The Foil

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Even though [darkscribe] is the creator and original teacher.

In this page, I want to talk about what makes up a modern fencing blade, how it works, and how to look after one.  Although at the time of writing, I know none of the students are fencing, I dearly wish they would give it a go.  In any event, the information below should prove useful in many different circumstances, as it explains the structure of many swords - old and new alike.  Feel free to comment below.

Sections:

i)  The Foil's composition
(so far...)

The Foil's composition

A modern-day electric Foil (and indeed many old rapiers, although lacking the electrical parts) is made up of the following parts:

A steel blade with "tang"
Metal circular guard (various materials)
Plastic or leather circualr guard pad
Bayonet plug connector
Metal or plastic handle
Metal nut

The actual constitution of a Foil is deceptivley simple.  Imagine a kebab - pieces of food - "components", if you will, alligned along a skewer.  This is, simply, how a Foil is constructed.





The Tang:  The Tang is a long metal "skewer", the same piece of metal (excuse the crude language) as the blade, but a rounded cylinder shape, rounded and shaped to allow the whole balde to pass through guard, connector, <martingale*>, pad, and handle - meaning the whole sword can be held together by the nut, using the Tang's screw thread.



Progress Notes

Soon, I hope to be making the following changes to the page:

* Detailed photos of a foil's components.  My digital camera is not working (grr), so the other option is to use my SLR, which will take time to be developed (2 days).

* Photos and simplified example of a tang and its function, using a World War One cavelry sabre.

* Scanned images from a novice's fencing manual.

that's it for now folks.  Oh, and can I have a favour?  Will someone who can remember how to add iamges into html please write a the code near the top of this page, or in the comments, so I can copy and paste it in the future, as I have forgotten >.<

Thanks peeps



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