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Guide to Splicing Rigging Wire
Posted on April 29th, 2011 10 commentsIn the Storm Tactics DVD, Larry discusses the advantages of having hand spliced rigging rather than using swaged or mechanical end fittings. Unfortunately in recent times, few people know how to splice their own wire and even fewer people are available to show you how to do it. There are several books which show step by step photos, but if you are like Larry and I, it is hard to learn from photos. During our visit to Port Townsend we spent two evenings with Brion Toss, who is not only a skilled rigger, but a good teacher. He gave us copies of the DVD’s he has produced on various aspects of rigging, inspection, care, rope splicing and most recently Splicing Wire Rope. When we finished our west coast tour, we settled in to watch his splicing lesson. It is almost as good as attending a hands-on class. Though Larry prefers to do his wire splicing with the wire hung vertically from a ceiling joist or from the mast while Brion likes to work on a horizontal plane, all the steps and suggestions are right on.
One thing we would like to add is, once you have made two or three practice splices, splicing wire is not much more difficult than knitting. To make a splice in 5/16’diameter 7X7 wire takes about 30 to 35 minutes once you have some practice. The cost savings are amazing, the longevity and dependability, as discussed in our Storm Tactics DVD make spliced ends definitely the gold standard for offshore cruising boats.
Brion’s DVD’s are available from his site www.briontoss.com or most nautical book stores. No this is not an advert, it is an answer to folks who have asked when Larry was going to create a video demonstration of wire splicing.
10 responses to “Guide to Splicing Rigging Wire”
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Hello Lin
Does Larry use a wire vise? Thety are hard to find and/or not cheap.
Don
PS WHere does the respnse to this message go?
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patappleton May 12th, 2011 at 01:41
You don’t need a flash splicing vice for vertical splicing. A simple offset vice mounted on the end of a few feet of steel pipe, bolted to the ground so you can freely walk around it works perfectly.
You can also drill a hole in the center of the vice jaws (a half circle on each jaw) so the standing and running part of the wire rope comes together.
For breaking in thimbles there’s some simple home made devices that can be put together. I shall post some photos later.
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I have been searching for educational resources on rigging — with your recommendation the decision will be easier!
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Not to sound lubberly or anything, but there’s an interesting point of comparison here if you look at utility companies. The guy wires / stays that support telephone and electric poles, and the connecting cables that the phone and TV lines hang from, are always galvanized steel and are always either spliced or clamped. No stainless, and no swages or fancy fittings. Remember, this is an application where they want to put it up quickly and cheaply, and then ignore it for 30 years at a time. Telling, no?
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patappleton May 12th, 2011 at 01:21
I ordered Brions dvd and book, (your recommendation) a few months back as a refresher course since it had been 20 years since I spliced wire for a living and I highly recommend it too.
I prefer splicing vertical (cause that’s how I was taught) but it’s easy to follow either way.I thought the way Brion trims & removes the excess leftover wires a bit pedantic at first but after a few goes at it,…. well I’ll never use a cold chisel and hammer again and it’s nice not having to hide the ends in the lay and serve the splice to hide fish hooks.
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Lin & Larry May 18th, 2011 at 15:44
Really good to get this discussion going. We built our first rigging vice from bits and pieces of scrap metal. then my Dad made a more professional one for us and sold about two hundred Mr Z vices. That’s what we still use. Larry definitely prefers having the wire verticle while he splices. that way he can walk around it and get at all sides of the wire.
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I am considering rerigging my boat (rigging is of unknown age). It currently has 1×19 wire around stainless thimbles with something like nicopress sleeves. Any suggestions about finding or making tools (especially a vise) would be appreciated. Maybe patappleton will upload those pictures soon?
John
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patappleton June 18th, 2011 at 04:25
Back in the olden days, (1980’s) At the barque Polly Woodside we just used an old offset vice mounted on a pipe bolted to the loft floor. For hard eyes we used a riggers screw placed in the vice but these days I have 2 breaking in vices made of channel steel I inherited from by uncle. They are simple to make and just slide into any vice. I can’t post photos here so I’ll post ‘em to your facebook page Lin so anyone wanting to splice there own rigging can copy the design.
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triton318 November 12th, 2011 at 10:38
I am thinking of using spliced wire when I replace the standing rigging on my 28′ Pearson Triton. I was looking online and saw on one website that both 3/16″ 7X7 and 7X19 in 304 SS have a breaking strength of 3,700 lbs and that the 7X19 is more flexible. Can you splice both 7X7 and 7X19? (Interestingly — the 3/16″ 7X19 galvanized wire has a breaking strength of 4,200 lbs.)
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drlang May 1st, 2011 at 13:44