Help me decide on line splicing tools

[Benz]

Originally Posted by Jolly Roger

I’m surprised nobody has mentioned the Brion Toss splicing wand, which is the best thing since sliced bread for splicing, especially hollow Dyneema. Basically you are able to now pull a tail through the inside of the cover, instead of pushing it with a conventional fid and pusher. Brion Toss Yacht Riggers – Blending the ageless wisdom of traditional rigging with modern applications and materials.

Not to disparage the wand, but it does the same thing as a bent piece of welding rod does, at a far greater cost. I find pulling works best on small stuff, but can't live without my fids for bigger things.
And you still need a small fid, at least, to open up cover strands to extract a core, or to make an opening for a brummel, and definitely need fids (even if just a Swedish) to splice Megabraid, Brait, and Octoplait.

[Cpt Mark]

as far as fids go, Selma is the brand. They have a built in little hook that keeps things where they are supposed to be. I've had/have the others. Selma. Worth every penny.

[mlydon]

I have both the selmas and the Samson’s. While the Selma set packs up nicely, as it’s stamped steel, I find they can tend to snag on fibres. One thing I had for a long time was a plastic fid where once you drov the fid through your line, the tip came of and you could draw your end through the handle. The half-hollow cone-shaped ones are good for 3 stran as well.

Matt

[sailingabe41ds]

I am so sad to say that as a sailor I have no patience for this and my eyes and brain go crazy with twist, turns, and tucking of this art you call splicing. I am also afraid of heights so climbing a mast if off the table.
Maybe I should have been a stinkpot motorboater.

Abe

[Seaworthy Lass]

Hi Docrn
I hope your recovery goes smoothly.

I agree with Benz that following back surgery, sticking with easy to manipulate single braid dyneema is more sensible than learning to splice any type of double braid. Burying the last portion of this takes grunt work.

I wouldn’t actually purchase anything expensive if you are just starting out.

The basics tools needed for dyneema work are:

- Tape measure
- Cutting board and ceramic knife or a pack of razor blades (they will blunten quickly)
- Marker
- Tape (I use antifouling tape that won’t leave sticky residue)
- Stainless steel wire a bit thinner than coat hanger wire, bent in half (works perfectly as a fid). For thinner diameter dyneema use finer wire.
- Marlin spike (or anything else with a blunt point such as a ballpoint pen retracted) to cleanly create an opening between strands.

- Sailmakers needles for lock stitching if making dyneema loops or lock stitching eye splices.

Most importantly:
- Decent instructions .

If you find you start doing a fair bit of dyneema work, it is well worth buying some scissors/shears designed for this. The ones for dyneema are available at a fraction of the price when not branded for marine use. They are a dream to use.

I have given up using my Selma style fids for anything other than splicing octoplait for our snubber and even then it is only the small one I use (for this reason I would just buy one rather than the whole set). I find burying ends much easier when pulling them through using a bent SS wire or long “needle” style splicer. The Brion Toss splicing wand and D-Splicer needles also work on this principle.

Have fun.

SWL

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by Benz

Not to disparage the wand, but it does the same thing as a bent piece of welding rod does, at a far greater cost. I find pulling works best on small stuff, but can't live without my fids for bigger things.
And you still need a small fid, at least, to open up cover strands to extract a core, or to make an opening for a brummel, and definitely need fids (even if just a Swedish) to splice Megabraid, Brait, and Octoplait.

More or less, with nothing sharp to catch on the cover and a simple way to attach and detach the line. For many applications I like them.

[s/v Jedi]

For general splicing most of what’s being suggested is great but specifically voor Dyneema the big game changers for me are the different sizes of D-splicer, the Dyneema scissors, good tape for splicing and a sharpie marker. From the regular tools I always use a small Swedish fid for holding/pinning as well as splitting strands.

Check out YouTube videos from “Premium Ropes “

[SaltyMetals]

I tried a fid set and it got so twisted and bent while struggling to pass it through during braid-on-braid splices that i bought a second set but same problm. A fid requires that not only the extra rope but also the thickness of the fid has to be pushed through the outer sleeve. I agree w Jolly Roger and others that the Brian Toss splicing wand is the best things since sliced bread. It PULLS the core through the outer case without adding any extra thickness.
Andrew

[nortonscove]

I started simple with a couple of useful Swedish fids picked to suit the size double braid. Since then I've accumulated the other things including the hot knife type rope cutter. Good set of shears or a reasonable facsimile is a must.

[deblen]

https://www.animatedknots.com/


https://www.animatedknots.com/splicing-knots

[Mike Banks]

My splicing kit consists of two boxes. A plastic box for synthetics, and a wooden one containoing my wire splicing kit. That jas not been used for years--but IO keep it nice just the same. One never knows!!

Anyway--the plastic box contains two Swedish fids of different sizes, usefulk for splicing stranded ropes, and for the braided type ropes I have a set of tubular aluminium fits of different sizes and a pusher that jams the rope core into the fid at the same time as pushing it through the rope itself.

Also it contains synthetic threads of the non-stretch kind, waxed. Same stuff as heavy duty solar-resistant sailmaker's thread or high strength fishing twine. I also have some Irish linen thread I use for sewing softer cotton and flax canvas materials and for making whipped ends.

There is a kit of sailmakers' needles of different sizes and a palm to push them, as well as scissors, heavy duty shears and a sharp knife or two. There are rings of assorted sizes for sewing into sails, as well as some of those awful cheap plastic grommets I bought in a moment of madness to knock up a temporary rain-catcher. Pretty USELESS

There are also eyelet punches of different sizes and the stainless eyelets to go with them, shackles, solid rings of various sizes to f go with the larger eyelets, snap shackles and several sailmakers drawing-in hooks with swivels, with which one needs to be damned careful because they are needle sharp and once set I put nylon tubing over the protruding points.

So that is roughly my bosun's kit for cordage and wire. Any stainless rigging fittings bottle or screw or swaged terminals and turnbuckles are dealt with separately.