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Timnor · 10-30-2007, 11:57 PM

I am going to buying Leon Paul's epee blade and in the description it just says that it comes with a point. Does anyone know what type it is? I'd like german so I wanted to make sure before ordering.
thanks

FoilyDeath · 10-31-2007, 12:45 AM

Leon Paul product their own design of tips...They call it the "british" tip. Most FIE blades will come with a LP GT epee tip, which is a great tip: the standard LP tip isn't quite as great. There is a description of it on their armoury site here:
http://www.leonpaul.com/armoury/epee/epee_parts.htm

DangerMouse · 10-31-2007, 01:08 AM

Actually, it depends on where you order from and which blade you order. The LP GT tips are at least as good as the german tips, but the standard LP tips are worse thant the german tips. When in doubt, ask the vendor.

Timnor · 10-31-2007, 01:13 AM

Thanks for the information, one other question, are they compatible with german tips?

*edit* I'm ordering straight form the Leon Paul website the electric leon paul 5. All it says in the description is that is is fitted with "a point"... very helpful ; )

FoilyDeath · 10-31-2007, 02:28 AM

Thats just the basic LP point then. I don't believe they're compatible with german tips no, so you'll probably have to rewire the blade to put one on, however I'm not an epee fencer primarily so I could be wrong. You could simply order a LP GT tip and ask him to put that one on instead, although without and FIE blade it may not be worth it.

KD5MDK · 10-31-2007, 02:49 AM

Where are you buying from?

Alex_Paul · 10-31-2007, 05:51 AM

They all have a standard LP tip.

Sorry that the description isn't very clear but it is a bit like asking if you buy and allstar blade from allstar does it come with an german point or a french one!

In England most people use LP manufactured kit so people here just assume that an LP blade comes with an LP point.

If you are buying from LP or LP USA all standard blades all have standard LP points and all FIE blades have our teflon coated GT points.

SJCFU#2 · 10-31-2007, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timnor

Thanks for the information, one other question, are they compatible with german tips?

Actually most epee tips are somewhat compatible, although the fit may not always be ideal.

The one exception is the tip screws. You can put Leon Paul "grub" screws into a French or German épée tip (this is a common repair for tips that otherwise keep loosing screws), but it's a one-way street. You can't replace a Leon Paul tip screw with a French or German tip screw and expect it to hold.

Note that this only applies to épées. Foil tips from different manufacturers tend to be completely incompatible with one another (and sometimes even when they are from the same manufacturer).

***Craig*** · 10-31-2007, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timnor

Thanks for the information, one other question, are they compatible with german tips?

*edit* I'm ordering straight form the Leon Paul website the electric leon paul 5. All it says in the description is that is is fitted with "a point"... very helpful ; )

From the Leon Paul site all of the standard blades come with the standard point and the FIE blades come with the GT point.

At fencing.net, we have bare blades in stock and can make those up with the standard Leon Paul point, GT Leon Paul point or the FWF German point.

http://shop.fencing.net/Leon_Paul_Ep...p/lp-e10lp.htm

Craig

erooMynohtnA · 10-31-2007, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alex_Paul

They all have a standard LP tip.

Sorry that the description isn't very clear but it is a bit like asking if you buy and allstar blade from allstar does it come with an german point or a french one!

In England most people use LP manufactured kit so people here just assume that an LP blade comes with an LP point.

If you are buying from LP or LP USA all standard blades all have standard LP points and all FIE blades have our teflon coated GT points.

To be fair, it's more like asking if the tips from Allstar are the regular German or the V2A (or the nextgen).

Timnor just didn't know whether the tip was GT or not.

KD5MDK · 10-31-2007, 01:18 PM

No, he specified he didn't know if it was German or not. However, since for all we know he was buying from EuroFencingParts.com it's quite possible to be unclear.

DangerMouse · 10-31-2007, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FoilyDeath

Thats just the basic LP point then. I don't believe they're compatible with german tips no, so you'll probably have to rewire the blade to put one on, however I'm not an epee fencer primarily so I could be wrong. You could simply order a LP GT tip and ask him to put that one on instead, although without and FIE blade it may not be worth it.

Why do you insist on responding to questions when you obviously have no experience with the parts in question.

As Alex said, all of the epee tip parts are more or less interchangable other than the screws. Having said that, I only buy LP screws now and just use them for French and German tips as well. The LP screws are much harder and don't get mashed as easily.

erooMynohtnA · 10-31-2007, 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KD5MDK

No, he specified he didn't know if it was German or not. However, since for all we know he was buying from EuroFencingParts.com it's quite possible to be unclear.

Damn, I missed that one big time.

FoilyDeath · 10-31-2007, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DangerMouse

Why do you insist on responding to questions when you obviously have no experience with the parts in question.

As Alex said, all of the epee tip parts are more or less interchangable other than the screws. Having said that, I only buy LP screws now and just use them for French and German tips as well. The LP screws are much harder and don't get mashed as easily.

Sorry, I was thinking foil.

Chuck F. · 11-02-2007, 01:52 AM

LP epee points are OK, although I personally can't feel a significant difference because of the teflon coating. It is supposed to provide for super smooth action. Then again, I have hands of stone, so what the heck do I know.

One thing I would warn against though is LP epee wires. Unless things have changed recently, the epee wires are affixed to the contacts with a very unreliable "press-fit". No solder, not even a crimp.

I love many, many Leon Paul products. But I steer clear of LP epee wires.

(You can use other wires in an LP point, though. As said before, epee parts are almost always interchangeable.)

DangerMouse · 11-02-2007, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuck F.

One thing I would warn against though is LP epee wires. Unless things have changed recently, the epee wires are affixed to the contacts with a very unreliable "press-fit". No solder, not even a crimp.

I love many, many Leon Paul products. But I steer clear of LP epee wires.

(You can use other wires in an LP point, though. As said before, epee parts are almost always interchangeable.)

I second this. I use the Absolute house brand wires, which I think are the best on the market right now. I also replace the LP contact spring with a FWF contact spring. They tend to hold their setting better.

Barry Paul · 11-02-2007, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuck F.

LP epee points are OK,

One thing I would warn against though is LP epee wires. Unless things have changed recently, the epee wires are affixed to the contacts with a very unreliable "press-fit". No solder, not even a crimp.

Amazingly we wire up about 3000 Epees a year with out any problem, You must not use the wire to pull the cup into the epee base, only use the press fit applicator. This construction we use has over the year proved to be extremly reliable. 95% of electrical connection these days are press fit not soldered. Soldering has inherent problems of dry joints and high resistance which is hard to pick up during production.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danger Mouse

'I also replace the LP contact spring with a FWF contact spring. They tend to hold their setting better.'

I think you are missing the design philosophy of our contact spring. The contact spring is not designed hold its position on the small thread. You must wind the contact spring on to the thread until the first coil drops into the annular groove in the point top top. The spring is now fixed in position and cannot unwind out. This should be set correctly. some adjustment can now be made by stretching the spring, somewhere on our website are instructions and a clearer explanation.

CvilleFencer · 11-02-2007, 03:16 PM

You know, this is something I have been meaning to ask you guys about. I don't use the LP wires either. They have about a 20% failure rate on me during wiring. Something I don't get with French, German or Gary's wires. While I don't wire up 3000 blades a year, I probably do a couple hundred, so I am pretty solid at it.

So when I wire a blade, I use a "rewiring chain" to keep the blade bent at an angle. I always use a point setter to place the point. This keeps the wire tight in the groove and makes it easy to run a bead of glue down the blade. However, with the LP wires, it seems that this is enough to cause the wire to pull out of the nipple enough to ground out. I would guess the majority of armourers in the US do something like what I do. Do you guys do it differently?

For the record, it would really make me smile if you guys started soldering your wires, or went to a more reliable crimping process...

Barry Paul · 11-02-2007, 03:23 PM

I hear what you say and we will look into what might be the problem. The answer to your detailed questions will have to wait till Tuesday when I can ask the expert who actually wires the 3000 blades a year.

Goldgar · 11-02-2007, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barry Paul

I hear what you say and we will look into what might be the problem. The answer to your detailed questions will have to wait till Tuesday when I can ask the expert who actually wires the 3000 blades a year.

Just in case you feel like you're being picked on, I'll say that I think LP epee points, especially the GT, are the best going, and I have never had a wiring-related problem with factory-wired LP blades.

I can't recall ever having to rewire one, so I can't say if different wiring methods have an impact on the reliability of the LP wires. It may be that your parts and your methods work very well together, while other people's methods don't work as well.