Class I vs Class II

[dmonn]

I usually do a regular Class I eye splice on double braid, but have read that it's not appropriate for use where the core is the primary strength member of the rope (dyneema core, etc.). Why is that true? I really don't like just folding and seizing/taping/stitching the cover on a Class II splice. It's just not very "elegant".

 

[Brocky]

The core in a Class I splice isn’t buried long enough to “handle” all the load, and the thinner cover wouldn’t be strong enough to compensate, and if the cover is something like Technora, one fid length of bury wouldn’t be adequate to not slip.
Some ropes and cores have covers that can be buried, either after the core splice, or included in the splice so both are buried together at the end. If the cover is nylon or polyester it can be melted together and sewn to itself, like the green cord on left.
The rest are in chronological order of how I’m trying to do them when not able to melt. The first had the short strands pop out when it got loaded so had to whip up the eye sides a short distance. The other two I first locked the strands from popping out by passing no.2 whipping twine over and under the strands near the throat one way, then back, going the opposite over under process so all the strands are covered. This whipping gets sewn down on the side to keep the eye cover tight and makes the whipping easier.
I start with about two inches of cover and unbraid it on the bottom up to the core, it stays together and can be opened up and spread out for only a single layer.
I start with a few strands of whipping and start gradually trimming on the sides and thinning in the middle, continue around a few more times and then trim some more, etc.

 

[evo]

You can do a hybrid, where the core is a class 2 but the core still passes through the cover around the eye, and a tail is buried between the cover and core. It takes pulling out a bunch of core, and I doubt there is enough in a short to medium eye to eye

 

[dmonn]

Thanks for the info and ideas. I've got a short piece of rope to play with and will try some of the suggestions. I'm wondering about burying the cover at the end of a Class II splice by unbraiding it and using a needle to bury the strands one at a time like when you bury the ends of whipping. I'd cut them to different lengths to make it more tapered.

 

[Brocky]

I’ve done it in a similar way by unbraiding the cover into three or four groups and burying each separately, doing the longest first and going shorter with others. This was done on cords with tight covers where it couldn’t be pulled in all at once. It starts out the same by unbraiding all the way to the core on the bottom of the tail.

 

[dmonn]

Ugh. I did a Class II splice and buried the cover a few strands at a time. The core pulled out a bit while doing that and it turned out so fugly and I wouldn't trust it for a dog leash.

I tried a few variations on a Class I, and finally hit on something that I think works. I may have it break tested to check. I modified the Class I splice by measuring 2 fid lengths for Mark R instead of one (Samson Class I splice). That gave me a much longer core to bury at the end. Instead of 1/3 fid, it's one and a third fids. It looks good, but looks don't count for much. I'll probably use a rope puller hooked up to a 4:1 MA to see how it reacts before sending it off for break testing. Just for fun I did a Yale whip lock AND lock stitched it because the core bury was so long. Photos later.

 

[Brocky]

Testing definitely gives some peace of mind when altering a splice. If the cover is Technora maybe it’s bury length should have been increased also. Not a bad idea to have the test piece exactly like what you will be using by doing the stitching and whipping.
The left two pairs are my first “successful” buried eyes, the right pair is probably one of the last, some improvement with practice. The top long eye is a cover on the outside I just spliced, the whipping could be done with some of the cover strands to camouflage it more.

 

[dmonn]

Here are my attempts. Left to right: regular Class I, modified Class II where the cover strands were cross stitched (ugly and would never trust it for anything), modified Class I where one and a half fid lengths of core tail was buried but the cover of the eye was "puffy", and the final version of a modified Class I where the cover of the eye was good. I will do a MA test on the last one. I should be able to get 2000 to 3000 pounds of force on it to see if it's weak.