One for the splicing guru's......I've decided it is time to learn. Beth got me a set of fids and an instruction book, so the last couple nights, I have been sitting on the couch practicing with pieces of scrap line. The one issue I can't figure out is when making a tapered halyard (stripping the cover off the core), how do you extract the core from the cover without tearing up the core? The instructions simply say to first pry to core out of the cover and then pull the core out. Much easier said than done! The only way I have been able to do this is to cut the cover a couple feet from the place I am making the splice so there is only a foot or two of cover to remve. However, I cannot do this without cutting some of the core. Help!

Easier done than said!

you need to move the core so that the retrieval section is the outer cover only, the part you pull the kite up with has the core + cover and the the rest only has the core. that join is the part you need to put your taper in.

So I'm going about this all wrong? creating the tapered part of the halyard is not done by extracting the core from the cover in the area to be tapered, it's done by "sliding" the cover off the core to expose the core on one end (creating the taper.

i am no expert, but i have been "fidding" for the past year or so. In my Brian Toss dvd he will secure 1 end of his line with a knot to eliminate slippage of the core and then tied around a table or similar mount so he can work/pull on the bitter end of the line.

he "relaxes" the line by mushing it together (making the diameter fatter) and then uses a fid (or similar) to "reach" inside the weave of the jacket. Digs under the core and pulls out a loop. he can then simply pull out the desired amount of core.

be sure to use fresh, new scraps of line. line that has been used (even 1 time) is 1000000 times harder to splice (In my experience)

hope this helps, hope its correct

Some line is much easier than other. New line is easier than old.

Ahhhhh.....the new line may be part of the issue. Much of my scrap stuff is old line. The piece I was using last night certainly was.

I think it can be done both ways, but pulling the core out shouldn't be to much trouble once you learn it.

Robbie D showed me what he uses for his spin halyards. He pulls out the core and then tucks the cover back into the core. i did this and it was a bit tricky. it required tapering the jacket (and a lock stitch).

That is the way the instruction book explains it. I did a fairly good job on one piece of line, but still had a lot of difficulty getting the core out. Once the core was out, the rest was easy!

btw, after watching the dvd's i decided nano-dna-gene splicing would be easier than splicing regular (non HM) double braid line. I basically only splice single braid HMline like spectra/vectran (which is easy with practice).

I was able to successfully tuck the cover into the core on Robbline Dingy Control line that Robbie uses, and had it as my Martingales (spin bridal) for a while...

If you want, i would be willing to lend you the dvd (despite KNOT (hehe) knowing you personally, i have faith that you would return it.)

Let me know if you want it and i can either bring it to the causeway sometime or even mail it to you. but note that he is using his "splice wand" and it splices backwards (pulls the slice through vs. pushing a fid through)

Yeah - I learned that one the hard way too. FORGET trying to splice old line (unless it's straight 8 or 12 strand).

i almost broke my fid trying to get 5mm 12strand, single braid (with taper) through the core on a jib bridal that had been used 1 time.

I've just used a thick needle to pull the core out through the cover. It takes some time to work it though and make the hole big enough, but once ite free it should be pretty easy to seperate the two.

Used line doesn't help. I too tried practicing on some stuff that had been used and it was a MF'r.

Hint: start with bigger diameter lines. My first experience splicing was with 4mm control lines, and man it was a pain to work with. And then I spiced the same thing into a 10mm line and found it dead easy!

On a cat, start with the main sheet

you learning to sew next?

If you are infering that sewing is for sissies - I'll have you know as long as it's sunbrella, dacron, or mylar, a man can sew it and still be a man.

yeah, you tell em!!

I was inferring that he would be doing his own sail repair next, so when I fly through his mainsail, I won't have to pony up for any dough...

Why is sewing for sissies again? Maybe it's "low T" that they're advertising on TV...

When the world ends (if the doomsday folks are right), you'd better know how to sew if you plan on wearing anything besides codpieces... Sure, my wardrobe may only be canvas, trampoline material, and dacron, but still...

That's my wardrobe at the minute, am I missing something?