how to salvage this splice?

[Nunami]

The cover will not come down any further to cover this last bit of core. Its dyneema core and technora cover. Will soaking in hot water work or putting it i the freezer? should I just put whipping on it? It cant be pulled apart to start over. How do I avoid this in the future, its the second time its happened.

[Zanshin]

It looks like the outer layer might be milked a little further but overall there's not much to be done here, it is a basic measurement error which cannot be corrected much now that the splice has been made. If this is the second time it has happened, did you note what your lengths were? Did you use "fids" or "# diameters" or another formula?

[capn_billl]

splicing is much easier with new rope. That's all I'm saying

[Training Wheels]

Are you sure you are doing the proper splice for that particular line?

[Nunami]

Originally Posted by Zanshin

did you note what your lengths were? Did you use "fids" or "# diameters" or another formula?

i used diameters. Its brand new line. It certainly isnt going to come apart, it just looks crappy. This technora braid is less forgiving that regular double braid polyester. This last two inches is two cores and a cover trying to go inside the outermost cover. I could try to remove a single strand of dyneema and pull it out. Its so tight now though, I doubt it would work. I may just add whipping to hide it.

[Pete7]

That's a bit of a shame. I guess you want to keep the sun off it given your location. How about making a cover out of thin wetsuit material and sewing it over the top and down to the pin. Leave the bottom open so it will drain. Should be good for a decade.

Pete

[Benz]

You CAN pull it out--just snatch where the bury tail goes in with a prussik and winch it apart, re-adjusting the prussik when necessary. After an inch or so is out, it'll all come loose. If you absolutely can't, then cut it and start again.
Next time, make sure you milk the slack out of the core where the bury goes into it very thoroughly before you start milking the cover over. All that bunching should be prevented. If you see it happening, stop and back up and fix it before continuing.

[Nunami]

Originally Posted by Benz

Next time, make sure you milk the slack out of the core where the bury goes into it very thoroughly before you start milking the cover over. All that bunching should be prevented. If you see it happening, stop and back up and fix it before continuing.

I think thats where I messed up...I saw a tutorial where a few stitches were added to prevent that bunching

[Zanshin]

@nunami - I splice my lines for fun. Sometimes it isn't fun, as you've found with this splice. I've gotten bloodied hands from trying to milk the final cover into the core with high-tech lines despite wearing gloves before. I like the diameter method much better than the fid one and it rarely goes wrong. I've used a rubber mallet to "tenderize" the line with partial success.

[Benz]

Originally Posted by Nunami

I think thats where I messed up...I saw a tutorial where a few stitches were added to prevent that bunching

I don't like the stitching, since it can cause bunching problems of its own where things ought to slide around and adjust. I do put a wrap of tape over the crossover where the tail goes into the splice just to keep it moving until most of the splice is in, but then remove it when it gets to the nitty gritty.

Check out the "covered eye splice" tutorial on my website www.zartmancruising.com
It's a captioned slideshow, not a video, so you can advance each frame as you proceed.

[Nunami]

Originally Posted by Benz

Check out the "covered eye splice" tutorial on my website www.zartmancruising.com

Thanks thats a great tutorial

[GrowleyMonster]

Well, the good news is if you have the recommended bury length, your splice probably isn't going to fail on you. You can leave it as is, maybe parcel and serve it, maybe also slip a nylon thimble in there, depending on what the line will be used for, and where. If it is critical, pull it apart or cut it, and have another go. But before you do that, get a couple of fathoms of the same rope and practice your splice, and try to eliminate the bunching. You probably don't want to cut and try, cut and try, then cut and cry when you no longer have enough rope left to make your line usable. So a bit of practice on a non critical piece should be a priority. Your chandler might have some remnants he will give you. (yeah, I know, chandlers won't give away ANYTHING! But you can always ask.)

It does look to me, like you didn't pull enough core out of the rope and up into the crossover, resulting in more core (with bitter end of cover inside) than can be reabsorbed into the main part cover. I am ignorant of that particular type of rope and of your measurements, so take that with a grain of salt. Could be you based your measurements, even if correct for the size rope, on an incorrect reference point. But for a practice session I think I would pull a bit more core out and into the crossover. Be careful to not disturb the core strands unnecessarily. Put a lot of tension on the rope when you go for the bury, This constricts the core and crossover, allowing it to pass more easily up into the standing part of the rope. I often use a winch, myself. Put a shackle in the eye, or a small block if the eye is big enough, and make it fast to something, so that the crossover can slide freely through the shackle and up into the standing part. This fastening point needs to be three or four fathoms, minimum, from the splice for rope of that general size category. Take a good strain, and watch as most of the exposed core just zoops right up in there. Then try to milk the cover down. Slack the line, and milk it down. Take a strain, and milk it down. Eventually you should get the crossover up in there.

You have new rope, which is good. Much easier to splice than old rope. And dyneema is very slippery stuff. Should slide right up in there. But I could be wrong. Again, I haven't done that combination of materials before. I know this, though. I have spliced quite a lot of old 13" (that's circumference, not diameter, for those who don't know!) double braid nylon mooring lines on the SL-7 class fast sealift ships, and you couldn't ask for a tougher double braid line to splice. What made it possible was REALLY powerful mooring winches, and lots of Joy. Yep, dishwashing liquid, floating oil dispersant, handcleaner, and many other uses on deck. I used to order it by the 5 gallon jug. A solution of joy and water, and an hour or two to soak in, really helps. I even needed the winches to skin back the cover and pull out core sometimes! Another weapon in my arsenal was a BFH, or Big Fine Hammer. A good pounding helps to make the crossover compact and smooth, and loosen up the standing part cover at the bury. And sometimes I passed a stopper around the cover and took it to another winch to help milk it down. You really don't milk the cover the same way, when the line is as big as your arm.

So, worst case scenario, and still got the splice done. An eye splice comes out just as nice as from the factory. Sometimes the line would chafe and part at a chock, and I did try to repair a couple with a cu#t splice, but such a splice is HUGE and very difficult to handle, so I usually would discard the broken off part and make a new eye. But eyes are doable, with the right tools and techniques.

If your measurements and reference points are good, and you use a winch to tension the crossover, and make it smooth and compact, and have a hammer and a nice plate to beat on standing by in case you have to go to pound town, you can splice that rope, I have zero doubt. A little Joy might be called for, but prefer not using it if possible. A couple hours of practice and you should be good to go, and then have a valuable skill to use or to teach to others.

Stitches through the splice can be a good idea, but actually they are not so much to keep the splice from pulling apart, but to keep the eye from closing up. You might think that just pulling more core is always the answer, but first of all that changes the balance of tension under strain, and second, it encourages the cover to slip right down and turn the eye into an unusable pinhole! It will try to completely engulf the entire eye and turn it into a backsplice. Sewing the bury prevents that. Of course it is better to get exactly the right tension on core and cover, allowing for different rates of stretch in dissimilar parts, in the first place! But sewing is good insurance against a close-up.