Epee rewiring cost/time?

[D'Artagnan1673]

Originally Posted by Mergs

WHAT? 3 KIDS?

Damn, you've been a busy boy since I last saw you! Oh, wait, that was about 4 years ago. Or was it longer? Oops. Congrats, and I'm glad to hear that you are back fencing!

Hey Mergs,

Thanks for being so subtle with your disbelief!

We last saw each other at the 2003 Fête de Lune. I was newly wed at the time. We didn't have our first child (a daughter) until March 2005. We've had two since (both boys); one planned and one not so planned, but still loved.

It feels fantastic to be back at fencing. Perhaps we'll run into each other one day.

[Craig]

Originally Posted by twisterfencing

Yes, I use locktight #42 blue on every foil and epee barrel when assembling. The only CA (superglue) I use is Zap (pink). The only wires I use are: FWF for epee and Twister wires (the ones I make) for foil.

Gary,

We do the same for the blades we wire in house except we use the Twister wires for LP points and the FWF foil wires still. The glue is one we have a local manufacturer make for us, but is to the same spec as the pink Zap.

Craig

[jkdjeff]

Stupid thing is broken again! I swear, this epee is cursed.

No obvious breaks or shorts in the wire, but the light doesn't come on at all.

When we were rewiring the blade, the guy that helped me rewire it said that the contact spring was slightly short; could it have gotten compressed from fencing and be failing to make the circuit because of that?

It doesn't even light intermittently though, so I suspect it's probably a break in the wire AGAIN argh.

[DHCJr]

Originally Posted by jkdjeff

Stupid thing is broken again! I swear, this epee is cursed.

No obvious breaks or shorts in the wire, but the light doesn't come on at all.

When we were rewiring the blade, the guy that helped me rewire it said that the contact spring was slightly short; could it have gotten compressed from fencing and be failing to make the circuit because of that?

It doesn't even light intermittently though, so I suspect it's probably a break in the wire AGAIN argh.

I would guess it is the travel spring. You are working with a range of 0.5mm. That is aproximately 0.02". If the travel spring was short before a hard hit would compress it just enough to not register.

I don't know if it was in this thread or not. Use some automotive guages to get the final travel to between 0.45mm & 0.30mm.

[jkdjeff]

Okay, I'm going to tear it apart this weekend and I'll give that a try.

Thanks for the helpful information, and I did spot that part about the gauges.

[thekoby]

Here's something that I do when I have a similar problem and want to make sure it isn't the wire:

Plug the epee into a test or score box and take the tip and pressure spring out.

Use your small screwdriver (the one you use for tip screws) and gently put it inside the barrel, making sure to connect the two wire tips on the inside of the plastic housing. When you release, the score box (or test box) should light up. If not, then it is a problem with the wire or your body cord socket.

If it does light up, then it could be a problem with the tip/contact spring.


If wish i had images to show you what I'm talking about. I'll try to take some this weekend while I'm putting some epees together for an upcoming tournament.

[jkdjeff]

Having watched the rewire done, I think I can visualize what you're talking about (basically making the contact with the screwdriver that the tip would normally make when depressed), but pictures would absolutely help if you can come up with some.

[thekoby]

I tried to take a quick snapshot of a spare wire I had, but my camera wouldn't focus on the little parts, so I threw together these very crude images of a standard german wire inside an epee barrel:

http://bsufc.iweb.bsu.edu/contact.jpg - This image is what you should see looking into your barrel after removing the point. You should have two brass (or silver-colored) points on the top of the plastic housing. If it is a german wire, there will be a small plastic wall around these points.

http://bsufc.iweb.bsu.edu/screw.jpg - This image shows how to place your screwdriver. Make sure that you are touching both conact points to complete the cuircut. Like you stated, it's like the contact spring on the tip is connecting these two points when you get a touch. Here's where it gets tricky though, you have to make sure the screwdriver is not touching the barrel, if so it will ground out and nothing will happen and you'll get frustrated (trust me on this...the first time I did this test I couldn't figure out what was going on then I realized I was rubbing the side of the screwdriver against my barrel - acting like I was making a touch against an opponent's bell).


Like I said before, if the wire is good, then your test/score box should light up/buzz. If not, the next thing I would check is the connection on the body cord socket inside your bell. Again, a mistake I used to make was not stripping enough of the wire and wrapping it a few times around the screw. It's possible that there is less than a quarter inch of string still on the wire and that could be disrupting connection (I've had that problem before too).

If all that checks out and you box lights up, then the problem is in your tip, otherwise, the problem is inside the wire somewhere. It could be a simple fix like a crimped section around where your grip presses against the bell or a small cut in the string that you cant see, but is enough to be grounding itself against the blade.

[rburch]

Originally Posted by jkdjeff

You guys are talking about things that I have no idea about at this point, but:

An armorer at my club is going to teach me how to rewire my own epee this weekend, and only charge me for the wire.

So it's a win-win all around.

Smart choice, I bought my first epee, and it needed the tip adjusted. A guy at one of my clubs sat me down with the tools and had me do the adjusting. Later, he did the same thing with rewiring, and assembling a blade.

Having someone tell you how to fix something is good, having them show you is great.

Doing it yourself while they watch and give advise is by far the best way to learn.

Oh and a side note about glue...

I tend to use a product called Fletch Tite Platinum. It's a glue designed to put fletching (the feathers) onto arrows. You can get it at most stores that have archery equipment, and I couldn't be happier with how it works.

[jkdjeff]

All fixed! As I had suspected, the contact spring was smushed down and preventing the contact from being made inside the tip.

I took the tip apart, stretched the contact spring a little, and reassembled the tip...works fine now.

Boy, those tiny screws are going to be the death of me. Shaky hands.

[Pescados666]

Originally Posted by jkdjeff

Boy, those tiny screws are going to be the death of me. Shaky hands.

I hate having to hold my foil tip in with one hand while I try to position the screw and screw it at the same time... I've only had to take a point apart twice, so I'm not used to it yet.

It was even worse with the French tip instead of the LP tip... I had to position the tip to actually get the screws in.

[SJCFU#2]

Originally Posted by Pescados666

I hate having to hold my foil tip in with one hand while I try to position the screw and screw it at the same time... I've only had to take a point apart twice, so I'm not used to it yet.

You simply have to hold the barrel with one hand with your thumb holding the tip in place while you hold the screwdriver with your other hand (at which point a magnetized screwdriver is a big help). Or build a small jig to hold the tip in place for you while you insert the screws (see Merg's book for how to build one).

It was even worse with the French tip instead of the LP tip... I had to position the tip to actually get the screws in.

You get used to it over time. Or you switch to either German or LP tips and eliminate this particular problem entirely.

edit: You can also switch to screwless tips, however they tend to have their own problems.

[DHCJr]

Originally Posted by SJCFU#2

You simply have to hold the barrel with one hand with your thumb holding the tip in place while you hold the screwdriver with your other hand (at which point a magnetized screwdriver is a big help). Or build a small jig to hold the tip in place for you while you insert the screws (see Merg's book for how to build one).

I love how some like to work harder than they have to. This I learned from the laziest Armorer I know, Dan.

1) Take roll of tip tape and put on table at one end.
2) Place guard of Epee/Foil in center pointing towards other end of table.
3) Turn blade so screw hole is up.
4) Put in screw.
5) Done!

Why build something that all Armorers have, every Foil Fencer should have?

A gig to hold the tip still.

[Pescados666]

Originally Posted by SJCFU#2

You simply have to hold the barrel with one hand with your thumb holding the tip in place while you hold the screwdriver with your other hand (at which point a magnetized screwdriver is a big help). Or build a small jig to hold the tip in place for you while you insert the screws (see Merg's book for how to build one).

It was the first few times, so I didn't have the screws where I could grab them easily. I'm sure I'll get better this year.

If school was out a few weeks later, I would have a titanium nitrate LP point to use. I'd have to do two rewires (French point on my Italian grip foil, LP point on my LP foil) since I'd want the good point on my good foil, but it'd be worth it