Who can steer me towards a good wire fid?

For tight eyes, I would get a 3' section of wire from mcmaster-carr. Heat in middle then fold in half. Will try and post a link later.

www.mcmaster.com

McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.
www.mcmaster.com www.mcmaster.com

www.mcmaster.com

McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.
www.mcmaster.com www.mcmaster.com



I would start .045-.050" for 1/2" ropes.
 
Last edited:
GregManning said:
Years ago I bought a wide variety of diameter piano wire at a local "old timer" hardware store.
They were sold in 36" sections.
Click to expand...
The good old days when hardware stores were hardware stores with creaky wooden floors and wooden barrels full of stuff. If you didn't see what you wanted, you asked, and the owner brought you down into the basement where there was everything from horse collars to 30 pound clevises hanging from the ceiling, and of course what you were looking for.
 
Shadowscape said:
The good old days when hardware stores were hardware stores with creaky wooden floors and wooden barrels full of stuff. If you didn't see what you wanted, you asked, and the owner brought you down into the basement where there was everything from horse collars to 30 pound clevises hanging from the ceiling, and of course what you were looking for.
Click to expand...
Shit, they way you said that makes me feel old.

To the op. Like others have said hardware store piano wire headed in the middle. Get a couple of sizes and lengths. Probably get 4 chunks for less than $20.
Heat in the middle for about a half to three quarters of an inch. Fold it over in half after it’s a dull cherry red in somewhat dim light. Right before you get to 180 degrees dip the wire thickness of the tip in water for just about half a second then bring past 180 to about 200 and your golden

I’ve saved old wood broken hammer handles and the like. Saw off a chunk that’s comfortable to grip and drill a hole in the middle the diameter of the two ends. Slide it though up to the bend and you can heat the ends and bend as you think is needed for a stopper.

I do the above to some. Some I leave simple. Just so much better than anything else I’ve tried. Other than straight tape only in tenex or amsteel
 
Ok thanks for all the advice guys I really appreciate it. I’m sure you’ve all probably answered this question 100 times before.. lol I definitely want sizes for 8-10mm ropes and 11-13mm ropes nothing bigger for now.

I tried a clothes hanger but on 11.5 tachyon ash didn’t work well for me. Also my first double braid splice. I’ve only done tenex so far
 
I have made many of my own, but you can't beat the fids that Mark makes at Fids and Fibers. On top of that he is a nice guy so I take every chance I get to tell people about him. If you ever get a chance to take one of his splicing workshops do it!
 
I'm a fan of using welding wire. I use 0.030" and have never had it break on me. It's nice and thin so it works on small rope, and strong enough for larger ropes. No need to heat it to bend it. I just bend it to get a nice small radius bend. I then do a doubled up fold of the two loose ends and use a bunch of masking tape to give me something to hang onto and call it done. To pull for burying, I clamp it with a vice grip. After a dozen or so splices with it I'll replace it just out of caution. I takes me less than 5 minutes to make a new one, and costs almost nothing. I think a two pound spool of it cost somewhere around $12, and I've got enough of it to last my lifetime. It's also available at most decent hardware stores. Around here I know it's available at Farm and Fleet as well as Harbor Freight, though I wouldn't call either one a decent hardware store! They're just close to me and about 300 feet apart from each other.

I may try the hammer handle suggestion. It sounds like a good one.

On a slightly different topic, I watched a vid (maybe related to the ones above) that used a piece of hollow braid to pull the core through the cover. A short piece of small diameter hollow braid (spectra maybe?) was pulled through first, and then the core you want to bury was taped and inserted a few inches into the inside of the hollow braid. The hollow braid was smoothed out over the core, and used as a chinese finger trap to pull the core back through the cover. It looked even easier than pulling with a wire fid. I'm anxious to give it a try.
 
If it was a Yale video, I think they used a leg of a “Yale Grip”. I started a thread about soft fid materials and received some good suggestions.
 
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