Hello All,
I am a new member to fencing.net. My son has fenced for 18 months (foil, epee). I started 2 months ago(foil). My daughter started this past month(foil). I want to be an armorer for our club. I found an experienced and fabulous armorer at a tournament who has been gracious with insight. Any advise, suggestions, websites, books for assembling my tool kit?
Mike Mergens' book of armory....best one I've ever seen. He posts here...screenname Mergs.Originally Posted by fencers mom
Need fencing equipment? See me at H.O.M. Fencing Supply
Going to your first tournament? Read "Choose yer weapon, Laddie (or: Dude, where's my foil?)"
In addition to Merg's book, "Care and Feeding of All Things Fencing" (for which I heartily second Purple Fencer's recommendation). you might also consider Chris Green's "How to be an Armorer - Without Loosing Your Sanity" (try clicking on "products" on the first page - otherwise you'll have to scroll through three or four pages worth of tools to find it), Rudy Volkman's "Electric Fencing Equipment - How to Repair It" (which probably was THE standard until Merg's book came along), Ted Li's video "You Can Do It (Basic Armoring)" (unfortunately this was originally done on videotape so it can be a little difficult to skip through), the "Armoring Basics Clinic" DVD (easier to jump to select parts than on Ted's video but at times I found myself wishing the lighting had been better), and the Armory section of Leon Paul's web site (very nice, but for some reason it tends to be a bit Leon Paul centric). Plus there's a US based fencing site who's name escapes me right now (although I suspect you're looking at it right now) which not only has a section accessible through its home page entitled "Ask the Expert: Armory", it also an entire portion of its discussion forum dedicated to armoring.
A number of plans, schematics and even some tools are also available for purchase through Merg's web site (appropriately enough named "The Armorer's Store"). And if you really don't feel up to build your own test box you might consider this one from Swordmasters. It's may not have all the bells and whistles (for that you get one of Dan DeChane's boxes) but it's also far less expensive and Purple Fencer recently informed me that Dan may no longer be making more boxes.
One tool I would highly recommend is a weapon tester that can detect microbreaks, such as the Favero A-1 tester (with or without sound). Another is a decent multimeter (oddly enough old fashioned analog meters are often better for armoring than digital meters - just make sure that it has a 1x scale for resistance).
Assuming you are in the US you should probably download a current copy of the USFA rules (I remember Joe Byrnes once referred to it as the most important tool for an armorer to have in his tool case). If you want to get closer to the source you can also download a copy of the material section of the rules from the British Fencing Association (which has the official English language translation of the international rules) or, if your French is up to the task (which unfortunately mine isn't), directly from the FIE .
There's also a US armorer's web site. Sadly this one never really appears to have caught on - as such it may or may not provide much assistance.
edit: I should probably probably also warn that the path you are embarking on leads to madness. It's too late for most of us (far too late) but if you turn back now you might be able to escape with some semblance of sanity.
Last edited by SJCFU#2; 11-24-2009 at 02:14 PM. Reason: added warning
Many thanks for the replies. Appreciate SJCFU#2's detailed list of resources. I will be downloading the USFA's rules immediately. I fear this is a path I am destined for since the children are young (8,10) and love the sport. Plus the armorers seem to be a very interesting lot.
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