps,

Gary Spruill

[SJCFU#2]

Originally Posted by DHCJr

You can use the French plastic, but one warning these are made in two parts. Make sure you only have one spacer in the barrel.

An addition to Donald's warning:

This is true with some "French" wires (primarily those from Prieur) however épée wires from Sport 7 use a single plastic piece so any spacers (the little plastic rings) must be removed from the barrel when replacing a Prieur wire with a Sport 7.