Stainless Eye Splicing

[tag]

I have been struggling to find many examples of eye splicing stainless steel 7x19 wire rope, and I was curious as to why this is the case? While I understand that galvanized will outlast stainless by orders of five or better I was considering using stainless steel to avoid having to dress the rig with stuff that on hot days has a tendancy to soil clothing and leave marks on neatly maintained sailcloth. However the terminal methods typically used for stainless more or less make me cringe.

Are there any caveats to hand splicing stainless wire I don't know about?

[Brion Toss]

Hi,
First, 7x19 stainless is readily-available and -spliced, but is also very elastic, and vulnerable to corrosion. That's why we use 7x7 or 1x19 for most standing rig applications. But you won't find many examples of those constructions spliced, because splicing in any construction is very, very skill-intensive. If you are interested in picking up the art, you'll find instructions in the Apprentice and in our DVD on the subject.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss

[John Stone]

I have been splicing 7x7 316 ss 5/16" for my Bermuda rigged 36' double head sail sloop. Brion's right of course, it does take a lot of practice, least for me. I made 24 practice splices before I felt like I had it sorted out and the splices were sound enough for my needs. I documented my efforts and learning curve here:
http://www.farreachvoyages.com/proje...ndrigging.html

Brion's book and his DVD were essential to my skill development. I highly recommend them both. I am really glad I took the time to learn how to splice wire. It has been very rewarding. To be fair, I have not launched the boat so my work remains untested. Soon though.

Good luck.