Epee Wire

[Downtown]

When I rewire an epee blade, the wire is always looped and twisted on itself when it comes from the factory. Thus it is not perfectly straight and has little kinks in it.

Is there some sort of trick that I am missing for getting all the little kinks out of it prior to gluing.

[Purple Fencer]

When I rewire an epee blade, the wire is always looped and twisted on itself when it comes from the factory. Thus it is not perfectly straight and has little kinks in it.

Is there some sort of trick that I am missing for getting all the little kinks out of it prior to gluing.

Step 1: Seperate the wires (easier to do with a German, as the silk wrap doesn't bind up as much as the cloth wrap on a French wire)

Step 2: Grab the wires with one hand just under the cup(this is so you don't actually pull the wire out of the crimp)

Step 3: Take one of the wires in the thumb/forefinger of your other hand and gently pull down along the length of the wire to straighten the kinks out...then do the same for the other wire.

Make VERY sure you don't crease a kink down tight...pay attention to what you're feeling in your fingers...if it's moving smoothly, you're fine, but if you feel any lumps, STOP and undo the kink.

[brtech]

Usually, wires aren't kinked when they come from the factory; you put the kinks in when you just pull on the "hank" of wire to straighten in out.

The basic shape they come in is a round loop. Sometimes, the loop is twisted in a figure 8. If that is what yours looks like, untwist the whole hank until it's round. Then unroll it; don't just pull one end, actually unwind it. It will come out flat, with some small "waves". Then use Purple's technique.

The kinks are when you yank one end of the loops in the wire straight, they kink. If you unwind it , no kinks.

You see this same effect in floor cords. If you wind up a floor cord over a bent arm, or just looping the wire the same direction over and over, you twist the wire, and when unroll it by pulling an end, it doesn't untwist. The correct way to roll a floor cord is to reverse every other loop, so you effectively make a figure 8 folded over. This alternates the twist so that when you pull one end, it straightens out. This is much easier to show in person then to describe. If you get a cord wrapped the wrong way, the only way to unwind without kinks is as described above.

Any band roadie knows how to do this: it's the way you wind up a microphone cable.

[Lady Quindecim]

I recommend a blender, tv remote, 9.6M copper tubing, and empty wine bottle
oops - wrong thread.