Whipping and sealing ends

Rum_Pirate

Rum_Pirate

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Have 12 polyester/nylon/other lines of (non-natural material) varying sizes to treat the ends.

Some 6mm and some 12mm.

Do I :
  • just cut the line with a 'hot' knife ,
  • heat seal 'burn the ends?
  • whip the ends with whipping twine ?
  • heat seal the ends and whip the ends with whipping twine ?

What do you do/recommend?
 
Rum_Pirate said:
Have 12 polyester/nylon/other lines of (non-natural material) varying sizes to treat the ends.

Some 6mm and some 12mm.

Do I :
  • just cut the line with a 'hot' knife ,
  • heat seal 'burn the ends?
  • whip the ends with whipping twine ?
  • heat seal the ends and whip the ends with whipping twine ?

What do you do/recommend?
Click to expand...
Last one. With a proper sailmakers whipping. It will last forever.

Sailmaker’s Whipping
 
Heat seal the ends and whip the ends with whipping twine. I used to always do sailmakers whipping on three-strand, and used to do similar on braided, but these days getting palm and needle out to do a good sailmakers whipping on braided is far too much like hard work. I still do a sailmakers whipping on three-strand but I just do "common whippings" now on braided after heat sealing the ends.
 
All of the above, depending on time available and inclination - rope ends more susceptible to flogging definitely go for a whipping and heat seal.

I second the use of a hot knife.

A trick that is very quick and surprisingly effective is run a few turns of electrical tape tightly and neatly around the rope, then crosscut rope and tape using a sharp knife and cutting board. Don't use a hot knife or attempt to heat seal it, you'll end up with a sticky / smelly mess. Ropes treated in this way can last for years. I hear a chorus of "that's a right ol' bodge" Yep, but it works. If you're going to use tape at this time of the year, put it in your pocket to warm for a few minutes before use - it adheres much better when a bit warm.

If you don't have a hot knife you definitely need a very sharp knife and a cutting board
 
All those years doing whippings ..... and TBH today ? With todays synthetics - I usually cut, heat seal end, pass a Heat Shrink tube over the end and shrink it tight.
If end is not heat sealed or is natural fibre .... I use Heat Shrink tube - then finish by adding few drops of Superglue into the end ..

Does no-one use Dip and Seal anymore ? Tin of paint like liquid plastic .... dip end in ... let it cure. Used to cover tool handles, rope ends etc. In fact you could even use normal paint ....

Just to say - that I still splice ropes ... I haven't given up all tradition !!
 
deeb said:
...........A trick that is very quick and surprisingly effective is run a few turns of electrical tape tightly and neatly around the rope, then crosscut rope and tape using a sharp knife and cutting board.........
Click to expand...

25mm/1" wood chisel and a quick tap with a hammer works well, and keeps your fingers away from anything sharp.
 
Mine generally get cut with a hot knife and then whipped with a mousing loop to make them easy to swap out. I have a box of whipping twine in all the colours so I can colour match to the ropes which themselves are all colour coded so that halyards and sheets match (one solid, one flecked) with a different colour for each job. This may be overkill to be fair, I spent more on new ropes than I sold the last boat for :eek:
 
If it's likely to be running through your hands then don't just heat seal it as it can cut your hands if you leave sharp bits.
Common whipping is very quick and easy, or if it's stranded line a back splice is nice unless you need to run it through a block.
I like the idea of heat shrink though!

(On tugs we never heat seal rope, it's always whipped - and apart from towing and mooring lines we almost exclusively use natural fibre ropes!)
 
roaringgirl said:
Hot knives are expensive and require high AC power. Chef's blowtorch is cheap and does a good job of melting the end. Then I stitch-whip.

What else are you going to do on long passages?
Click to expand...

I thought the price of an official hot knife was ridiculous at £100 and the gas powered portable hot knives aren't up to much. I sharpened the end of an old soldering iron tip to a knife shape and use it from the inverter when not on shore power. 30W hot knife takes 50W/4A from the batteries for about 5 minutes so quite a quick and easy job.
 
Rum_Pirate said:
Have 12 polyester/nylon/other lines of (non-natural material) varying sizes to treat the ends.

Some 6mm and some 12mm.
Click to expand...
It also depends upon rope construction. Whip 6mm braided rope? :confused: If you need a passtime maybe.
OTOH I'd definitely whip 3- or 12- strand ropes, in particular with larger diameters, if they unravel and there is a bit of shaking it's quick to lose a meter of rope.
 
I can only share what I do…

Electricians tape round the line and then cut and heat seal with a little turbo lighter. (If you’re careful you don’t burn the line.) Remove tape and heat again and round off any sharp edges with wet fingers. Then apply a whipping. I always used to put a simple whipping on but nowadays I invariably use a sailmakers whipping. Getting the palm and needles out isn’t exactly a chore and now we’re living onboard time isn’t an issue.

To the OP. “ Doug, if you supply the beers I’ll sit and whip them. I quite enjoy it, but you’ll have to wait a few weeks yet.”
 
If you’re going to heat seal with a hot knife make sure the end doesn’t spread out….it can get caught it a sheave at the top of the mast, or somewhere else awkward, giving you a headache.

For what it’s worth I whip and then cut and then heat seal being careful not to damage the whipping.
 
Refueler said:
All those years doing whippings ..... and TBH today ? With todays synthetics - I usually cut, heat seal end, pass a Heat Shrink tube over the end and shrink it tight.
If end is not heat sealed or is natural fibre .... I use Heat Shrink tube - then finish by adding few drops of Superglue into the end ..

Does no-one use Dip and Seal anymore ? Tin of paint like liquid plastic .... dip end in ... let it cure. Used to cover tool handles, rope ends etc. In fact you could even use normal paint ....

Just to say - that I still splice ropes ... I haven't given up all tradition !!
Click to expand...
I still have some dip and seal on board but have to 'water' it down with thinners or acetone to make it usable now days. I haven't tried heat shrink tube yet so will have to get some.

There is something about a nicely whipped rope end, and if I have time will do so.

As all my ropes are synthetic, I use a turbo lighter over the end to seal, regardless of how I 'whip' the end.
 
I keep a couple of these on board for sealing the ends of lines

41F2-pJAM4L._AC_SX425_.jpg


A bit of heat shrink to finish off.
 
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