Cutting new rope

[JeremyG]

When cutting new ropes I always used to cut with a stanley knife and seal the ends either with a lighter or gas flame.  I then put on white electrical tape, write on the details and then put on shrink tube to cover the tape.

The gas flame gives a slightly blackened melted end unlike ropes cut in a shop with a heated cutter. Does anyone have a better way to cut, seal and mark ropes?

 

[graham]

Heat your knife in the gas flame first. If hot enough (you will need a knife with a well-insulated handle of course) then it will give the same finish as the shop's electrically heated cutter.

 

[Glenn]

Heat your knife in the gas flame first. If hot enough (you will need a knife with a well-insulated handle of course) then it will give the same finish as the shop's electrically heated cutter.

Variation on Graham's theme: I use an old junior hacksaw (and blade) kept for this purpose. I heat the blade with a blow torch, then slice. Like a warm knife through butter...

Cheers,

Glenn

 

[AndyF]

YEs, heated knife is best....if the knoife is not TOO hot, then it melts rather than burns through

Also rotate the rope as you do it, and you get a nice, symetrical end, with the sheath melted on to  the mantel, which avoids sheath slippage.

 

[hyweldavies]

I've bought one of those gas-powered soldering irons (around ?20-40 depending on deals, and brand). As well as a soldering tip - which has the benefit of no cable to melt through, there's a hot-knife tip which is perfect for rope cutting. I use it as my one and only soldering iron, particularly handy on (camping) holidays / expos, and probably use the rope-cutter more. Runs of gas cigarette lighter fuel.

Hywel

 

[solocavediver]

Yes I use a soldering iron, only since my new ropes are normally cut at home I can get by with an electric soldering iron (one of the ones with a pistol grip and a trigger like a miniature electric drill), think I got mine from netto's supermarket for a tenner.

                  Cheers,

                          Charles.

 

[Slug]

Yes I use a soldering iron, only since my new ropes are normally cut at home I can get by with an electric soldering iron (one of the ones with a pistol grip and a trigger like a miniature electric drill), think I got mine from netto's supermarket for a tenner.

                   Cheers,

Likewise, bloody good aren't they..

I've used the "Hot Knife " method and find it quite suitable for the job, and Yes rotating the rope to get a nice neat end  works well too. I then cap them with heat shrink tubing, leaving 2-3 m.m. proud, which shrinks to form an end cap/ferrule around the cut....You can get heat shrink blanks ( tubing with one end closed off and formed as a cap ) but they are not worth buying..........but I have been known to pinch 'em from work if they use them........what caver hasn't. 

 

[Hatstand]

I've used the "Hot Knife " method and find it quite suitable for the job, and Yes rotating the rope to get a nice neat end  works well too. I then cap them with heat shrink tubing, leaving 2-3 m.m. proud, which shrinks to form an end cap/ferrule around the cut....You can get heat shrink blanks ( tubing with one end closed off and formed as a cap ) but they are not worth buying..........but I have been known to pinch 'em from work if they use them........what caver hasn't. 

...one who doesn't work for a firm that has heat shrink blanks in store???  :doubt:

Obviously heat shrinking the end of your rope won't cause any issues as you're never going to hang on it (not at least unless you have a VERY close call when abseiling!!!  ) but I had considered using some large heatshrink to "tidy" the free end of cowstails onto the actual load bearing bit to stop them flapping around. (if you see what I mean)

However I then wondered if the act of applying the heatshrink would damage/weaken the rope so thought better of it. I then figured I was being a tart and having flappy bits on the end of the cowstails really wasn't an issue anyway, what was I thinking etc etc!!!  :chair:

But out of curiosity, was I right or wrong? (about the damage not being a tart!  :tease

 

[potholer]

Cheap electric soldering guns can be excellent for rope cutting, and with judicious pulsing of the trigger, can be kept at a suitable temperature for a particular task (such as running them cooler for cutting tape while not leaving a thick and brittle melted end).

Some soldering guns come with flat 'knife' type tips, but even if they just have round wire tips, it's often fairly easy to convert them into a convenient flat shape with a suitable anvil and hammer.

 

[SamT]

I had a Weller one of those - just the job -

However - I lent it to someone off this site - who shall remain nameless - and they lent it to someone, who's brother in laws 2nd cousin lent it then they moved to dover blah blah.

muchos peeved.

:chair: