Conference unifix::sailing

    Samson Cordage and other companies publish small brochures on
    splicing the different types of braided line.  Last I knew, they
    were given away at dealers.  I believe both Samson and Plymouth
    Cordage are on the south shore - a note or phone call should get
    you a set of directions.
    
    Recent editions of Hervey Garrett Smith's The Marlinespike Sailor
    have directions for splicing double-braid line as an appendix. 
    I don't think the fancier braid types are covered.  The book is
    a jewel if you're interested in knots and fancy ropework.
    
    Steve

Samson sells a kit of fids and instructions for splicing braided line. 
Some double braided lines are easy to splice (eg, Samson) and some 
aren't. After a little practice you should be able to do a nice eye 
splice in less than five minutes. 

    Rick,
    	I'd recommend that you get yourself a fid.  (I'm pretty sure
    that's what it's called.)  I referred to my Chapman's chapter on
    Marlinspike seamanship when I did the finish work on my dock and
    anchor lines.  I didn't have a fid (and still don't) when I did
    the job but it sure would have helped.  The fid is used to help
    get the center of the rope fed back through the outer braid.
    
    	Wayne

    The best book I've seen on marlinspike seamanship on an introductory
    level Is the one by Brian Toss, who is an experienced rigger using
    both traditional and modern materials - and it's also very
    entertaining. Sorry, don't remember the title. If all else fails,
    it is available from the Owl and Turtle bookstore in Camden, ME,
    who will gladly do a phone/mail order.
    
    Ross Faneuf

    I would agree on the rope makers !  They provide the easiest and
    most up-to-date instructions.  Samson rope is located in Shirley Ma.  As far
    as tools, Samson sells a basic splicing kit that containes all the
    tools needed to get the job done.  At one time
    New England ropes of New Bedford, sold a "Bulldog Fid".  This had
    a twist device on the tail end to hold on to the line.  By far and
    away the best I've ever used.  Unfortunatly I haven't seen them
    recently.  Good luck !!

  Samson's phone number in Shirley MA is 617-425-9511. They and
  New England both put out instructional brochures.
  
  I just tried to buy direct from Samson with no luck. I live just
  a few miles from the factory and thought it would nice to get
  dock, spring, and anchor lines as a package from them. They referred
  me to their rep who directed me to Marine Speculators in Salem.
  
  The guys at Marine Speculators can splice while you wait. Great,
  I thought, now I can see how it's done. No such luck.  Five braided
  splices and one three strand splice later in a span of 10-15 minutes was
  far too fast for me. And the guy who did them says that the little
  old lady who does Samson's factory splices can do more than one
  per minute.
  
And I'm still studying the instructions. Two years in a row I've
  promised myself to learn during the winter and haven't started
  yet.
  
  John

Gee John, you really should learn. The next foggy or no wind day, get
out those easy to follow instructions and follow them. Neatly spliced
braid-on-braid lines look soooo nice you'll get a real rush of
satisfaction every time you look at your handywork. 

By the way, the Samson fids are sized to fit the line. Their splicing 
kit has fids for 1/4, 5/16, 3/8, 7/16, and 1/2 inch lines. One word of 
caution: The eyes in eyesplices tend to be a little smaller than you 
expect. After a few tries it is easy to have the eyes just the size you 
want.

Alan

    John, 
    
    Take it from someone who's just made the plunge... Doing your own
    splices is well worth the effort of overcoming that inertia. I think...
    I sat down with my Time-Life Seamanship volume opened to the page with
    the six diagrams (all very good!!) and proceeded to shrink my ego.
    Starting was really confusing (three tries!) until I got it figured
    out. The diagrams that is. Once I figured out their sequence I was
    dangerous!! 
    
    I've done one other line since then and have several to go. The
    best thing about it is rolling the splice between your hands when
    you're finished. Neat feeling if you're into tactile things.
    
    I had one problem. I'm using 3 strand nylon ( none of that modern
    braid stuff for me!!) and the individual strands sort of just fall
    apart when you unlay (term?) the line. I taped or whipped the ends
    but that didn't seem to help. Any thoughts.
    
    Ed

    Ed
    
    The (hundreds of) individual strands of nylon are twisted only enough
    to hold them together since nylon will kink if twisted too much.
    Before unlaying the three main stands, tape the line tightly at
    the point where you want the individual strands to stop. Then unlay
    the strands one at a time and twist them tightly, just short of
    kinking before taping the end of the strand. That'll slove the
    unraveling_while_you're_working_it problem.
    BTW, twist in the same direction as the original lay - but that's
    obvious :-)....
    
    Henk (solve, not slove...)
    

    re .8
    
    Isn't soft-laid nylon wonderful stuff!
    
    Another trick is to unlay each strand carefully maintaining its
    twist and apply rings of Scotch tape every 1-3 inches depending
    on line diameter.  Apply the tape as a band at right angles to
    the line, not spirally.  If you're working with large line,
    greater than 3/4", try using a loop of whipping twine in place
    of the tape.  Pull snug but not real tight.

    Above all, you need patience, practice, and three hands to work
    with soft nylon.  Enjoy!
    
    Steve

      I PURCHASED A SAMPSON SPLICE KIT ABOUT 3 YEARS AGO. ONE THING
    TO NOTE IS THAT BRAIDS ARE CONSTRUCTED DIFFERANTLY DEPENDING ON
    THE VENDOR. I HAVE FOUND THAT SAMSON IS BY FAR THE EASIEST TO SPLICE
     MARLOW AND NEW ENGLAND ROPES I CANNOT SPLICE. MARLOW AND NEW
    ENGLAND ROPE CORDAGE REQUIRE A DIFFERANT KIND OF TECHNIQUE. SPLICING
    SAMSON CORDAGE IS VERY EASY AND WITH A LITTLE PRACTICE 5 MINUTES
    PER SPLICE IS NOT UNREALISTIC. I REPLACED THE ROPE ON MY BACKSTAY
    ADJUSTER(30:1) THIS YEAR. I COULD NOT GET ANY OF SAMSON'S NEW LOW
    (ZERO) STRETCH LINE(SPLICABLE)XLS900. THE MARINE EXCHANGE SUGGESTED
    NEW ENGLAND ROPES STA-SET X , BUT NOT SPLICABLE(EASILY), SO IT WAS
    BACK TO BOWLINS(SPELLING?), EFFECTIVE BUT NOT VERY NEAT. GOOD LUCK
    AND ENJOY. P.S. THE SPLICING KIT WAS WORTH IT.
    

    Regarding the twist splice.  I have had great luck with taping the
    3 strands and heat fusing the end before starting.  The tape leaves
    a fine end to work with and the fusing (match, lighter, stove burner,
    hot knife) keeps the small strands that snag while splicing from
    pulling out of the bundle.
    
    Walt

Re .5 - New England Ropes is still very much in business. I don't know where
to get their line locally, but West Marine Products carries it exclusively.
They also offer the New England Ropes' UNI-FID for $6.95. WMP's phone no. is 
1-800-538-0775 and, if you specify UPS 2nd day air, orders arrive fast at a 
modest increase in shipping cost.

Re .11 - I used regular Sta-set on my Day Sailer and now use it on my
Catalina. I've found that it splices easily, if not quickly, using their
UNI-FID. My understanding is that the construction of Sta-Set X is similar to
regular Sta-Set and is only slightly stiffer, so I imagine splicing it would
be no more difficult. If you do go with Sta-Set X, I'm sure you won't be
disappointed. My experience with Sta-Set is that it is very low stretch,
strong, and long-lived. 

- Bob

    Anyone out there who has instructions for splicing stay-set-X?
    
    I Just received and order from West Marine, including line for
    a spannaker halyard. I meant to specify Sta-Set (which is a
    double braid that I have spliced before.) By mistake I ordered
    Sta-Set-X which is a rather different beast. Rather than having an
    inner braid core, the core is "parallel core". Given that I have the
    line already, the simplest thing is to keep and use it. All I need
    is to do one (tight) eye splice around the fixed eye of the bronze
    shackle that I already have. Anyone have good instructions or
    want to spend a few minutes giving me a hand some lunch hour
    soon here at (or near) ZKO? I'm not sure what tools are needed
    since I haven't seen the instructions for parallel core.
    
    My default is to call West and have them mail me the splicing
    instructions, but I was hoping to get this done asap.
    
    Thanks,
    
    Bill French

I bought a fid for cored line from West Marine years ago.  

Included were directions for how to do the splice.  It is supposed
to be wasy, though I have noever attempted one.

In addition, about 12-18 months ago, Cruising World had a detailed
article on how to splice.

I would guess that the riggers at Marine Exchange etc, will teach
or show for free.

Doug
dtn 881 -6355

    If they are the same length, you may want to swap it with your
    jib or main halyard. They are begging for zero stretch while a kite 
    loves a bit of stretch.
    
    You will need a Fid. If you don't expect to do a lot of this, it may be 
    cheaper to have someone else do it for you. 
    
    Check at your marina, there is probably a dozen folks who do this. I
    have a friend who pays for his bar tab at regettas by doing a couple of
    splices before/after the races on other people's boats. Once he starts
    doing 1 boat, a line of folks wishing to get rid of halyard bowlines 
    appears.... 

>>    My default is to call West and have them mail me the splicing
>>    instructions, but I was hoping to get this done asap.

Chances are, the splicing technique is same as for braid, but certainly West can
FAX the instructions so you'll have them today.

    West told me to call their splicing shop in Cahrlotte. The splicing 
    shop told me to call New England Ropes. New England Ropes faxed me the 
    splicing instructions. It is not the same as for a double braid.
    Forrest Kenney, here at ZK brought the tools in yesterday. I had a go 
    at it last night but got the unifid totally stuck 70% of the way
    through. I'm guessing that it was a 3/8" fid on 5/16" line.
    
    This weekend I'll cut the fid loose with a razor blade, abandon the
    first foot of line and try a hollow fid on the second try. Also
    the instructions in his book didn't have me remove the tape before
    pulling the core through. The N.E.R. instructions do say to do that.
    I suspect if I remove the core tape, I can get it through using
    the uni-fid that got stuck last nite.
    
    Thanks Forrest and others,
    
    Bill
    

    What is the number for NE Ropes.