splicing used rope?

sydneytree

TreeHouser
Joined
Oct 31, 2013
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12
Anyone had any luck or found tricks to make it work? I splice all my own ropes from new, it's mostly poison ivy. Splices up pretty nice and not too hard when new, but after using them a few months the spliced end starts getting a bit tatty, fraying/nicks or whatever and I never push my luck so I cut it off. Never really had much luck trying to resplice, I've tried it a few times and came close but could never get it so I've stopped trying. Tried all the usual tricks; milking, bending, mallet, the 'whip bury' method etc, no luck. Sometimes can't even get the core buried! I'm using the wand, tried piano wire fids too. I keep the ropes, but I love being on a spliced rope.

Shaun
 
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  • #3
washing it is something I haven't tried before. using the other end is something that I generally try to do, but I've got a habit of using my tail to lower off occasionally in tree, or as a second tie in, so the sheath has generally tightened.
 
The best tip I've used for splicing used rope was to hang from the eye and bounce it home when the final bury gets difficult. I think NickfromWI posted it.
 
Even following the used rope instructions for class1 is difficult. I have found that using a Mitsubushi PLKE2008H is the easiest way to go on used ropes.
 
Get some KY. No joke. Hang from it, like adam said. And hell yeah, WASH IT! The biggest cause of friction is dirt. Get it outta there! And flip it. Even if you occasionally use the tail end of your rope, it should be in MUCH better condition than the front end.

But this begs the question- what are you doing to your ropes that this is a more-than-once-in-a-while issue for you?

Maybe you're retiring the splice unnecessarily?

love
nick
 
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  • #8
thanks for the tips guys, will give it a go sometimes next week! Not sure what kind of looks I'll get from the lady in the supermarket buying ky and a bar of soap though!

Over the last year I've cut the splices off 3 ropes, probably could of kept using them but once they get a nick or two that's it for me. The handsaw is the culprit, I keep sharp blades on my silkys and eventually they end up getting a little nick. I always use 2 points of attachment when rigging or cutting, and have never cut my rope (knock on wood) but the second point of attachment is always there just in case. For those that climb every day, on the same spliced rope, how long are you getting out of it on average?

Shaun
 
I think its a XTC spark line by Yale cordage. I used for 4 yrs climbing when I bought my new rope I turned it into a light rigging rope or pull line. Still in use 6 yrs Since then been through 3 different lines. All messed up from gaffs
 
I tried my first splice in used rope. *Really*abused rope. I am an electrical worker and we use polyester double braid with a capstan tugger for pulling conductors into conduit. A lot of these ropes are sold by electrical tool companies like Greenlee but I think they are made by Samson or some rope company. They get a lot of abuse and many contractors are slow to replace them. I have seen some crazy attempts to fix broken eye splices! The wildest was a sewn eye with copper strands! Surprisingly it held. Anyway this old 7/16 broke about two feet from the eye and I took on the challenge using the Samson instructions for Class 1 eye splice modified for used rope. I also used some of the tips on this thread: Washing the rope, using lube, (water soluble wire pulling lube) and lots of massaging to relax the strands and patience and physical effort to run the splice home. Biggest surprise? It was was really, really difficult to extract the core! It felt like there was Velcro inside. The two modifications I noticed in the instructions was a less gradual cover taper and also the core re-inserted into only a short portion of the jacket. I feel like these modifications make the splice weak. The Samson instructions admit this but they say it's okay because the load is shared by the two legs of the eye. Fortunately it won't be used for anything critical! 5F5C5128-3BA7-45B4-A3D4-7504062E642D.jpeg
 
I thought that rope might be stored for a while and I would never get to try it out. Well it got a nice easy maiden voyage today. We did two 50 foot pulls through two 90 degree bends in each run. The conductors were three 250 Kcmil copper and a reduced size ground in 2-1/2" pipe. I admit I was nervous but the splice held up like a champ. This is a picture with the pipes indicated by red lines. Switchgear protected 2.jpg
 
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