Rope to wire splicing

mickshep

mickshep

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Hi All. Having made the leap from long keeled 50+ yr old sailing boats to a frighteningly modern fin and skeg design of a mere 35yrs old, built of this previously unexplored medium called J.R.P , Sorry it is apparently G.R.P /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif I have come up against my first query. The main and jib halliards are both of wire with rope tails, whilst the wire is fine the rope tails have suffered badly from U.V degradation. Can anyone recommend a decent book that will show me how to splice rope to wire? Thanks in advance, Mike.
P.S Where the hell do I put all that red lead putty now? (Answers on a postcard please):D
 
poter is right or at least for me. Mind you the rope ha;yard is not all that good and still needs to be retensioned after a while due to stretch. So if you want wire rope get a chandler or rigger to supply new wire and rope and do the splice for you. Or give it a go yourself. Obviously it is doable.
Good luck with the new boat I reckon you will soon love it with better performance and less maintenance. ... olewill
 
The chances are if your rope is shot so is the wire, might not look so but usually is quite tired once it gets to that age. For the rope to have gone we would be talking many years old.

We often replace ropes to the old wires only to see them turn up again in a relativly short time with the wire needing replacement.

Poters suggestion of looking at all 'string' /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif is not a silly one. Polyester if just cruising, Dyneema/Spectra core if you want to have no stretch or Vectran core if you want a tad sexier. Vectran should be very similar in price to the Dyneema. You could even strip the cover off part of the Dyneema and make them look very Americas Cup /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
I Use

Modern Marlinspike Seamanship by William P Maclean

ISBN 0 7153 8328 0

Published by David &bCharles of Newton Abbott and London

First published in the USA by Bobbs-Merril Company In. Newyork/Indianapolis

The bit on tail splices is really helpful.
 
Wire would have been used originally for its low-stretch properties compared to the rope avilale at the time. Suggest you use modern low-stretch rope. It's easier on the hands, pulley wheels and (if your mast's alloy) anodising.
 
I disagree with most of the above. My boat came with wire to rope spliced halliards. I changed one to all rope but retained the other for the roller-furling genoa halliard. That halliard has been in service for 11 years for me and still performs very well. The sheath of the rope is now getting rather tatty where the clutch clamps on it so I shall probably replace it soon. Having spliced wire to rope on previous boats I know that it is a very safe and long-lasting method which I shall continue to prefer.
 
The book I used is: The Complete Rigger's Apprentice: Tools and Techniques for Modern and Traditional Rigging by Brion Toss which I thought was excellent. The trick, to avoid stretch, is where to place the splice. It should be one inch above the halyard winch. Higher up and you get stretch, lower down and the splice gets mashed by the winch.
 
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I disagree with most of the above. My boat came with wire to rope spliced halliards. I changed one to all rope but retained the other for the roller-furling genoa halliard. That halliard has been in service for 11 years for me and still performs very well. The sheath of the rope is now getting rather tatty where the clutch clamps on it so I shall probably replace it soon. Having spliced wire to rope on previous boats I know that it is a very safe and long-lasting method which I shall continue to prefer.

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Nothing wrong with a good rope to wire but, like most things, there is better these days if anyone wants to go that way.

Rather than replace the rope on your halyad just slide a cover up over that spot and it'll go for a few more years. Maybe use the cover off another rope or you can get a range if them these days from the local rigger designed for that very purpose. You should be able to buy just 500mm or whatever. It works well and may delay wallet stress a tad longer /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
I had to do this job last year. Take the old one apart and see how it's done, then copy it with the new piece of rope. The wire will fall into place and it is made easier if you grease the rope strands before pulling them through the wires. Easy, bite the bullet and feel really good afterwards! ( use sticky tape to keep things in place during the process)
 
I looked at doing this at the beginning of the year for my Genoa Halyard.

I the end I had a new one made up by Westward Rope & Wire who are based in Exeter.

The quote was as follows:-
Main halyard with 12 metres of 4mm (7x19) S/S wire rope c/w hard eye, spliced to 11metres of 10mm diameter, pre-stretched polyester braid on braid with cut & whipped end ---- £42-28

The postage for this would be approximately £10-00 but would be confirmed before dispatch.

Jimmy Green wanted about £75 for the same thing.

No connection with the company only a happy customer.
 
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Jimmy Green wanted about £75 for the same thing.

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May have 'looked ' like it but was it actually the same thing i.e materials?

I have 2 polyester ropes which look basically identical but one costs me US$1.24 and the other US$0.48 per mt. One is US made performance based and the other Korean price based. How they 'look' is about the only thing they are really close in.

Not say you got bad stuff but being 'the same thing' is not an easy thing to identify these days.
 
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