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I Forge Iron

French Foils anyone ?


Steve Sells

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purchased around 1935.  stamped with  '5', 'CASELLO' and 'Paris France'

 

Blade length is about 35 inches guard to tip. Grip of wood with cord and wire wrapped covering as a handle,  Steel screw-on pommel. When these were brought to me 2 weeks ago, the blades were in pieces, from something dropping on them.  tang broken from one, 8 inches missing from tip of the other. I was asked to save them for wall hangers, they had belonged to the mans Grand Father.  what ya think ?

 

Today the owner picked them up, plans to present them to his son as a gift for Christmas, as he also is a fencer.  Both are aware these will never be safe for sport use.

 

He laughed when I told him the price, and said that is not enough , and gave me a bonus.

 

Merry Christmas.

post-2529-0-94270500-1387671643_thumb.jp

post-2529-0-89759900-1387671668_thumb.jp

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I tig welded the tang back on the one, then forged a new tip  about 1/8 x 1/16 and 12 inches long, then gas welded (acc/oxy)  it to the broken main body, then trimmed to length plus 1/4 inch  then forged the tip back to give the "nub" (like a finishing nails head) and then ground off the excess nub to match the existing form the first one.   Lucky that even though both got broken, they were broken in different places, so I had an origonal to copy from for the new parts.

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What happens 20 years from now? If they aren't permanently marked "not for use". Someone down the line could use these and get hurt? I was told by 2 different makers with 20 plus years making knives "Don't make a wall hanger that is not safe for use.".

I'm not implying you aren't a really good maker. I am questioning making something that looks like you can use it but would never be safe for sport use. Most of the wall hangers I see are welded or riveted to a board usually a coat of arms of some sort.

They really look like they were never repaired. A testament to your experience and attention to detail.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for the memories.  I haven't been on a strip for a few years now, but I used to really enjoy fencing.  The '5' refers to the blade size, and would be considered full sized/adult.  I didn't realize that sizing system dated back so far.

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I'm fairly certain that a blade that's been repaired in the manner Steve described would not be allowed in a competition. These look to be non-electric (hard to tell from the photo) so they wouldn't be used in competition, only in practice. The steel alloy used in fencing foils is rather complex and the heat treating is beyond complex. My son was fencing with me a few years ago and the tip of his non-electric foil shattered. Owner of the academy stopped us right there and took the foil back to his office for a replacement (on the house). Foils are supposed to bend, bend and then bend some more. A foil that breaks is dangerous to the fencers.


By the way, Steve, nice job.

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