MacGregorSailors.com

dlandersson wrote:Ok, the West Marine in Michigan City has closed it's doors.

Used to get all my ropes "burned" there so they wouldn't fray/unravel.

I know about liquid rope end thingys.

Is there a cigarette lighter something that I can use?

Next time you're standing around in your local "Wallyworld" check out line, keep an eye peeled over there on the "Notions Rack" for one of these guys:




I liked it so much I wrote it up here in these forums a while back. More like a little refillable butane torch than a standard lighter, they're just the ticket for doing line ends or for heat shrink tubing in electrical work. They'll also do light soldering. With a little pen knife, corkscrew and a bottle opener that's also handy for opening paint cans, they're cheap and super-handy aboard...And should you partake, they'll even get that stogie lit in the cockpit in a stiff breeze. Get two. I did.

I'm also a fan of their house brand Ozark Trail 14-In-1 Multi-Tool, a sort of Leatherman style knockoff for less than 4 bucks (instead of like 50 or more for the real MacCoy). Sure, it may not be as finely crafted as the real deal, but it's still a perfectly serviceable and ultra-handy tool that won't have you lunging for the snorkeling gear or keep you up all night if it clatters off the deck and into the drink. I've spilled beers that cost more. Apparently it's sadly now out of stock online, but I'd bet there's still a few back there in the sporting goods section of your local one.

I whip the line (well, I guess at that point it's a rope?) anyways, I do whip the line before I burn in the end.

It's an old habit because my dad would buy cheap rope - we always had a huge coil of cheap rope laying around in the boat somewhere and if dad wanted a line he would cut off a piece of that rope, throw one end to me and we would fix the ends and turn it into a line.

Always wrap the whip in the opposite direction of the rope turns, and make the bite ends real big and it's easy to feed the whip back into the bites. (Can't tell you how many times I made the bites too small and could not get the whip string back into the bite ) I can still hear my dad yelling at me

Anyways

With cheap rope you need to whip the ends because the fibers do not melt together very well.

My way is to whip then burn. Before cutting, I'll tightly wrap electrical tape at the desired length and cut in the middle, leaving each of the ends already whipped, then burn the ends. On the water I'll cut with a knife, on land I use an electric solder gun with cutting blade.

I use a rope cutter.

https://www.amazon.com/Seachoice-79901- ... cutter+gun

It melts the ends while you cut the rope. That's what they use at West Marine.

It is also handy for temporarily burning two rope ends together when you replace a halyard. Saves you from having to step the mast.

Tomfoolery wrote:Do you have a soldering iron? The large, gun type? You can just use one of the shanks, or make a 'knife' from a length of 8 or 10 gauge copper wire (solid), and hammer it thin for a cutting edge.

^^ This.

I have an old soldering iron that I repurposed for this. Hammered a piece of copper wire just as Tom mentioned. Works well.

RussMT wrote:

Tomfoolery wrote:Do you have a soldering iron? The large, gun type? You can just use one of the shanks, or make a 'knife' from a length of 8 or 10 gauge copper wire (solid), and hammer it thin for a cutting edge.

^^ This.

I have an old soldering iron that I repurposed for this. Hammered a piece of copper wire just as Tom mentioned. Works well.

Actually, I think you may have given me that idea. Up until recently, I just used the bottom of the original soldering loop, shy of the tip (I still use that sometimes, as for soldering a connector on VHF coax in a bit of a wind).

Hot knife is also great if your doing any sewing, awesome for sealing the edges when you cut out you material to stop the fraying

I use an old knife which I heat with a propane torch. The hot knife cuts and melts the line in one action. It can also be used to shape the molten plastic a bit to avoid the hard ring at the end of the line.

Tomfoolery wrote:Do you have a soldering iron? The large, gun type? You can just use one of the shanks, or make a 'knife' from a length of 8 or 10 gauge copper wire (solid), and hammer it thin for a cutting edge.

That's how I do it!

I use a dremel butane solder iron. It comes with a hot knife tip. It works great. Also good for heat shrink and solder.

https://www.amazon.com/Dremel-2000-01-P ... ering+iron