There is this rope end sealing technique using superglue instead of fusing it. I think people use it on rope materials that wouldn’t fuse well, but it should work on nylon or polyester just as well, I think. I haven’t tried it yet. Would anyone have any experiences with it to share (e.g. would superglue be the adhesive of choice - it’s thin which is probably good for penetrating fibres, but wouldn’t it be a little stiff when set)?
If you are sealing rope on a regular basis, using superglue could start to get costly. It doesn’t keep well in bulk and so tends to get sold in teeny tiny single-use tubes.
Late to the discussion, but Roo’s point about frequency
is good : I don’t know … , but there is special “liquid whipping”
goop that might serve also for the light-duty fusing of ends
which I think is the point here? (I only know of some of the
play ropes I inherited … being so whipped, and being nice
in the non-bulky sure termination.
ANNND, this stuff is likely a bad thing to inhale.
Did anyone have any luck with other types of glue, other than cyanoacrylate/superglue, for practical sealing, not necessarily decorative? Also, electrical shrink tubing has been advised, but I’m not sure if they will last.
One of the neat ways to seal the end(s) of rope or cord that I employ is to first wrap the end(s) with tape, usually of the masking variety. Then I will cut the end squarely through the tape to eliminate potential fraying. At this point I have the options of melting the ends, if meltable or sealing it with some adhesive. If one is in a hurry and only doing a few, then I would chose “super glue”. The tape keeps it neat and at the end, only migrating a bit into the core and sleeve ( if that is the construction). I can then remove the tape or not.
The above is for end sealing, not splicing, although it might work as well. I just have never worked it that way.
Aside from super glue there are other solutions to be tried. I have used a product called “Modpodge” (which I believe is some kind of pv glue. It smells similar.).
Heat shrink tubing, if applied well, will last a long time through rough use. It is applied to climbing rope ends frequently, although the rope ends are melted also.
SS
Right, and it would be on the order of Elmer’s glue.
(And I’ve some “Tacky” glue of like composition.)
Heat shrink tubing, if applied well, will last a long time through rough use. It is applied to climbing rope ends frequently, although the rope ends are melted also.And like a good moderate length whipping it can stiffen the line enough to be an effective (--when happens!) stopper in a knot --not to depend upon it, but it might come into play sometime! (In non-critical uses, I do sometimes stuff just a pretty-rigid-whipped tail to be nipped, say of the hitching line in a [i]Lapp bend[/i].)
There is also another curiosity, which I’ve never used, but seems to be widely available - heat shrink tubes lined with hot-glue adhesive. I’ll try it once I get my hands on it - may be an ideal solution to rope ends’ sealing (you never know untill you try…).
I’m wondering how those tubes would do as a splicing… ?
You won’t untie those !
i hold a cord end with a clothes peg near a flame,
then pull the cord through the clothes peg hole,
including pausing for 3 seconds (3mm polyester cord) with the melted end just inside the level of the clothes peg face,
then yanking it out.
this has evolved to just pulling the melted end through the peg,
and then again with the cord rolled 90 deg.,
which smooths the sides that have been pinched a bit by the clothes peg profile.
in the same way as knotme discussed,
i join ends with lighter or candle, and just put the two ends together,
then have had success with neatening the join using pliers
pic:
my clothes peg (reva australia),
3mm v.b cord finished end,
joined ends shaped by pliers,
and my igkt scale / colour card !
I just discovered flameless whipping. I have this 0.7 mm low-stretch, braided polyester cord (MBS of some 10 kgf) - I think made as a radio dial string. I started tying the Constrictor url=https://archive.org/details/TheAshleyBookOfKnots/page/n224/mode/1up?view=theater[/url] - can be tied really fast by flipping a loop over the rope end - or the #1253 - with 3 wraps around the rope - on small rope ends, snugging it tightly by pulling the ends with two screwdrivers in Marlinspike(?) hitches, cutting the ends of the twine short, and trimming the rope end bit closer to the whippings. I was rubbing some universal UHU glue around whipping and at the tip of the finished rope end for good measure, but it may not be necessary.
Would a cheap nitrocellulose transparent nail polish (diluted with acetone?) work for finishing rope ends?
great result !
good idea,
not that i know my nail polishes,
i think it’d go well on the trimmed end of a constrictor knotted taper
the fumes would kill me
but slower drying? easier to manage that a tube of superglue,
and there’s the type of nail polish, not sure of names, that sets softer
my new favorite thing - superglue stored in the fridge - not that i use it for cord stuff at the moment - but lately car plastic, and magnets on my glasses to stop dropping them!, … and goodness knows what else, now that the tube doesn’t go off after opening. sitting it in a bottle