whipping twine

[SkwerI]

If you want to use braided line then don't forget to check out any place that sells fishing tackle. Braided fishing line is the same thing, and 1 roll will last you forever.

 

[Bermy]

When I finish a rope with half hitches, it ends up with a pattern of the hitches that twists around the rope. Each hitch lays snugly adjacent to the next as you tighten it and you end up with a natural twist pattern and everything real tight. Forcing them to stay in a straight line isn't necessary.

 

[Mesquite]

Are you saying that when you snug the half hitch down it doesn't have to be as tight as getting them all lined up. When I did the seizing It seemed natural to get it nice and tight and they ended up lining up perfectly. Then when I got done it seemed like things where probably tighter than needed.

What Is the idea behind seizing? Why should I seize vs whip vs lock whip?

 

[ruel]

Lock stitching Splices is way more important that seizing I believe

 

[Bermy]

I'm saying I get it nice and tight, and a spiral pattern emerges as I progress the work. Always done it that way, first on boats then into my Arb stuff.
I find it easier to keep consistent tension especially on longer runs than just wrap whipping.

 

[Marc-Antoine]

A simple half hitch at each turn instead of just wrapping ?
I have to try that.

 

[Eric H-L]

Bermy, can you share a picture of the half hitches? I think Ashley had a drawing but a picture of something you made would be appreciated

 

[Eric H-L]

Thanks to Patrick “TreeMuggs”, The Educated Climber who put this pdf into our world.

https://www.educatedclimber.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/the-ashley-book-of-knots-archive-org.pdf

 

[ruel]

@TreeMuggs thanks for the upload!

It's called French hitching in Hervey Garrett Smith's the Marlinspike Sailor, which is also a great read

 

[Mesquite]

In the file is samsons instructions on the half hitch technique. They call it seizing

I think that's why I lined them up because that's how the picture is. But I'm going to try your way next

 

[Bermy]

That's it, neverr knew it had a name, hubby taught it to me 30odd years ago, just always done it like that.

 

[Mesquite]

what do you guys think about this, so im my opinion a lock whipping might not allow the part of the rope it is on to properly settle. while watching the TreeStuff webinar when they where at Samson, one of the Samson guys said that the rope isn't quite as strong as it will be until it has been loaded a couple of good times. when they make the ropes there is twisting of the fibers and braiding of said fiber and when the rope is fresh off the press all the fibers are not aligned as good as they get after the loading. its a fine line because after you get that perfect fiber alignment it will start to go the other way sooner or later and start to become weaker and weaker until you retire it or it breaks. what im getting at is when you buy a rope spiced or when you make a new toy you usually make them with new ropes, and when you give them the ol lock whip or even if you get to wild with the lock stitch that it is holding those fiber from laying in their perfect spot. i know its an industry wide standard and all but im here to bring a new way of thinking. im putting my final touches on an email to Samson, i have a good amount of questions and my theory to run by them to see what they have to say. in the mean time what do you think?

i think a whipping method one from the pdf i just attached in two post up is the way to go. it holds the fibers where they need to be and lets them stretch when they need to and doesn't weaken any threads by putting foreign threads in-between their threads. but still holds things together so they dont back out over time or under no load. i also think seizing via the same pdf is fine to if you need to hold the rope or fibers together tighter.

 

[SkwerI]

The last batch of spliced slings I made, I had difficulty milking the final bury due to a torn rotator cuff. So I used a ratchet strap as a come-along and rigged each sling one at a time between two poles in my carport. Then I could milk the splice, then tighten the strap, then milk again. Worked quite nicely and I was able to get a lot of tension on the final bury of my splices before lock stitching them. Obviously the production guys at Team Sherrill can't take that kind of time on a splice but I felt they are some of the best splices I have ever done.

In the past I have been known to use a splice a few times on the job before lock stitching it.

 

[Mesquite]

That is so funny you just did that because last week I literally did the same thing because the jacket was so tight that the come along worked wonders. Since then I use it to test my splices just to make sure they can hold a load. I will just do it before the locking. And maybe that is why samson recommends nylon because it's going to stretch the same or more than most of the material they make ropes out of

 

[Mesquite]

I got an email back from samson ropes and it was very through to all my question. The most detailed email I have received back from a company. They are definitely an amazing company. Back to the answers they said there isn't an issue with putting a slow load on a new splice before lock stitch, whipping, or seizing, to get all the fibers inline. They also said any fibers going threw the rope like lock stitch will make the rope weaker than it without but in this cas they wouldnt be able to measure the strength loss. And to think of the twine going threw the rope Like you would as a rope going around a pulley. The rope will distort but the overall strength of the rope is still intact. that is why samson recommends the thread when lock stitch or whipping to be no larger than the size of one of the threads in the rope. And that the reason why they recommend nylon for whipping and lock stitch is because it's strechyer properties, so the rope will move how it needs to and the thread will move accordingly. Not ground breaking news but it's nice to hear that what your doing to your cordage isn't against the manufacturers ideals.

 

[Marc-Antoine]

So the need of the twin's diameter being about the strand's size is actually the maximum recommended and not the optimum like it's showed in various instructions. A smaller size at the contrary should be better.

 

[Mesquite]

According to the Samson's Application Engineer that is what he said and the reason is so that it doesn't bend the rope fibers to much. You are right about it being in every ones instructions. I think it is easest to just say one size and that is that! Even though its not hard to say sizes up to but not bigger. that is one of the reasons why i asked all the questions related to lock stitching, whipping and seizing.
Unfortunately i need defined lines, i need to know what i can and cant do