Soft Shackle for Bridle Attachment?

[StuM]

Originally Posted by surfmachine

StuM, how did you make the screwdriver pull through fid please?
Cheers from Keith

I've actually got two. They're made from lengths of 1.6mm and 2mm tie wire. You can buy the stuff galvanised or stainless in small rolls for a few bucks in most hardware stores and it has a lot of uses.



Grab a pair of needle nose pliers. Cut off a suitable length, straighten it out, give it a sharp bend in the middle and twist the ends around a suitable handle.

[surfmachine]

Thanks StuM, i was looking at the screwdriver, i thought the wire some sort of dynema, I see it all now.
Cheers from Keith.

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by surfmachine

Thanks StuM and SWL, I have ordered 5 metres of
5 x Dyneema (UHWMPE) 6mm X 1 metre - Light Grey
Price: $3.90 = $19.50 incl post aud....SK99 from whitsundays in queensland.

To make the 6mm anchor snubber connections, best button style... I would need to cut about
*how long? 1400mm??
*make the loop , noose, 12X diameter?
*total bury 8 X diam?

Cheers from Keith

If you are making a “high strength” design with a button, the finished length needs to be long enough so that the central portion that is thickened because of the bury of the tails does not need to pass through the chain. There is just enough room for the two legs and no more.

Because of this, for snubber shackles I now simply insert one strand through the other, as you do to form the loop at the end to create the “lock” that you have for a Better style opening, and I don't have a central buried portion at all. The shackle just becomes too long otherwise.

The benefit of the Better opening is that the two legs don't flap around as they do with a Kohlhoff style. It is also quicker then to tighten up the loop over the stopper, as it is not possible to open the loop excessively.

I will work out an approximate cut length for you in a moment. I have not made a 6mm one for a snubber in a while (our current chain is 12mm), so I don’t have one on hand.

I will also go and review my instructions for the Button knot and BB soft shackle. It is a few years since I wrote those and I have tweaked minor things since then.
The main change is that I make the loop larger. It is easy for the loop to end up a few mm smaller in the final construction and if it ends up too small it will significantly weaken the soft shackle. Better to be on the safe side and make it a bit bigger, without going overboard and making it so large that it doesnt hold the stopper. To work out the right size I now simply double over the dyneema and form a loop around 8 portions of dyneema, tighten it up firmly and tape it, then pull the 8 bits out. The loop size is then perfect.

Keith, if you are not proficient with tying knots and haven't worked with dyneema before (eg making simple eye splices or loops), then this is an ambitious first project. Not impossible, just ambitious.

While you are waiting for the dyneema to arrive I would do a couple of things:

- Watch a few YouTube videos on how to make eye splices in dyneema using brummel locks (these same techniques are used). These skills are dead easy, but my instructions are based on having them.
- Grab two pieces of cord in different colours and practice tying the Button stopper. Once you are skilled with it, it is no harder to tie than the Diamond, but initially I found it the most difficult knot I have ever attempted to tie. I have included step by step photos and lots of tips in my instructions to make it easier, but I think it will still take an evening of practice to master it.

SWL

PS SK99 is fairly stiff to work with

[Seaworthy Lass]

I have updated the instructions for making a “high strength” soft shackle using a Button stopper. The length required for making one to use to attach snubber to chain has also been altered and the reasons given.

Changes have been made in green so they are clear:

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ot-155591.html

Keith, I would make the cut length 1.8m for your 6mm dyneema. This will give you a bit of extra length to make the stopper easier to tie.
This means your 5m could be used to make 2 soft shackles for the snubber (in case one leaps out of your hands and goes for a swim ) and one smaller one for other purposes using the remaining 1.4m

SWL

[surfmachine]

Thanks SWL, i have the dynema now, 5m x 6mm.
I have done a fair bit of rope work, can splice, make eye splices, snubbers etc.

I will practice the button knot first.

Cheers from Keith.

[surfmachine]

I have made a word document of your amended instructions, picture did not make it through? See below.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE HIGH STRENGTH SOFT SHACKLE

Keith, I would make the cut length 1.8m for your 6mm dyneema. This will give you a bit of extra length to make the stopper easier to tie.
This means your 5m could be used to make 2 soft shackles for the snubber (in case one leaps out of your hands and goes for a swim* and one smaller one for other purposes using the remaining 1.4m

This example was made up using 1.4 metres of 6mm Amsteel Blue unsheathed Dyneema.
Finished length of shackle from tip of loop to base of Button knot stopper = 280mm.
This will be used to connect the snubber to our 10mm chain.

This just fitted through the links when secured, but it needs to be longer if you want to avoid the thickened portion with the buried tails having to squeeze through the chain. I eventually allowed a generous amount and made soft shackles for the snubber significantly longer - around 450mm from tip of loop to base of stopper. If you are at ease with the Button stopper and can tie it with a short length, then 1.7m is sufficient, otherwise add a bit more and make it 1.8m (you will then have a bit of wastage when the stopper is tightened up).

STEP 1
- Tape the ends of the line to stop them unravelling while you work.
- Find the halfway mark and using a marlin spike or knitting needles*or biro with ball point retracted*(I find a fid too sharp for this), poke a hole cleanly through it a little below this point leaving 6 strands on each side and making sure*none of the strands are snagged. The exact position is not critical, as the ends will be trimmed precisely later.

TIP:*Hold the position between thumb and forefinger of each hand and bring your fingers together to squish the line and to increase the diameter. The gaps between the strands then stand out a little and it is easier to form the hole.*

Poke the longer end of the line through the hole (a fid helps, but is not essential).

STEP 2

- Keep pulling until you have a loop at the end that holds roughly*4x*5x-6x*8xthe diameter of the line (a bigger loop than 4x is needed under load, as the legs pass obliquely through the loop).*

Edited to add: If you prefer to measure the size of the noose, its length is 12x line diameter, but I find the above method better).

I now also pass one leg once through the other again about 15 x*ropediameter away from the base of the loop, creating a Brummel type lock when the loop is forced open to maximum size. I find this improves handling. I have marked this on the diagram.

- Lightly tape the two lines together near the loop to secure it while measuring
- Measure 300mm*(450mm if making one for the snubber)*from the tip and firmly tape the lines together (the outer covering on the bury will enlarge and end up shortening the final length to about 280mm). The top of the tape indicates the position of the base of the Button knot.
- If one working end is a little longer, cut it so that the two lengths match.
- Mark one working end and the corresponding part of the taped standing end with black texta, so that you can easily identify the "blue" line in the earlier instructions for the Button.

Changes have been marked on the diagram:
Attached Thumbnails


STEP 3

Tie the button positioning the base just above the taped standing ends.
See above for foolproof instructions*

STEP 4

This is how it looks side on after being tightened in a vice. I slipped on a big washer and pulled on the taped standing ends, then each working end and repeated.

The Button felt rock hard at this stage.

The advantage of having the working lengths the same length to start, is that you can clearly see if you have tightened both of them equally:
Attached Thumbnails
**

STEP 5

Decide on the length of bury you would like. Allen recommends 10-16 x line diameter on this website, but lock stitches it:
High Strength Soft Shackle

Evans has found 28 x is needed to maximise the strength.
I used 28 times, as Evans recommends, requiring a bury of 168mm for 6mm line.
I now make it 30 x so I don’t need to reach for a calculator*

Tape the tail at the chosen length and cut at an angle, making sure the black is still marked on one end.

Edited: Step 6a has been added:
STEP 6a
Pretension the soft shackle before burying the ends. Simply close it and attach it between two winches and slowly but steadily*winch*it tight. Let it sit like this for at least 20 minutes. If this is not done, apparently you may have reduced strength if shock loads are applied before the stopper has been fully tightened. Better to be safe than sorry.


STEP 6b

All that is left is to tuck the working ends through the standing ones.

- I think it may help strength if you tuck the end into its corresponding standing portion rather than the other one (Evans touched on this) and this is easy with the black marks on the tape
- Separate the taped standing ends and holding the button give the shackle a little shake to see where the lines fall naturally
- Find a suitable spot to start feeding the working end through its matching standing portion
- Starting as close as you can to the Button's base, open the standing end cleanly between strands with a marlin spike, then remove it and and insert the fid (with line inserted when it reaches), bunching up the standing line to increase its diameter as you push it though

Edited to add:*A fid that works by pulling the line through (eg a homemade wire fid, needle fid, splicing wand) will enable the tails to be pulled through closer to the base of the stopper). If a Selma style fid is used as in the*photo*it is*much*harder to insert the tails close to the base.

- Continue well past the length of working line, as the outer casing shortens a bit as it encases the inner portion:
- Pull the fid with working line through and untape the end

-*Edited to add:*Taper the end, as you would for an eye splice. Unlike long bury splices, the soft shackle strength will not be limited by the taper, so the technique is not critical, it will just provide a smoother junction.

- Milk the outer casing down smoothly and the end will disappear into its centre
Attached Thumbnails
**

STEP 7

Repeat with the other end.
That's it, you're done

[SV_Harbinger]

Interestingly I never thought to use a soft shackle on my snubber, I think I may give it a go this weekend, I've always just used a regular shackle through a thimble in the snubber to grab the chain, has to be better than fiddling with a shackle wrench way out on the pointy end of the boat.
So now it's time to play with little bits of line

[At Peace]

I make my 6mm dyneema soft shackle for my 10mm chain out of Marlow Ropes D12 MAX 99 with a dyneema chafe sleeve positioned where the chain rides. According to L-36(dot)com who has tested at New England Ropes, this design ( button knot with long bury) of soft shackle has a breaking strength of 200% - 250% of the line it's made from. I set the knot by connecting 2 Ford F250's in 4W/D
Marlow Ropes lists minimum breaking strength of 5010kg ( 11K lbs). This shackle should give me over 22K lbs (3K over the chain) having a buffer is a good thing. It just works beautiful!

https://www.marlowropes.com/product/...rand-prix-rope

I made this out of 5ft and had a 15x bury on the legs. Material cost $17.00.

[surfmachine]

Thanks, looks good, where do you source the dyneema chafe sleeve from? Can i buy it on ebay? Cheers from Keith.

[At Peace]

I got mine from West Marine, but any rigging shop should have it. If you can zoom in enough, you can see that I whipped the ends of the chafe sleeve after milking the sleeves to fit snug.

https://www.westmarine.com/buy/new-e...BoC1VAQAvD_BwE