Page 139 - The Complete Rigger’s Apprentice

Sta-Set-X Splice length is the rope diameter in sixteenths, expressed
So much for the exotics. Now we come to what used in inches. So a ⁄16-inch rope would have a mark
7
to be my favorite halyard material, Sta-Set-X. As 7 inches from the end.) Measure the eye circumfer-
I mentioned in Chapter 2 (page 23), Sta-Set-X ence you want. Pull the core out on the far side of
stretches less than double braid and costs almost the eye. This will be easier to do than with other
exactly the same. It’s also more UV-resistant, as the cored ropes, but be careful not to disturb the gauze.
core takes all the load, shaded by the cover. And it’s Make sure the cover is smooth. Using a felt-tip pen,
actually easier to splice, once you get the hang of it. mark the core lightly where it exits the cover.
In our shop, it has been eclipsed by VPC, another
New England product, which is a blend of Vectran Gauze Removal Pull extra core out and make a
and a polyolefin filler. This rope stretches signifi- second mark on it eight diameters, or half the cover
cantly less than X, and takes a standard core-to-core tail length, farther from the end than the first mark
splice. But it is still hard to beat X as a good value, on the core. Make this second mark a heavy one,, to
so here is the splice. get the ink to penetrate through the gauze.
The next step is to remove the gauze from the
Setting Up For yacht diameter ropes, make your length of the core that will form the bury and the
Butterfly about 8 feet from the end. Balance the eye circumference. The bury length will be naked
rope. As with core-to-core rope, this rope has all the because the uncovered fibers will grip better than
strength in the core, and isn’t balanced at the fac- covered ones would. The eye length will be naked
tory, so you need to be sure of the balance now. One because uncovered fibers will flatten out and resist
thing that is very different about this rope is that the chafe better than covered ones would.
core is wrapped in two helical layers of gauze; try to Lay the rope on a firm, flat surface. With a razor
keep them intact. knife, slit through the gauze layers for about two
Once the rope is balanced, make a mark on the inches on either side of the second mark (Figure
cover 16 diameters from the end of the core. (That 4-18B). Don’t worry about the fibers inside; as long

A

core mark #1

core mark #2
B

Figure 4-18A-C. Sta-Set-X Splice. Mark the core
(A). Make a second mark on the core and slit the
gauze (cutting with, not across, the core fibers, so as
not to damage them) one inch either side of the mark. C
(B) Strip the gauze from the second mark to the core
end (C).

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