7X7 Splicing, The Heart
 

So, I'm practicing my 7X7 splicing using 3/8" 302/304 SS. Everything's going pretty well, but the burying of the heart is causing me the most difficulty. I find that unlaying the heart as Brion suggests before burying it causes nothing but chaos for me with all the strands fighting each other. Any tips or techniques to share to deal with this bit?

Chaos
 

Hi,
First, I'm glad that you are pursuing this skill; the world needs good splicers. Second, I must warn you that once you get rolling the heart down, you can expect to be frustrated by a succession of other details, as you approach mastery. Third, try leaving the last inch of the core, up by the thimble intact, so your spike can make a good start. Fourth, keep a light pull on the core pieces, and keep them behind the spike. You do this by changing their angle, as the spike changes angle. Fifth, this is awfully hard to describe in print, which is why I made that video on splicing wire. Do you have it?
Fair leads,
Brion Toss

Thanks for the tips, Brion. They are certainly helpful. I totally agree about visuals being much better to learn this wire rope splicing and in person training even better. I don't have your video, but despite being a book learner for most things, I did take the rigging course at WoodenBoat a couple of summers ago and was fortunate enough to have Myles Thurlow guide me through me first two splice in fiber-core galvanized wire rope. I'm on splice #5 now and finally managed to get the heart in there without too much complaint:

https://plus.google.com/116402644190...ts/jFGmSCRACfW

I didn't get the heart to taper quite as nice as I would have preferred. I feel like this is my first splice that could see service and wouldn't cause me endless worry. I will, of course, throw it out and practice some more, till I get consistent and know how to work all the measurements out. I feel like only one of the tucks in this splice laid badly (as you can see in the pic) and I barely faired this splice at all, so I feel like I'm starting to get there. Heck, I only cut myself once on this splice which was a new record (by a lot :). There's only one piece of 3/8" on my boat (the bobstay), but I'm using it for practice because it was the only size that had extra available. The mercy should be that the 5/16" and 1/4" will seem like cake later, or, at least, I hope so.