Posted by David Sherman on Wednesday, February 02, 2005 at 11:46PM :
In Reply to: Re: Had to Re/Do the Winch Skid Plate, PicT posted by Tim Holloway on Wednesday, February 02, 2005 at 9:34PM :
The best directions I've seen are in an old book of mine called the "Handbook of Rigging" by Rossnagel. The web site below has a picture of one being made for a swaged sleeve but it doesn't really show how to make it.
Here's my attempt at an explanation: Basically, you unlay (unwind) every other strand from the outside of the rope/cable. You then cut the center strand off several inches shorter than the rest and take one group of outside strands along with the center and twist it around into a loop such that the cut-off center ends up where you separated the strands. Then you take the strands that you didn't loop and wrap them back into place around the loop, going in the opposite direction that first loop went. The strands should be long enough to go several times around the other strands past the neck of the loop or thimble. The strands should all lay neatly into place so that aside from the cut-off ends, the rope/cable looks just like normal. Then wrap sturdy tape or wire around the overlapped part outside of the loop, or for extra security, if it doesn't have to be smooth, put a crosby clip on it. This splice doesn't require tucking strands under other strands like a woven loop or splice does. It is not quite as strong, and won't stay put without something wrapped around it, but one guy can do it in the field with 1" wire rope and no tools if need be. If used with a swaged sleeve, the result is neater and stronger than a simple loop, and takes less than a minute extra to do.
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