Page 192 - Barbara Merry - The Splicing Handbook

end, cover the wire with tarred electrical tape or friction tape, running with the

lay of the wire (see art page 178). (Note that bare wire should be painted with a
water-repellent coating such as pine tar, but for this project that step is optional.)
Next wrap a layer of tarred nylon against the lay of the wire. Secure the ends
of the nylon as you would on a standard whipping (see page 123).

When you bend a length of wire into a curve, the strands on the outer edge of
the curve stretch a little, while the strands on the inner edge of the curve are
slightly compressed or compacted. In other words, the wire—which is more or

less cylindrical in cross section—tends to flatten. This action causes the wire to
lose strength. Service acts like a corset of sorts, maintaining the wire’s roundness
and protecting the spliced area against moisture and rust for a longer period of
time.
With your left hand, hold the end point of the service on the standing part of
the wire. With your right hand, grasp the wire just below where the service ends.
Bend the wire into a tear-drop shape and watch to see which strand from the
running end touches which strand on the standing part. This strand from the

running end will be the first to run through the body of the wire, as close as