Double braid rope eye splice woes

Mar 26, 2011
3,402
Corsair F-24 MK I Deale, MD
The core slipped out. You need to lock stitch the bury or whip the throat, same as splicing hollow core.

I've see this before, on boats and on lines that were put in the washing machine.
 
Oct 2, 2008
3,807
Pearson/ 530 Strafford, NH
The core slipped out. You need to lock stitch the bury or whip the throat, same as splicing hollow core.

I've see this before, on boats and on lines that were put in the washing machine.
My wife made some bags with phifertex (spell check please) and we throw them in the washer. Mine are either whipped or lock stitched on all splices.
 
Jun 9, 2008
1,771
- -- -Bayfield
I splice lines all the time. Usually Samson and it is easy to do with their fids and pusher tools. The photo looks like you either didn't measure properly, or you didn't pull the core inside the cover all the way. You wouldn't have an exit point at the top of the eye, but rather where the core and the cover junction. As mentioned, I wouldn't use an eye splice for sheets. A bowline know or double end stop knot is better, if the grommet in the clew of the sail permits (for the second knot suggestion).
 
Nov 15, 2014
135
Catalina 30T 5830 Green Bay
Back in 2015 those were some of my first splices. They were lock stitched. I’ve come a long way since then. Here’s a couple tips:
1) I have Samson fids, but I supplement them with size 3, 4, 5, 7, & 10 knitting needles (blunt end cut off.
2) When burying the core, I use a fid one or 2 sizes smaller than the rope. This is key, especially with smaller diameter rope. The smaller fid is much easier to work through the cover area, which can get really tight. I also taper the core about 3” before taping to the fid - this also helps it get through the cover (I tightly wrap the tapered part with Scotch tape). This end of the core is waste anyway.
3) I don’t know how long I’ve been doing this, but I recently realized I’ve been burying the core at mark R and not mark T (see Samson instructions). I’ve always been able to complete the splice to mark R, but there was a sort of slight bump there. Insert core at mark T and that is gone. I don’t think inserting core at mark R compromises the integrity of the splice, but it’s harder to milk it out and looks “off”.
4) I always lock stitch. That takes 2x as long as the eye splice itself!!
 
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