Cant

[jspierre]

What's the best way to put a cant in an epee blade?

[DHCJr]

First make sure the tang is larger than the threads. Normally this is not a problem, but there are some who have ground down the tang a bit to far.

You will need a pipe that will just fit around the blade and a sturdy vise. Clamp the tang with a space of 1/8" - 1/4" sticking out at the blade end. I prefer out the side, some have the blade pointed up. It is where you are more comfortable with the leverage. Place the pipe over the blade touching the vise. You will be trying to bend the blade down and in. i.e. For a right-hander it is left and for a left-hander it is right.

What you are trying to accomplish is for the blade to pull on your bicep, your strongest muscle in your arm). Bend it a little at a time, down and in. Hold it after each bend feeling where it pulls and make sure it has not been bent to far and rolls out of your hand when you let up pressure.

The method is the same if you were setting up the epee for posting. The only difference is you hold the blade at the very end of the tang, then right at the weld between the blade and the tang.

Patience when you do this.

[neevel]

Don gave a good description of the vise & pipe method. What I normally use is the loop end of a very big (1 7/8") combo wrench (the whole thing is about 18" long). I place the tang through the loop, and then using one or two hands squeeze the blade and wrench towards each other-- the length of the wrench gives me plenty of leverage. You can do this with or without the blade being held in a vise (it's easier with a vise). The operating principle is the same as with a pipe: you want to have a decent lever arm to apply force to the tang.

I'm ditto with Don on bending a little bit at a time to find what you like. I personally prefer to, when I'm close to what I want, put the guard and grip on the blade to see how the weapon will feel when assembled.

Exactly how much cant you want is a matter of preference-- you'll probably want to try weapons with differing amounts of cant until you find what feels best for you (some coaches can be pretty specific as to how they want you to cant your tang). The only concern is that you'll want to make sure you don't go over the guage limits. For epee, where guards are usually the largest allowed diameter (135 mm), it's very simple to tell if you've put too much cant in. Just look at the assembled weapon directly from the front & center of the guard, with the blade parallel to your line of sight-- if you see any part of the grip sticking out from beyond the guard then the cant is too large.

You can make some rough weapon gauges by cutting cardboard pieces 37.7 cm x 15 cm (for foil) and 42.4 cm x 15 cm (for epee), and then rolling them along the long side and taping the edges together. They won't be pefect, but they'll give you an approximate sense of what the limits are. As a practical matter, you'll never see a weapon checked for guage ast a divisional or national tournament, but it's still a nice thing to know.

-Dave

[DHCJr]

Dave, first let me thank you for catching that about the maximum cant. I should have said that.

I do not like the method you described, only because of the possible strain on the blade and bending of the tang in the wrong place or multiple places. Having said that, it is the method I use when I don’t have a good vise available.

The only better way I have seen without a vise is by Carl Oberg and Matthew Porter. Each has access to a machine shop. What they did was create two pieces each with a groove, one for the tang and one for the blade, extensions on each for a pipe. Basically it is the same method as Dave’s, only it spreads the force over a larger area and it forces the bend for one area. The problem is most people don’t have access to a machine shop, so without a vise, I would use Dave’s method.

[jkormann]

Is there a reason for having a cant in a blade? I've tried blades with them, and didn't really see much of a difference. Am I missing something important here?

[DHCJr]

The reason to cant a blade is two-fold. First it points the point more in the direction of your opponent and second it allows the weapon to feel lighter and more balanced. But a weapon balanced for one person, but not for someone else who holds the weapon differently.

I have a Left-handed French Epee that is balanced specifically for posting at the pommel. If you hold it up against the guard, it will feel wrong. I have seen some clubs, switch weapons back and forth between left and right because they have more of one at this tournament. Those weapons will not feel proper. If a coach teaches to hold the weapon at 2:00, instead of 1:00, the weapon should be balanced differently. If a weapon does not pull on the bicep, it is not balanced properly for you.

From your profile, you are close to Joe Byrnes, Ted Li and the members 'New Jersey Mafia'. With all those great Armorers near you, it would be good to ask one of them to show you how to balance a weapon. This should be done with the foil disassembled and then put together. They will first ask you to come on-guard and do a few lunges to see how you hold the weapon and then they will balance the blade. You will feel a difference!

[sallearmourer]

Just to let you know David there will be a box avaiable for the rest of the season at my booth. I was ask to have it there. I just this morning check all the measure on it still accuate after fifteen years


Tim