FAQ: Toolkit for Equipment Repair

[Inquartata]

Nice addition to the list, but you forgot a few sabre necessities that epeeists disdain to use:

1) Soap, for that after-fencing shower which epeeists know not

2) Deodorant

3) Cologne

4) A bag or towel into which to place sweaty uniform after fencing, instead of the epeeist's favorite container, his mask

5) Washing machine, in which to launder that sweaty uniform

6) Laundry detergent, for use with the aforementioned washing machine

7) Dryer or clothesline, to dry the freshly-laundered uniform ( again in place of the epeeist's "dryer", his mask inside his zipped bag )

8) A pulse


Hee hee. Epee stools.

[Zilverzmurfen]

Nice addition to the list, but you forgot a few sabre necessities that epeeists disdain to use:

1) Soap, for that after-fencing shower which epeeists know not

2) Deodorant

3) Cologne

4) A bag or towel into which to place sweaty uniform after fencing, instead of the epeeist's favorite container, his mask

5) Washing machine, in which to launder that sweaty uniform

6) Laundry detergent, for use with the aforementioned washing machine

7) Dryer or clothesline, to dry the freshly-laundered uniform ( again in place of the epeeist's "dryer", his mask inside his zipped bag )

8) A pulse


Hee hee. Epee stools.

Inq, it seems to me your local épéeist does not live up to the common épéeist appearance...

What you're describing is the general foilist!

[Inquartata]

What you're describing is the general foilist!

General? Foilists seldom advance past the rank of corporal. Too quarrelsome, you know.

I have known exactly 1, that's ONE, fastidious male epeeist. Though the women are somewhat better in that regard...

[pacer]

Inq,
your list sounds like what I would like to carry around as the mother of a teenaged epeeist. But I'd add aerosol deodorizer so when I'm carpooling 2 or 3 of them after a lessons the car doesn't get too bad.....
( Does that make it the mother of all lists?)

[Gwhite]

5mm is not a common size. You might find one in a metric ignition wrench set. But here is a tip, 13/64 is close enough to do the job, and that is in an ignition wrench set at Sears. Of course you have to buy the entire set, but you have your wrench.
On the other hand if you can wait a month or so, I am having 5000 of them made that will have have 5mm on one end and 6mm on the other end.
Double Happiness!
Scott

Actually, somebody beat you to it. I forget the brand name (Pedros?), but you can get a small multi-slot metric wrench at a bike shop. I think they use them for heavy spoke nuts on mountain bikes. Park makes individual wrenches in both sizes for the same purpose. They are an odd loop shape. Sears has a metric ignition wrench kit with a 5 mm wrench, and I tried once to get just that size as a replacement part. It was a small enough item that they didn't carry them in their parts inventory.

[KD5MDK]

Well, he did write that ~2 years ago..

[Gwhite]

Well, he did write that ~2 years ago..

I know, but I just joined recently and found the thread interesting. I figure other folks might still be looking for a good source for wrenches. If you only do one weapon, any good bike shop can get you a Park wrench.

[howardroark]

Nice addition to the list, but you forgot a few sabre necessities that epeeists disdain to use:

1) Soap, for that after-fencing shower which epeeists know not

2) Deodorant

3) Cologne

4) A bag or towel into which to place sweaty uniform after fencing, instead of the epeeist's favorite container, his mask

5) Washing machine, in which to launder that sweaty uniform

6) Laundry detergent, for use with the aforementioned washing machine

7) Dryer or clothesline, to dry the freshly-laundered uniform ( again in place of the epeeist's "dryer", his mask inside his zipped bag )

8) A pulse


Hee hee. Epee stools.

Since we have kinda strayed a bit off topic.....Remember to do one important thing.......EAT FOOD!!!! Bring good healthy food that will give you lasting energy.

I can't remember how many times I've had to fight non-stop bouts without a single morsel of food. There's no energy left in me to fight!

[fatfencer]

Fatfencer's toolkit:

Since I'm always trying out new grips and blades....and sometimes the armorers table is too busy...here's a tip I got from Ted Li.

1) 2 ft long copper pipe.

2) 1 large wrench. Its like 1.5 ft long and has a circle on one end and the u shaped thingie(not automotively inclined or can't you tell? )on the other end.

Anyways the end that is important is the circular end.

Take the pipe and slide the blade in up to the beginning of the tang. Use the circluar end and bend to your hearts content!!

Vise grips
Duct tape
Tiptape
Several full Sport 7 tips
magnetized screwdriver the one size that fits BOTH the bayonet socket screw and tip screws comfortably
6 mm hex wrenches T handle AND long arm
6 mm threader
? mm tip threader
washers/pommels
Hammer
Large crescent wrench

Acetone Bought at local to venue Home Depot
Acetone Pipe for rewiring

Soldering iron for making wires
Wire for wires
Cups/Brass thingies for LP for wires
extra baggie of tip screws
lighters
Spaghetti tubing
scissors
wire cutters
razor blade
Magnets

Fatfencer

[KD5MDK]

You must have a lot more free time at tournaments than I do.

[gh02t]

If you can get one of the neodymium magnets out of a computer hard drive they are very useful for magnetizing screwdrivers, it only takes about 3 strokes.

[fatfencer]

I use this 4 in rare earth magnet you can buy at any ace hardware. It is one of those magnets at the end of a long stick. I just took the magnet off.

Fatfencer

[the reluctant fencer]

My USFA tournament toolbox..epee only...lots of spare used tip parts that are still ok for emergencies.-Free...came off of dead blades
Different colors of spaghetti for different occasions. $5
accurate shims $10?
my 756.2 gram weight with a small teflon interior...$15 I think
spare plastic bags for holding tip parts. FREEBIE
a spare body cord connector for when a brass screw breaks in one of my 4 bodycords
weapon bending tool for wiring and repair gluing Home depot $2
2 shout stain remover wipes...one team mate is going to spill his red gatorade all over himself at least twice.
2-3 extra wires to wire a weapon $6-7 each
2 pommels( I don't know why...I use pistol grips)
disposable superglue containers
1 big .71oz $8 bottle of superglue gel for wiring a weapon (dries slower but your hands survive)
PF changs matches from Austin TX Summer Nats tourney. FREEBIE
snapped weapon ends for stripping glue out of groove
1 medium sized screwdriver $2.50
1 small screwdriver $2
1 really small magnetic screwdriver for tip screws ($1.50)
1 new complete german tip ($22?)
1 roll of super sticky electrical tape
1 set of very fine pliers
1 wire cutter
extra springs (the shiny ones) both pressure and contact

special medical grade non sterile wood stem tight wound "q-tips"...not that brand though. They are by "allegiance" brand. great for cleaning out your polished barrel of all the dirt that gets in there during the plane flight or drive. You would be suprised how much filth gets in a tip.
2 extra weapon connectors
small hammer and custom built anvils for removing dents from bellguards.
various grades of sandpaper to refinish dinged bellguards
extra spring washers
very small drill bit to deburr the screw travel holes

other stuff just in my bag:
extra socks (might get smacked in the shin and need new ones)
bell guard pad (one of the the nice thick leather ones that D. Miller makes) $12
band-aids
rag and wd40 for keeping weapons oiled and clean
way too many extra grips
a big magnet bowl to hold tip parts

[DHCJr]

My USFA tournament toolbox..epee only...lots of spare used tip parts that are still ok for emergencies.-Free...came off of dead blades
Different colors of spaghetti for different occasions. $5
accurate shims $10?
my 756.2 gram weight with a small teflon interior...$15

An interesting list, an accurate shim and an inaccurate (heavy) weight.

Instead of having an accurate shim have a thin shim maybe about 0.48 mm. In fact, what would be better would be several shims so that you can set the travel to a range.

[the reluctant fencer]

it is better to have a weight that is too heavy by a few grams so it can push any USFA weight with a wooden center that has lots of friction back up. A guy I know has a 748.2 gram weight that is in "spec" but he fails weight tests alll the time. It is better to have a spring that is too strong than too weak...I want to pass weight tests every time...no chance of failing. If I fail a weight test it is because of a bad weight that does not want to sit straight on the weapon and is leaning on the actual blade.

[DHCJr]

it is better to have a weight that is too heavy by a few grams so it can push any USFA weight with a wooden center that has lots of friction back up. A guy I know has a 748.2 gram weight that is in "spec" but he fails weight tests alll the time. It is better to have a spring that is too strong than too weak...I want to pass weight tests every time...no chance of failing. If I fail a weight test it is because of a bad weight that does not want to sit straight on the weapon and is leaning on the actual blade.

Exactly my point! I am not faulting you for the choice of weight. I am aplauding you for your choice of weight. I am faulting you for having an accurate shim. You have an accurate shim and your weapon passes and the gauge on the piste is 0.45 which is within tollarance and your weapon fails. You should have a inaccurate (thin 0.5) shim for the same reason you have a innaccurate (heavy) weight.

I will use your own quote. It is better to have a 0.5 shim that is too thin by a few hundreths of a millimeter.

Having a too heavy weight is one of the best things for a fencer. Having an accurate shim is one of the worst things to have for a fencer. Get an inaccurate shim, you will be better off or better yet several inaccurate shims.

Having a set of automotive shims is much better for a fencer than the best and most accurate fencing shims.

[GorillaSmile]

For a newbie this is great info to have.

[RETLAG]

For tightening epee and foil barrells, I use an adjustable wrench rather than carry a 5mm and a 6 mm wrench. It needs to be a high quality adjustable wrench ( the kind with the vernier markings on the jaw). The usual "crescent" wrench is too sloppy for this work. I prefer a bolt cutter for shortening the weapon tang. Vendors will always have one handy at a tournament if you need it and you're friendly with a vendor. You'll need a die cutter to straighten out the threads afterwards, but if you don't have one, you can screw a tightening nut down onto the tang threads before you cut, then unscrew the nut over the cut end to re-align the threads. ( It takes a little menschlichkeit but it works.) I have to credit Rudy Volkmann with that last idea.

By the way, Gilbert and Peter at FencePBT have just come out with an Armory DVD that looks pretty good. They were showing it at the Nationals. I just checked their website and they don't seem to have it up yet, but I'm sure you could give them a call if you're interested. I believe ted Li's video is only on VHS.

[HDG]

For dealing with small parts I keep a pair of self-closing tweezers, one straight and one angled. I've also added a set of precision pliers and x-small files (both Craftsman).

[bbugiii]

I have found keeping a seam ripper in my tool kit a great idea. It lets me take the old tape off of my cords without damaging them. Seam rippers are available wherever you find basic sewing supplies. You can purchase one for less than $2.00.