Nylon vs Stainless Thimbles

[Brion Toss]

Hi Ian,
I watched one boat go ashore because of thimble chafe, and some years later helped arrest the progress of a second (think two guys in an old Peapod, 40 knots, square waves, oncoming lightning), so I know it's possible for the thimble to kill the rope. But I'm sure that neither eye was spliced with the care and skill that you describe for your rodes. Perhaps I should amend my story to say that non-keeper thimbles (heavy-duty preferred) are only for consummate professionals.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss

[Renoir]

What is the "prosplice" method?

[Ian McColgin]

I think it's in Brion's book.

Two different ways:

Make one tuck, an over and a second tuck with the first strand, then start the other strands even with the emergence of the first, or

Tuck the first strand under two strands and then on to second and so forth.

Either way makes for a nice clean start. I never figured out why the BoyScout method is even illustrated.

G'luck

Ian

[Renoir]

I've been following "the book" in doing just that....didn't know or remember that it was called "prosplice" versus the "agricultural method".

Additional question: What does one "do" with double braid nylon which should have the old rusty thimble replaced? I can't imagine putting in another eye splice for a thimble in USED nylon...it is nasty enough in new line yet I don't want to throw away perfectly good line....what to do?

Thanks,
Rick

[Ian McColgin]

I just rethimbled a double braid rode for some friends. Thought I had the macho to eye splice it and thus wated a few hours and almost eight feet of line.

I did a siezing almost 6" long as follows.

1. Siezed the bitter end to the standing part allowing about 6" before it even got to the throat of the eye. This siezing was waht I call "racked" and I don't recall the correct term. My copies of all my rope books now sleep with the fishes after Granuaile's pre-Memorial Day sinking and destruction so I can't look it up but someone will remind me. Anyway, by racking I mean the passing the line normal to the windings and between the two parts of the eye. I made this siezing about 1" long.

2. I tied the rode to a tree maybe 20" down from the new eye. I set up a tackle around the eye and to another tree, put the thimble loosly in the eye, secured that to the end of the tackle and hauled as hard as I could. Given it's a 5: tackle and given my general heft, I had just shy of 1,000# stree there. This ensured that both halves of the eye were nicely stressed.

3. I made two more 1" racked siezings working from the first siezing down towards the eye and leaving 1" between each.

4. I then filled in the two gaps between siezings and lastly the gap from the last racked siezing to the thimble with plain siezings.

5. I put that rubbery rigging tape (siezed at the end to absolutely prevent unraveling) over the whole except the last windes of the bitter end siezing mainly to keep mud granuals from getting in between the siezings and the rode parts and causing a kind of internal chafe. I left enough of that end siezing out that should there be a start at failure, it could be visible.

I think it important to put some strain on the eye before completing the siezing and to work from the bitter end towards the throat of the eye and a siezed eye depends very much on a nice even sharing of the load.

G'luck.

Ian