alan
Apprentice
Posts: 3
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Post by alan on Aug 9, 2013 15:04:43 GMT -6
Does anyone know how these are held to the wire? I'm trying to rebuild a foil point. I know one of them attaches to the wire, then is placed within a cup which sits at the base of the point. What I can't understand is how one of these is attached to the wire so it stays put. The point I'm talking about is at the green arrow:
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Post by monitorlizerd on Aug 12, 2013 7:07:48 GMT -6
The small metal disc in the cup is called the contact, and as a rule is soldered to the wire. There are some that are crimped on, and Leon Paul contacts are friction-fit only.(needless to say, I HATE LP wires with a passion) It's actually fairly easy to solder the wire in the contact- you need some way to stablize the contact (I push mine face down into some soft wood), a fine point on a soldering iron, and patience while you learn. By the way, I really like your illustrations-did you do them yourself, or are they available somewhere? It's very nice.
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alan
Apprentice
Posts: 3
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Post by alan on Aug 12, 2013 9:32:49 GMT -6
The small metal disc in the cup is called the contact, and as a rule is soldered to the wire. There are some that are crimped on, and Leon Paul contacts are friction-fit only.(needless to say, I HATE LP wires with a passion) It's actually fairly easy to solder the wire in the contact- you need some way to stablize the contact (I push mine face down into some soft wood), a fine point on a soldering iron, and patience while you learn. By the way, I really like your illustrations-did you do them yourself, or are they available somewhere? It's very nice. Thanks for the info. I had an opportunity to look at a new German point (the type I usually use) from Absolute Fencing and noticed that it has some sort of metal ball in the area where the contact meets the wire. It doesn't look like a solder job, but it could've been done with a machine, or maybe there's an additional part that was crimped onto the wire so it wouldn't slide through the contact - as you have said. It's difficult to tell. Incidentally, what is it about LP wires you don't like? What wires do you use instead? The illustrations are from the Leon Paul website. I thought of doing one myself, but why reinvent the wheel?
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Post by monitorlizerd on Aug 13, 2013 6:40:37 GMT -6
I don't like LP wires because the connections are not solid...the least pull on them, and the wires come off the contacts. to get them to work, you have to use a point setter to make sure the cup is bottomed out in the barrel, them glue the first inch or so WITHOUT tension on the wire.Only then can you resume a "normal" construction method with pretensioning and stretching the wire and glueing it. And you'd better hope the glue at the tip holds,because the wire's toast if it doesn't. Too much fussing about in my book. I use German wires, or some of the available knock-offs that are soldered.
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alan
Apprentice
Posts: 3
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Post by alan on Aug 13, 2013 10:10:06 GMT -6
It's interesting you say that. A couple of my foils went bad in a short time and I remember them being LP wires. I guess that's why I'd prefer to start from scratch with the wiring and build my own. At least I'll know how secure the connections are. If not LP, where do you shop for your German wires?
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Post by monitorlizerd on Aug 13, 2013 12:17:27 GMT -6
If you are lucky enough to live where there's a vendor, go there. Or you can call/order online from any of the regular big vendors (BG, SwordMasters, etc) I get most of my stock from Sword Masters, that being Gary Spruill, out of Ft Worth. If you want to build your own wires, it's possible. Leon Paul will sell you everything you need-and you can solder the contacts as you wish.
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