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| Lesson ten: foil repair |
| 99% of all foil problems come from improper wiring. White light goes off when you beat the blade? Learn to wire foils. Wire pops out of the blade and gets cut? Learn to wire foils. Can't score touches at all? Learn to wire foils without grounding them, (or you just suck.) |
| Below is my 12 step program to overcome the disease of improper wiring. Admitting that you have a problem is half the solution. |
| 1st Clean out the blade grove. Avoid using acetone, it leaves a residue that most glues don't stick to well. Use an old screwdriver or any piece of metal that will do the job. If you used crazy glue, acetone is the only way to get off large amounts of it, just one of the reason that I avoid crazy glue AND acetone. Scrap the glue out from every possible angle until you hear an annoying screeching sound. |
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| 2nd Prep the wire. Carefully remove any kinks by running it through your fingers. These kinks will push the wire out of the groove while the glue is drying. |
| 3rd Glue the threads. Placing a little glue on the threads before applying the barrel makes a big difference in how long the barrel stays in place. Just a drop on the threads and another on the first inch of the blade. |
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| 4th With the wire most of the way through the barrel and wet glue on the threads, carefully thread the barrel onto the blade. Make sure the wire doesn't get cut by the threads by holding the wire down in the groove with your thumb. Tighten the barrel finger tight before getting out any tools. |
| 5th Most important. Tighten the barrel. Place the blade in a vice when possible or use a second pair of pliers or vice grips to hold the blade while you turn the barrel. You may have to learn the hard way how tight is too tight. Until you've broken a few barrels, you are probably not tightening them enough. |
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| 6th After the is tightened (and it had better be) pull the wire down until the contact touches the barrel. Then use a seating tool to push the contact and cup down to the bottum of the barrel. Gently pull the wire along at the same speed the cup goes down so that the wire doesn't get bunched up behind the contact. |
| 7th Carefully straighten the wire again by running it through your fingers. Do not put too much pressure on the wire, they break easily. |
| 8th Place the blade in a vice to hold it still while applying glue. Generously apply glue quickly to the length of the blade. Glue fisrt, then the wire. |
| 9th Using tape or a padded clip, attach the wire to the tang. The wire should be straight, but don't worry too much about how tight it is. that comes later. |
| 10th Carefully guide the wire into the groove. Start at the point and work down. |
| 11th Bend the blade and place it somewhere to dry. The bend pulls the wire down through the glue to the bottom of the groove. It should be bent into a space about 30". Most desks or tables are about that far from the floor. |
| 12th After a few minutes, check the wire for pop-ups. There should be none, but if there are, you can nip them in the bud by pushing them carefully back into the groove. The glue is getting thicker so it will help hold them in place. |
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