lining of epee test weight

[carlos]

The plastic lining inside the hole of my epee test weight is ripped up. It's so ripped that it is hard to test the epee cleanly. Any suggestions on how to ream it out and replace, or re-line, or fix it some other way?

Thanks

[SJCFU#2]

If all you are using this weight for is testing with a test box then you could simply ignore the B-C short caused by the weight shorting the tip to the barrel (that's what I usually do). Some scoring machines will register a touch despite the short as well, although judging from your original post I'm guessing that yours is not one of them.

You should be able to rip out the remains of the old lining with a properly sized drill bit - the trick is to remove only the lining, not the surrounding metal (fortunately the lining is usually something relatively soft).

Once you get the old lining out it will need to be replaced. You might consider filling the bore with an epoxy or polyester resin, then boring a new hole (the maximum crown diameter for an épée tip is 8mm so you might consider boring a 3/8-inch hole). You might also consider spraying a wooden dowel or metal rod with release agent (a good coating of wax may also work), putting the treated rod down into the hole as a mold then pouring the resin around it (although I would recommend experimenting on something expendable before attempting this with a weight).

Another possibility might be to simply put a piece of tape over the hole with the adhesive facing down, then put it down into the hole with a wooden or metal rod. It probably wouldn't be enough to line the entire hole but son long as you prevent the tip from contacting the metal weight who cares if the barrel or blade come in contact with the metal weight.

A third possibility would be to find thin-walled plastic tubing that is approximately the same outer diameter as the hole, then sliding it down in there as a new lining (maybe smear a small bit of epoxy along the outside to help anchor the tube in place). This way the blade and barrel would be insulated from the metal of the weight so even if the tip did come into contact with the metal it would be unlikely to result in a short.

No matter what you do, once you finish you should check that it still weighs somewhere been 747 and 753 grams, then either add or remove weight as necessary to bring it into spec (in fact it may be a good idea to check this before you start, just so you know how much slop there is to play with).

And if all else fails, a new weight really isn't that expensive ($22 for a combination foil/épée weight from Fencing.net)

[brtech]

Most of the weights I've seen use nylon as the insulator, but I don't know how its held in place. It could be threaded at the bottom, glued, or simply compression fit. In theory, drill it out, replace with solid nylon stock and drill out a new hole. You definitely can buy nylon rod. It can be machined easily enough. In fact, you probably could buy the next larger size rod, chuck it in a drill press and use a chisel in a vise as a poor man's lathe to cut it down to just larger than the hole, hammer it in, and drill it out.

[SJCFU#2]

Once the nylon rod is cut down to just a tad larger than the hole it might also help to put it in the freezer for a few hours before attempting to hammer it into the hole. It should be a little bit easier to fit into the hole while it is cold and once it warms back up to room temperature the compressive force should help to keep it in place.

You may also consider using nylon tubing rather than rod - with luck you may be able to avoid having to boring out the hole at all (5/16 is just a hair's breadth less than 8 mm) and even if some boring is required it should be a lot easier.

[fencerbill]

Clean out the old lining.

Get an oversize straw, cut to length and slit it straight down one side.

Overlap the two sides until it is smaller than the bore. Then put some adhesive on to anchor it and slide it down the bore. Stuff some toilet paper or tissue in to fill it out until the adhesive sets.

[carlos]

Thanks for the advice, folks. I'll give it a shot.