fwf foil tips - seizing...?!

[elberto]

have been very competitive, imported and armourer so sort of know about the stuff...

so I ordered (from US another company) some fie blades (wired with tips..) and specified wanted GERMAN TIPS. [I was trying to see if anyone else had noticed this problem when found this page]

when I received them I was a little (!?) concerned/upset re these were french tips and not compatible with ALL my german spare parts - ok I should have specified allstar german but I didn't know there was a company called FWF (have been out of fencing a few years)..

ok emailed company - found they were german ... so my mistake...

german tips should be good right!? [they have a good rep. - well allstar/uhlmann does...)

hmm... well out of 5 club FIE foils with these tips three have started seizing up - never had this problem with allstar tips(very few problems at all over 20 years - I still use them myself!)

when you hit they stick down and stay down (aarrgghh..) - you can pull them back out and they work fine but then next hit sticks the tips again..

I can't see any noticeable dent in the tip nor in the barrel..

anyone else noticed this problem?

so I am not too impressed by these tips....

I never used to mind the screws getting mashed up as happened so few times and using a multi-tool could just drill them out..

siorry took a while to get to it huh - should have used the kiss principle - Keep It Simple St...

[Purple Fencer]

Is the barrel out of round?? What you describe SOUNDS like a dented barrel, but you say there're no dents...

Can you post any pics??

[elberto]

ok will post some picks prolly tomorrow....

sounds to me like a dented barrel too but 3 out of 5 foils... and mostly used by novices (ok so nivices do slam things into floors, alls and eachother..lol)

if it is a dented barrel any known solution? round file out the barrel (tried it a bit but couldnt see any where to work on)

you know now if i take pictures they will prolly be obvious dents ...lol

[Purple Fencer]

ok will post some picks prolly tomorrow....

sounds to me like a dented barrel too but 3 out of 5 foils... and mostly used by novices (ok so nivices do slam things into floors, alls and eachother..lol)

if it is a dented barrel any known solution? round file out the barrel (tried it a bit but couldnt see any where to work on)

you know now if i take pictures they will prolly be obvious dents ...lol

You could use a reamer to cut out the imperfection (easier than the mandrel to re-round it)...the thin-walled german barrels are infamous for seemingly tiny dents jamming the tip the way you describe...the clearances are tight between the tip and barrel, which leaves that chance. The FWF NextGen tips are twice as thick and VERY resistant to dents jamming the action...I have yet to see it happen on them. They also hide the screw better. I HAVE seen one or two screws get smashed, but it's practically nothing compared to the other barrels.

Do not get the FWF german tips that have a french collar...awful design...sometimes the screw will spin but not come out.

NextGen tips are sold on F.net....worth the money.

[brtech]

I'm not a reamer fan. Use the mandrel. Yes, it's a bit harder to use, but it attacks the real problem and can be repeated. When you use a reamer, you are attacking the symptom, not the problem, and you can undo/redo it.

Think of it this way: the problem occurs because the barrel isn't strong enough (right Barry?). By using the reamer, you are making the walls thinner, weakening the barrel even more.

Sticky tips usually only result from two problems: dirty tips or out of round barrels. Occasionally, the tip itself gets out of round.

FWF is made by Rossler, the company that used to make parts for Uhlmann. Uhlmann dumped them for Chinese parts, and Rossler started selling equipment themselves through their FWF nameplate. Now, Uhlmann is at least assembling points in Germany, but we don't know who is making the components.

[KD5MDK]

In some defense of the reamer, the barrel could have just been badly made to begin with...

[yearsofwisdom]

or it got messed up in travel? but i love FWF next gen tips. once you go next gen you can't go back :P. but i have had a screw that is stuck in a barrel.... how can i get it out? its masshed in

[brtech]

First, use a tip screwdriver, hold the weapon firmly on a solid surface, and press the screwdriver HARD against the screw while you twist a little bit to see if you can get it to start to back out. I sometimes use a driver from the set you get at the dollar store (the next to the smallest one is the usual tip screwdriver size, try going up or down one size). If they break, I'm out a buck.

If that doesn't work, use a razor knife to cut a new slot in the screw. Then use the tip of the razor as the screwdriver and see if you can get it to back out.

If that doesn't work, you have to drill the screw out. Mergs just posted the procedure for that.

[Rockstar44]

It's always interesting to hear from people who used to fence and are getting back into it. They always love Allstar. What they don't know is that Allstar isn't Allstar any more. I have had horrendous problems with Allstar foil tips. The problem that the OP describes is common with these tips and I believe that it's a quality control issue.

If you liked the old Allstars, you will like the FWF products. You won't like the new Allstar.

[elberto]

It's always interesting to hear from people who used to fence and are getting back into it. They always love Allstar. What they don't know is that Allstar isn't Allstar any more. I have had horrendous problems with Allstar foil tips. The problem that the OP describes is common with these tips and I believe that it's a quality control issue.

If you liked the old Allstars, you will like the FWF products. You won't like the new Allstar.

but i loved the old allstar's equip.
damn ...

thanks for warning me....

[brtech]

Don't dump on them too hard. The quality has gone up. It's not clear to me that there is much difference between FWF and current production Allstar/Uhlmann. They have brought back to Germany some of the manufacturing that they farmed out to some inferior firms in China. The latest parts I've used appear to be good quality, and I don't see problems with them. We don't really know where everything is made, but the result is at least decent, and may be better than decent.

[yba2cuo3]

I've also experienced "sticky tips" with my latest Allstar hardware. When new they work fine but then quickly degrade after some use. Also, when you put a new tip in a used barrel the problem doesn't go away, leading me to believe that the barrel is being deformed somehow

Marc