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Frayed Bitter End

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Steve Siefken
1st Mate

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USA
81 Posts

Initially Posted - 08/07/2005 : 14:12:51

I have a couple sheets with frayed bitter ends. Although they are not real bad, one is bad enough that I cannot thread it through the clutch. Any tips and tricks to get rid of that?

Thanks!

Steve Siefken
'84 SK/SR #4654 "Nicosha"

Edited by - on

John G-
Admiral

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793 Posts

Response Posted - 08/07/2005 : 14:39:41

However most new lines are easily cut and burnt over a candle or with a hot wire to seal the ends. I usually cut the lines down to fresh material burn the ends and then use riggers tape to bind the end. It's a cheater's "whip" but it works fine for 2-3 seasons after that I change the lines out anyway.
There are liquid products to dip the ends in I haven't used them.

Edited by - John G- on 08/07/2005 14:58:37

Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 08/07/2005 : 18:16:10

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Steve Siefken
 I have a couple sheets with frayed bitter ends. Although they are not real bad, one is bad enough that I cannot thread it through the clutch. Any tips and tricks to get rid of that?

Thanks!
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Sheets... clutch? Those two words do not belong together. If they are sheets (lines from the headsail clew that go to cleats) then John is probably right and you can simply burn them with a lighter or use a soldering iron for a cleaner look at the end. If they are Halyards and of the new variety then John's whipping instructions are dead on. I have high tech halyards that do not melt and must be whipped. If they are other mainsail control lines that might be led back through clutches then they too can probably be melted.

Edited by - on

ronrryan
Admiral

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USA
561 Posts

Response Posted - 08/07/2005 : 22:45:14

It pays to have in your ditty bag a little piece of sacrificial hardwood on which to chop the end of the line after whipping. I use a craft knife (aka "boxcutter") with fully extended blade and a mallet, plastic hammer, or regular hammer to whack on the back of the knife. This makes a nice clean cut and when burned you have a nice whipping, a sealed end, and a line that will run freely and not unravel. Fair winds, ron srsk Orion SW FL

Edited by - on

ddlyle
Captain

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302 Posts

Response Posted - 08/07/2005 : 22:47:23

I once had a dickens of a time getting a halyard through a spinlock clutch. Finally I wrapped a piece of duct tape around the tail end at an angle, and kept wrapping the duct tape on around itself (past the end of the line) so that the duct tape was wrapped on itself.
Of course now the duct tape was much smaller than the line, but firmly attached to it.
And the duct tape was like chinese handcuffs in the way it held onto the line.
(Sorry, don't mean to be socially incorrect).
Anyway, then it was easy to thread the duct tape thread thru the clutch and pull the halyard through with it.
I took the duct tape off because the whipping shown above looks much nicer.

Edited by - on

John V.
Admiral

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USA
559 Posts

Response Posted - 08/09/2005 : 21:17:16

This reminds me of my father's requirement that I master all my knots and splices before taking the tiller of our then 60 year old Swampscott dory. I had to back splice, loop, and whip lines. It was a lot of fun He was so good at marlinspike seamanship, once when he needed a belt at a snipe regatta he spliced a painter into one with a snap shackle on one end. It held up his pants very well and still hangs by the cottage door.

If you have trouble keeping sheets and lines in order get a copy of Chapmans and study up. It was over 40 years ago but every time I tend to my cordage I think about that winter when I worked through Chapmans learning my knots and splices so that I could skipper in the coming summer. These are skills every sailor should know and I commend frank for pointing out the difference between a sheet and a line and the type of work they do.

Edited by - John V. on 08/09/2005 21:37:06

Brooke Willson
Admiral

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USA
983 Posts

Response Posted - 08/10/2005 : 07:24:59

John, that sounds familiar. My father took his apprentice seamanship training on board the U.S.S. Constellation in 1917 (he ran away from home at 14 and joined the Navy -- was the youngest American sailor in WW I), then decked over and moored in Baltimore harbor. He taught me to knot and splice, and when I went to the World Jamboree in 1967, I was the only person in our subcamp who could splice the newfangled nylon threestrand rope they gave us to fence off our campsites. One of the most important things he taught me was how to handle rope when I worked it: hold the strand with the ring and little fingers while I worked it with my thumbs, first, and middle fingers. Marlinspike seamanship is a rapidly disappearing art: much the pity!

Brooke

Edited by - on

John P
Captain

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USA
324 Posts

Response Posted - 08/10/2005 : 07:27:19

John, I used to do similar things. And with the Chapman books. Still have a bunch on my bookshelf in fact. I can even recall one nasty August when I was a kid and the weather was crap (rainy and cold). Back in those days I spend my time either fishing or sailing. From dawn to dusk I was in/on/around the water constantly. Anyway, I needed fish net, but had no money to buy one. I found an old frame in one of the out buildings and took some good dacron fishing line and proceded to make my own net. What fun that was. After that I tried more splicing, whipping, etc. of larger lines. I need to do that on my boat now. I see a lot of places I could spend some time.

"Oh to toil about in boat, is there nothing finer?"

Edited by - on

Gloss
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1916 Posts

Response Posted - 08/10/2005 : 09:48:24

I wish I could find someone to teach me to splice.

But for cutting my low tech lines I use a line cutting blade in my soldering gun. I bought it from Defender for about 8 or 10 bucks. Very Handy. Same kind of blade they use in the marine supply store to cut line. I have a small scrap of 1 x 6 which I keep on the boat for a cutting board (not for food though) If the cut is bigger than the line, you can taper it down with a semi hot cutting blade. All of my halyards etc. go through the clutches very easily.

Edited by - on

John V.
Admiral

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USA
559 Posts

Response Posted - 08/11/2005 : 01:27:22

Knife and a blowtorch. thats my cutting technique for modern cordage. I keep an old knife that I don't mind bunging up. This may sound silly but I really like coiling and tending my sheets and lines, a fun thing to do in winter in front of a warm fire.

Edited by - on

dhunt
1st Mate

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USA
83 Posts

Response Posted - 08/11/2005 : 08:54:59

For a quick, clean cut, I wrap the line with vinyl electricians tape at the point I want the cut, then slice in the middle of the taped area. A little flame fuses the ends. The tape prevents any unraveling during the cutting.

Edited by - on

John P
Captain

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USA
324 Posts

Response Posted - 08/11/2005 : 09:22:56

That's how we used to do it when I was teen and racing every weekend. It was quick and easy.

Edited by - on

ronrryan
Admiral

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USA
561 Posts

Response Posted - 08/11/2005 : 10:36:47

What a grand thing it is to read that so many folks enjoy messing about with little jobs on the cordage in their boats. The old master Hervey Garret Smith, author of "the Arts of the Sailor" and other books on marlinespike seamanship, was a founding member of the South Bay Cruising Club, on Great South Bay , Long Island, New York. I had the great privilege of meeting him and he was a grand oldtime gentleman, had a wooden sailboat he sailed into old age, also had a hand in founding the Suffolk County Marine museum. I think of him every time I whip a line ( and not up to his standards, I am sure.) God Bless his memory, and every sailor should give thanks for his writing. Fair Winds, Ron srsk Orion #2343 SW FL

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