Line Finishing

When you are on the beach making repairs... how do you all finish the ends of your rope so that they do not fray? In the shop of course we use a rope gun, and in a pinch a lighter. But out on the beach there isn't power and the wind is blowing.

Simple question... tough answer?

One of the guys in our fleet has a butane mini-torch with a cutting point. Like a portable soldering iron, powered by a mini-butane cylinder. Works great, even when windy.
http://www.e-sci.com/jensen/RENDER/1/71/390/4190.html

I always have a couple of the disposable gas fireplace/campfire/lantern lighters with me.
They need shielding from a high wind, but you can't burn your fingers.
If the line is often going to be fed through a block or a cleat,
I pull back the cover and trim the core an inch short and fuse it tight,
then I push the cover out and fuse it tight.
This puts a slight taper in the tip, which makes it feed easier when rigging.
For a dead end, I just fuse it into a big ball.

You can also use the lighter that came with your car....

I have a cinch tool, when on the beach I cinch them and then finish them when I get home.

Murrays used to carry a chemical whipping product where you just dipped the tip in and it sealed the tip like glue...

Got my trusty Zippo lighter. Holds up to pretty strong wind.

I carry a roll of plastic electrical tape. When I need to cut a line I wrap it tightly over the spot I'm going to cut, and cut down the middle. This has always held up until I got home and was able to heat the end.

I used to use a small blow torch and an old knife, which I would heat red hot.
I now have a gas heat knife which is refueled the same as a gas lighter. It is about the same size as a large pen.

Unless the line is too small I serve the ends with waxed whipping line that is kept in a small spare parts and bits bag on board (shackles, clevis pins, split rings, etc.). I must be the only one that does it the old fashioned way. Anything under 1/4" o.d. is kind of impractical to whip. That's when I burn 'em with the Bic. That doesn't work well every time.

I wonder how many people know how to whip lines. I only know because I went to sailing camp when I was a kid.

I didn't know how about line whipping but there is an instruction page at boats.com. Maybe I'll try it in the future.
http://boats.com/content/default_detail.jsp?contentid=7593
Jack

Jack,
I think whipping works best with three-ply rope, natural fibers.

With braided, covered line, weird chemical composition, burning is the best way. That's why people don't whip any more.

But it is still nice to know how to do things the old way.

I like the technique of wrapping the line with electrical or duct tape prior to cutting in the center. If you are sailing immediately, you can then usually melt the concentrated newly-cut end with a butane fireplace/grill lighter sufficiently to prevent fraying until you can do a neater job later.

If you are in a wind sheltered location you can get quite artistic with the molten glob at the end, either allowing it to harden as a stopper glob or drawing it out to a hard point by twisting it against a cooler metal surface. The molten rope glob takes a surprisingly long time to cool and will preferentially drip onto exposed skin if allowed. I have developed the habit of ALWAYS licking my fingers before touching a formed end and can form whatever final shape I want with the pre-application of sufficient spit.

With some of the newer, high-tech line (like Spectra) burning doesn't work, they don't melt. For those, I keep a little can of West Marine's Whip-it. It comes with a little brush inside, like rubber cement on steroids. A tiny can will last for years and is quite handy for painting knots you don't want to slip.

Mike B.
N6.0na #282

Mary,

Perhaps it's because the sailing season is so short here in Vermont and I tend to tinker with the boat when it's not in the water, but I use a combination of a fused end AND whipping on all lines of 1/4" or larger diameter. A heat fused end may be perfectly adequate in most situations, but the whipped end gives it a nice nautical look.

I'm using a lot of the small Vectran and it's a pain to do anything with. I've been wrapping the end with tape,cutting it and then a few drops of super glue and so far so good.

Have Fun
Mike

The Vectran is the worst to finish without a cover.
It just turns to ash when you heat it.
I use a similar glue method.
I put a 1" long piece of heatshrink tubing over the line first,
then squirt urethane glue(marine GOOP brand) inside the end,
slide the tubing over the end and heat it.
The tubing squeezes the glue into the fiber of the line and solidifies it.
The tubing usually falls off later, but the end stays solid.

The superglue sounds like a great idea too.

What is heat-shrink tubing and what is it made of and where do you get it and is it tubing that comes in different sizes or what? I am trying to picture it.

Heat shrink tubing is made to seal electrical wire connections. It comes in all sizes and should be available at most hardware stores. Probably at West Marine also. It's just a plastic tube that shrinks when you apply heat. I bet that's why it's call what they do .
Jack

Mary,
Radio Shack is a good source.
They have little bags with different sizes and colors, usually 1 inch long pieces.
It only takes a lighter or a match to gently heat it enough to draw up.
It usually shrinks to half the "cold" size.
When jack says "all sizes", he isn't kidding.
I have seen it in 6" diameter and 8 feet long.