Screwless point

[Dav3ey]

Does anyone know what kind of wire the Estoc screwless point uses?

I saw the point at sword-masters.com but crypticly they neither offer a wire with it nor indicate which wire to use. Since "Estoc" doesn't sound Italian I expect that the points use either a French or German wire. But since I know these aren't interchangeable....

Relatedly, does anyone have any experiece with Estoc srcrewless points themselves? Good? Bad? Would be better with screws?

[Dav3ey]

Nope, wait. I lied.

The point not only comes with a wire, but also notes that it's made in France.

Anyone know whether these are any good?

[Purple Fencer]

I've ony dealt with an Estoc point once in a rewire...it can use either French or German wire. it's the Negrini (Schermasport?) that uses a special wire.

[sallearmourer]

I have seen the Russian screwless foil tip and the Estoc as well and the Estoc can take either german or French wire. But the only one that I have use that was worth a d==n was the Negrini (Schermasport) screwless.


Tim

[Artisan]

FWIW: my limited experience... I have a Russian version on a cheepo Russian blade. Both together were like $25 from our Armorer (must have fallen off of a potato truck in the ukraine or something.) It has Always worked, never needed service, passes every time. My three other epees with german tips often lose screws, need adjusting and generally take more fussing over. Probably just luck - both good and bad.

[sah62]

I've been using a few Estoc points for a few months. They seem super smooth compared to my German points and they're a breeze to adjust because it's so easy to remove the tip without dealing with screws, but the contact spring seems to go out of whack more often than my German tips. Swordmasters told me that a dab of super glue on the contact spring and post (after it's properly set, of course) is supposed to help.

[Mr_Foilist]

Originally posted by Dav3ey
Anyone know whether these are any good?

Estoc points are French and work best with French wires. I have had extensive experience with them and I have extremely mixed feelings about them. They are very smooth at first. But, when they get older, they have the tendancy to not register points made with the edge of the tip (in other words, you have to hit dead on). Also, I've had problems with the contact springs. I've had a lot of them just fall off and rattle around inside the barrel. Doesn't seem to matter what I do to prevent this. Once it happens with a tip, it will keep happening. Also, the points tend to just unscrew from their bases after a while. This has to do with that little plastic thing at the base of the "point" portion of the system. I think, with a little time and use, the plastic just loosens up around the base of the point and lets it unscrew. Once this happens, it will continue to happen until you replace the point portion (which can be very expensive). Also, fixing travel is a huge pain in the @ss with these points. Unlike the standard points where you can just adjust the contact spring and put it in the barrel to check travel without putting in the screws, you have to guess at the appropriate length of the spring with the screwless points. Then, you have to screw it in and test. If it doesn't work, you have unscrew it and do it all over again. AND, once you get a length that works for you, you could screw it up entirely by screwing the point portion on just a little too tight, causing the contact spring to be that much closer to the contacts for the wires.

Hmm, I guess my feelings weren't that mixed after all. Stick with the standard points. They're much more consistant. If you want smooth glide and all that, look to prieur or uhlmann.

Good luck.

[Dav3ey]

Maybe you're right. I'm getting over my "rage against the screws".

FYI, what happened was that somehow one of my tip screws cracked length-wise. Half of the screw stayed in the threads but part of the rest (part disappeared totally) somehow wound up inside the tip wedged under the tip preventing it from being depressed.

After I lost my bout 12-15, I couldn't really believe that my last two touches landed flat. In fact they hadn't.

My blade didn't fall flat, just my equipment awareness.

[DamedEscrime]

The only screwless tips that came across my workbench were a mess.... the springs seem to be a problem, wearing out quickly and the parts do not appear to be interchangable with either french or german parts. i gave up and rewired!
LOL...one guy was so frustrated with his screwless tip weapon,, he took out hte blade and handed it to me...say, "You can have it!"