Page 215 - The Complete Rigger’s Apprentice

sure you have the correct strands (the point of the in Figure 6-25. Again, keep tension on the strand,
spike should come out where #6 went in), and then keep the strand in front of the spike, and let the
roll back. Separate strand #1 from the bundle— spike push the strand ahead.
it’s to the right of the space vacated by #6. Pass it Now enter the spike under the two strands that
once counterclockwise around the standing part as correspond to the shaded strands in Figure 6-27.
before, but this time tuck from the tail, or far side, Be sure that the point comes out in the same space
to the near side of the standing part (with the lay). that it did for #1. Separate end #2, the next one to
All subsequent strands are also tucked from tail side the right in the bundle; pass it around once counter-
to standing side. Strand #6 was an oddity in more clockwise; and tuck it under the two strands from
than one way. tail side to standing side. Roll it home.
Pull the slack out of #1, and leaving the spike Enter under one strand, as in Figure 6-28. The
in the way it was entered, roll the strand home as point still comes out in the same place that it did
for strands #1 and #2. Separate strand #3 from the
tail, tuck it in, and roll it home. All three strands
should now be going cleanly into the same space
and coming out under separate, adjacent strands in
the standing part.

The Heart
You’re probably warming up to the tuck-and-roll
procedure, so I hate to interrupt, but we must now
deal with the heart. You can see it exposed in the
tail and in the middle of the standing part. The
common procedure is to cut the heart out of the
Figure 6-27. Enter the spike under two strands. The
point should come out in the same place as for #1. tail at the outset, but you are going to lay it along-
Separate strand #2, pass it around counterclockwise, side the heart in the standing part. The idea here
tuck from tail side to standing side, and roll home. is this: When you introduce six strands into a con-
figuration that already has six strands very nicely
arranged around a heart, hollow spaces result. By
fattening up the interior with an extra heart, you
get a firmer splice that won’t distort under extremes
of loading.
Separate the tail’s fiber heart from the remain-
ing two strands and unlay it into its three compo-
nents. If you’re working with a wire heart—not
shown—divide it into four or five parts. You are
unlaying the heart’s tail components to be able to
wrap it more easily around the heart in the standing
part. Enter the spike into the same space that #6
went into, but put the spike under only one strand
(Figure 6-29). Roll the spike ahead as far as it will
Figure 6-28. Enter the spike under one strand only, so
that the point again comes out in the same space as easily go—and then a little farther. This action will
it did for strands #1 and #2. Separate out strand #3, pull the strand the spike is under slightly away
pass it around, tuck, and roll home. from its fellows, leaving a little space. Pull the heart
(all its loose parts) down firmly into this space, so

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