reamers for barrels

[nickd]

Has anyone found an online supplier of precision reamers to smooth out all those dings in barrels and free up the points ?. l'm looking for one to fit a German foil barrel--just under .170"--- Recommendations anyone ?

[DHCJr]

Uhlmann sells both a madrel and a reamer, but they do not recommend the reamer, especially with the flaking problem with the plating on the barrel. I would look into getting the mandrel, which most of the major suppliers have. But if you have to have the reamer, contact Uhlmann directly.

[sallearmourer]

American Fencers supply carrys both


Tim

[mifencer]

I agree with Tim, American Fencing Supply has them; that's where I bought mine.

Since we're on this topic, I have a question for you guys. I reamed out a barrel (ok, I really really reamed out this barrel). When I hold the foil, you feel the point 'jiggle' because the point is not longer snug in the barrel. The problem is that the foil doesn't always go off (especially when flicked). The question is: does reaming out the barrel effect how the point goes off?

Thanks.

[neevel]

The reamer is just a standard metric 4.5 mm (5.0 mm for epee). You'll be able to get one much cheaper from a hardware store than from a fencing supplier (though try at a well-stocked local store or Ace/True-Value franchise, since a Home Depot or the like probably won't have metric reamers). For the reasons Don mentioned, it's best to try using the expanding mandrel first. If the barrel's too badly dinged for the mandrel to fix, then the ideal course is to rewire the weapon with a new barrel. The reamer should probably be thought of as more a "get it through the tournament" fix rather than a permanent repair.

-Dave