Making A Lineset

Mark · Tue Jan 13, 09 7:11 pm

Was wondering if you could post a picture or two to show me how..... Laughing

Very nicely done.

jtrashy · Since 29 Mar 2008 53 Posts

hey nak

prep for 20m and 5m ext are complete. the splicing was a piece of cake.

i am now splicing the amsteel and having a very hard time. im doing it the exact same way and will not pull thru it self, it gets stuck half way. any tips?

when i prestretch the lines can i connect all of them together or just one at a time?

thanks!

jtrashy · Since 29 Mar 2008 53 Posts

instead of throwing all of it in the fireplace, as desired, i ate some food.

now that my sanity has returned, i found a trick for the amsteel. trim the tail that is being pulled thru and hooked by the wire so that the rope diameter is half. in other words trim parallel to the rope foe ~1/2-1/ inch decreasing the dia of the rope end. feed just this thru the wire = pull thru = Very Happy

Nak · Thu Jan 15, 09 6:55 pm

I don't see why you couldn't do all the lines together? I haven't tried it. The main problems I would see would be that you'd need a much larger area. Also, you're storing more energy in the line so be REALLY careful.

I use a different kind of fid on the amsteel, more of a standard fid. For 1/8" amsteel I use a 1/8" steel rod rounded on one end. I tape the rope to one end of the fid with blue painters tape. I then push the rounded end through the line. You can't use much tape or it'll be tough to feed it through...

kitezilla · Since 22 Jun 2006 453 Posts gorge Obsessed

You can buy some really nice fids from "Tow Me Up"...they are made from knitting needlles, which have been tapped at the cut-off end and threaded.

I have heard that Walmart sells knitting needles which are hollow, also, but haven't checked it out.

If you are going to tinker with spectra, you will have a lot more fun with nice-working, smooth fids.

Don't buy the conventional fid set for $30 though. They are too big for our needs.

Here is a picture of the fids I am talking about. You screw the spectra in to the internal tapped threads:

andrewbanandrew · Since 15 Jun 2009 7 Posts Kook

So I did the math and it looks like Amsteel blue 7/64" (2.8mm) is pretty much the same cost as the Jerry Brown Line One 800# spectra (1.9mm). So if you're looking for something thicker and possibly easier to splice, check it out here: http://www.reddenmarine.com/site/item-details.cfm?id=AMRAMSTLBLU716

If you order a 600' spool (enough to make 8x22.86m lines, or two 22.86m four-line sets), it costs 15 cents per foot instead of 16.

Spools of Amsteel Blue can also be special ordered via Redden Marine or Fisheries Supply in the following colors:

-clear
-black
-silver
-red
-orange
-green

bwd · Since 04 Aug 2007 385 Posts Obsessed

7/64 is leader line thick, not flying line thick, way too heavy.
Plenty strong though....

Wicked · Since 10 Jul 2009 2 Posts Seattle New Member

A couple of more tips to help splicing 12 strand spectra, AKA Amsteel.

In Seattle you can find it at Fisheries and LFS. Fisheries sells it from Samson. Plenty of colors. LFS in Ballard sells only gray. LFS, Lummi Fishing Supply is a comercial fishing outlet.
All spectra is produced white and then dye is added. As the line ages the color goes fast. This does not effect the strength unlike PBO and Vectran.

When splicing very small diam. line instead of a fid I use a thin wire folded in half. Take a twelve inch section and bend it in half to form an eye. Ater you have formed the eye of the splice then bury the tail. Instead of putting the tail in a fid and going down you would insert the wire in the long end of the line and push it up. Granted you must insert the wire one inch lower then the tailthat you will bury.
Work the wire up the core poke it out where you want the eyesplice. Then unraval the twelve strand that you will bury and put three or strands in the wire eye. Now pull it all slowely down until the tail comes out the insertion point.

No mention of this step in other posts but remember to taper the line. As it comes out cut away one strand every inch o so up to the spice point. This will ease the transition of the bury.

Also, most people produce some sort of lock knot before you bury the line. If this is noe done you will need to lock the splice with some wipping line.

Please go to Samson's web site and read the instructions for splicing 12 strand line.

andrewbanandrew · Since 15 Jun 2009 7 Posts Kook

100m of 7/64" amsteel is almost exactly 1 lb. 100m of Jerry Brown Line One 800 lb Spectra Hollow Braid is 0.580737 pounds, or about 7 oz lighter than amsteel.

Would 7 oz really make a difference? Or is it more about the windage?

Also, Wicked is right about the splicing details: you really need to taper the buried portion or the splice will fail at the buried tip!

Blue · Since 03 Jul 2007 469 Posts I used to be Obsessed

Thanks for the tapering hint!
In a meantime I found this place for a cheap spectra, very good price and it comes in color!

sekiller · Since 27 Oct 2011 1 Posts New Member

not sure if this post is still being watched, but do you think, the amsteel blue 7/64 could be used for kite lines? It's stronger than Spectra/Dyneema and not so much thicker than 800lb spectra.
Of course mainly for cost, as a 600ft reel can be bought at 120USD.

Thanks

//edit//
actually just noticed that 7/64 is mentioned above (and I've read this thread through and through couple of times). so did anyone tested it in real conditions? How does it behave?

Nak · Thu Oct 27, 11 7:28 am

Here's 600 feet of Jerry Brown 800# line for $106. http://www.bhptackle.com/home.php?cat=46 I haven't ever tried the 7/64" amsteel for a kite line. It just looks too big and heavy. 800# is more than strong enough. 1/8" Amsteel doubled up on itself to make 3/16" double core line makes a great depower rope though!

henjj · Since 09 Dec 2010 25 Posts Spokane

Nak, Thanks for the detailed post on splicing loops. I work at a camp in Iowa and have some slingshot trainers that we use to teach kids some of the basics of kiting. When the linesets on these trainers break, they usually break at the loop. In the past, I just purchased replacements from Slingshot. But then to try and save some money, I started to repair them by just cutting the sleeve off, putting it back on and re-tying the knot. I came across your post and decided to give the splicing thing a try to see if the splice would hold up better than the knot. By the way, using an old b or e guitar string as a fid worked perfect! Because the slingshot trainer lines are much thinner than the 800# line that you use in your example, I splice the line with the sheath on the loop to give the loop some extra padding so it won't cut through the attachment point on the trainers (see my picture below). Splicing the lines has made them stronger and they break less.

This whole line splicing thing got me thinking about using some broken lines I had laying around to make some heavier duty lines for our trainers. The lineset was from one of my four lines kites that someone skated over with ice skates last winter. One line was severed and the other three were cut half way through. Needless to say, the lines have been just sitting in my office. I used the outside lines to make two sets of shorter lines for our trainers and the inside lines to make a short four line set to mess around with on my 8 meter kite. First, I spliced the lines back together. I used this guide: http://kiteracing.com/Splicing_Lines.html#20 (In this tutorial, in the loop making section, the guy makes his loop with a lock...this seems like it would negate the need to use stitching to keep the loop from slipping when under light or no load, no?). Then I cut all of the lines in half and spliced loops on the cut ends. Again, the liquid force lines seemed to be quite a bit thinner than the 800# line you used in your example, so I used some paracord sheath to give the loops some padding (see pictures below).

Hopefully now with these thicker lines this winter, we'll be able to fly more and repair less. One of these days when I need to replace the lines on one of my 4 line bars, I'll buy some of that 800# line and use the rest of your tutorial on how to pre-stretch them. Thanks!

Nak · Tue Nov 20, 12 12:50 pm

Cool!

PistolPete · Since 26 Apr 2010 16 Posts

Nyce post Nak Thumb's Up

I just made some 800# Jerry Brown lines, nice stuff, but really does need the one time pre-stretch. Wanted to share the alternate endings I made, more like the OEM lines sleeved-stitched-loop. The 3mm Paracord I’ve used for 500# braded spectra was too small so I used 8” of Amsteel 7/64”. The two sides sewn up 2.5” leaves a 3” loop. Attached is a picture with an OEM 500# line on one side and a piece of Amsteel 7/64” on the other to show how thick the Amsteel with the 800# spectra core loop is. Not going to snap these lines Very Happy