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Life Line? - Cable "railing" on 66 Connie

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Tekakwitha
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Life Line? - Cable "railing" on 66 Connie

Post by Tekakwitha » Mon Apr 08, 2013 11:47 pm

First, is the metal, coated, railing rope call the "life line"? Having trouble recalling the proper name for this part. I'm talking about the cable that is part of the railing of the boat. This cable threads through each railing post cap connecting the stern railing to the bow railing.

What I really need is advise on how to disassemble/reassemble the cable connector. The cable was cut by the previous restoration crew. They cut the cable to allow it to be pulled through the railing posts/caps. How can I still use the original connectors? They appear to have a compression type connection.

Does anyone know the secret to disassembling the connector so I can reconnect the cable?
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Keith W. Bales
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1966 37' Connie

Peter M Jardine
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Re: Life Line? - Cable "railing" on 66 Connie

Post by Peter M Jardine » Tue Apr 09, 2013 8:34 pm

Those are standard machine swaged sleeves. The fittings on the one end are Merriman, a trident is figured in their trademark.
On your boat, I would have thought the life line ends in a hole drilled in a section of the cockpit railing, and on the other end, the compression sleeve. Most sailboat rigging places have a machine swager. The principal of the sleeve is to have the entire sleeve compressed around the cable to provide extremely high strength to the connections on the lifeline end... so if someone falls against it or grabs it while going overboard, it will support their weight of the force of the falling body. The sleeves cannot be reused, but still look the same. I used lead sleeves with a smaller tool, and they seem quite strong, but certainly not as strong as a machine swaged sleeve.

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Tekakwitha
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Re: Life Line? - Cable "railing" on 66 Connie

Post by Tekakwitha » Tue Apr 09, 2013 9:09 pm

Thank you Peter. As you can tell I am a pretty serious rookie but a quick study. After posting my question I did determine these are one time use items and it appears replacements should be readily available at my local boat shop.

Another question... are Life Lines typically installed by a Pro? Are the sleeves "swaged" on site? I have what I believe to be the original life line (pictured) and it appears to be "swaged" at both ends. With the sleeves attached at both ends of the line, the line will not thread through the support posts and post caps. (sorry if wrong terminology).

Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
Keith W. Bales
Tekakwitha
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Peter M Jardine
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Re: Life Line? - Cable "railing" on 66 Connie

Post by Peter M Jardine » Wed Apr 10, 2013 5:40 pm

Two ways to do it:

Take out all the railings, and have both end machined swaged at a shop, then put the railing back together. (after threading the new cable through all the caps etc)

or.... machine swage one end, and on the end that goes through the railing, or whatever, do just a hand swaging tool, (not a small one, a big one) You can use sleeves like this, or stoppers.

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The issue is the strength of the lifeline.... so the swaging is important. Stops are the LEAST strength of all of the swages, so if this is what you use, two of them, put on with a proper swaging tool. The stopper type will NOT be as strong as the cable itself.
That said, I use stoppers, but I have a swaging tool, and I am in inland waters so heavy weather is not as common

If you own a sailing vessel, and have lifelines...you use machine swaged sleeves. Using your side decks on a power boat is somewhat of an option during bad weather... not so on a sailboat

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Re: Life Line? - Cable "railing" on 66 Connie

Post by Take Time » Wed May 15, 2013 11:19 pm

On another note on life lines. Go with the cables with no coating. The coating can hide issues and you can go with a large diameter cable through the existing holes.

Rob

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