My splicing attempts

[kram]

Tried some cheap cord first. Then a ring out of Mamut 9.5mm dynamic climbing rope.  Tapered the core of the female but not the cover, and tapered both the core and cover of the male and pulled it inside. I used one fid length for the tapers. The last inch of cover has frayed but it lines up with the mark.

 

 

Edited May 15 by kram

[Mik the Miller]

On 05/09/2017 at 15:17, Marula said:

Ok, but does splicing generally have to be done by someone in the know? As in a certified individual?

 

 

I make my own rope shackles ... but wouldn't use them if I was being paid to do something.

I use out of date strops ...  but not if I was being paid.

 

I know that neither will break as I understand the forces employed but a council HSE man isn't that intelligent and only looks for 'in date'.

[Steven P]

reading this thread, about time to teach The Boys - going to start simple with 3 strand ropes though, eye splices to start

[kram]

Had an attempt at splicing an eye on Sirius 8mm cord. Couldnt find any specific instructions, so used Samson's class 1 double braid pdf and YT video. It was a proper pain to get the core back into the cover, seems a wire fid is no good on a tight cover (as the core needs to be founded and too thick) so I made a soft fid from some cheap paracord with the core removed.
When I get to lathe I will turn some hollow fids out of brass.

I am a bit unsure about one thing which is the core bury length. The instructions have you insert the core at the cover crossover point and then come out a short fid (7* diameter) from the eye, which on 8mm cord is only 56mm !

 

 

[Mr. Squirrel]

A hollow fid won't help. A wire fid is my go to for basically all double braid, you need a longer one which you can attach to a secure anchor though. If you're really struggling it's because you've done something wrong. Find measurements you trust and be really meticulous with them.

[kram]

Have you used Sirius cord? The cover is very rough and stiff, not nice to work with. Theres no way of pulling 2x core diameters past another core through it. I imagine it will work better with other covers.

I have a long wire, it was not any better.

 

Im happy with my measurements, all exact, its not a difficult process.

Edited May 27 by kram

[Mr. Squirrel]

Yeah I’ve done loads of Sirius, both 8 & 10mm. It’s a pretty easy line tbh. Maybe try a thinner wire for the fid, or just buy one from treeworker. Thats what I do. 
If your measurements are on point, then it’s either your technique or tools causing issues. I’d suggest it’s probably a bit of both if you’re having that much grief. 
It looks like you ended up with a tidy splice though, but like I said, if it’s that hard then something’s not right. 

[kram]

Technique I think. Today did the other end and it was a complete arsehole. I couldnt get the core into my paracord soft fid, so took the core out of some 7mm cord. I end up unbraiding two inches of the core, dividing it into four and using the wire fid on each quarter to get it into the soft fid cover. I had to cut some strands of the soft fid cover to loosen it up too. The core neded a bit of smoothing out before inserting but it worked.

 

 

[kram]

I tried some 8mm Ocean. Its a lot nicer to work with than Sirius.

 

I found a better option for pulling the core through, expandable nylon cable sleeving. It took only seconds. Its cheap stuff, I stole a length from my old computer.

 

 

The top eye done, lower one still to be pulled tight.

Edited May 30 by kram

[kram]

 

Used Liros Reef. I thought it was going well but I cant close it up, the throat of the splice has gone hard, so I cant milk any slack into it. I briefely tried a ratchet strap between trees, which closed it 1/2" but theres still an inch to go.

 

I used Samsons normal instructions. I see they have another page about used rope, says to soak it in water before splicing. I am guessing that would not help now.

 

10mm Ocean, much easier than the 8mm, however the result is much stiffer that Idont understand.

 

Edited June 8 by kram