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Post by Fixer Fencer on Mar 2, 2005 12:52:59 GMT -6
REcently some epee and foil wires have been showing up with a new insulating coating on the bare copper wire and under the cotton insulation. This coating is clear so it looks like a bare copper wire, but it will fail intermittently or immediately unless you scrape off about an inch of the coating.
I use the sharp edge of a knife blade to scrape the coating off the end of the wire, where it goes under the washer and nut in the socket in the bell guard. Emory cloth would probably work too.
The coating is actually a good thing, if the cotton fails the wire is still insulated from the blade.
Sometimes the socket and nut will cruch the coating well enough to make contact for awhile, but I almost stripped out a brand new and perfectly good wire, thinking it was broken in the tip, before I discovered the coating (with an ohmeter).
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Post by Terry on Jun 26, 2006 23:43:39 GMT -6
Actualluy all our wires have a clear coat under the cotton or silk insulation layer. It depends on the manufacturer as to what material is used. I imagine you are experiencing the Urethane (red) coating. This is teh newest I have seen. Other chemical compositions used to coat bare wire include, enamel and laquer. A knife blade is great for scraping but if you nick the wire it will break. The tools I use the most for baring our blade wires is either a small fine rounded file or 800-2000 grit sandpaper (available at yout local auto parts chain) whichever is handiest at the time...barring those I also use a single edged razor blade at a 90 degree angle and gently scrape using very (and I mean VERY little) pressure ...goog luck and happy fencing! SEE Y' all in ATLANTA
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dhcjr
Contributor
Posts: 15
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Post by dhcjr on Jul 11, 2007 13:09:18 GMT -6
Actually the double insulation on the Prieur wires were 2 seperate cloth (usually cotton) strands. 'German' wires have always had one cloth (usually silk) and a clear varnish. Some American wire and magnet wire uses a red varnish. While those from the former Soviet Union area used a brown varnish.
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