12 Great Rigging Hacks
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For those turnbuckles that require 2 split pins for locking, use a piece of TIG welding rod as explained by Brion Toss in his Rigger’s apprentice book?
Hi Richard,
Sure, I have never tried it but it sounds good and Brian has great ideas. That said, I guess for those of us that unstep each year the rod would need replacing quite often, but it would be a lot easier to remove than a split pin.
We are using the 316 ss 3/32″ or 1/8″ diameter filler rod method of securing our turnbuckles on Helacious. It works very well, is totally out of the way and is easy to implement.
Hi Brian,
Thanks for the first hand report, sounds good.
Securing turnbuckles: I agree that split pins are just wrong, and I have the ankle scars to prove it! For 20 years I’ve had zero problems with a different method than described here: I tapped the hole at the end of each threaded stud and insert an appropriately sizes s/s cylinder head cap screw. The head is big enough that it jams on the inner side of the turnbuckle whenever the wire wants to loosen. To retune the rig I just use an allen wrench to remove all the screws, reinserting with a drop of tef gel when done. Clean!
Roger Neiley
S/V SoLunaMare
Hi Roger,
That sounds like a great system, and very elagant. I shall look at doing exactly that on our boat. Thanks.
If you tap threads in the holes in the turnbuckle studs be very careful when using a manual tapping tool. If, when cutting the threads, you overtighten the tool by even 1/4 of a turn, you can break the tool with the tapping part stuck in the hole. It took hours with a dremel tool to remove. I thought the first time was a defect in the tapping tool so I actually did this twice. It was such a painful experience that on my newer boat I went back to split rings.
Hi Mike,
Thanks for the warning, a very good point. As it happens, I too broke off a tap just a couple of weeks, resulting in a very frustrating afternoon before I got things sorted.
Hi John,
Interesting tip on the rescue tape. We carry it for other purposes and really like it (I once ran an engine for several hours with a ~30 psi rigid fuel line held together with it). How do you find it holds up to UV? We have a bunch of places where we keep tape permanently and can get about 5 years out of it.
The ring dings trick for turnbuckles is good, I switched over several years ago and am glad I did. Our new turnbuckles we installed this spring are constructed so that you can use a split pin and push it inside so we are back to doing that and there is no tape. Roger’s SHCS suggestion is really intriguing too although I would be tempted to use Loctite 243 or similar.
Eric
Hi Eric,
I have not been using reuse tape on deck for long enough to answer that definitively, but it seems to stand up as well as the purpose-sold rigging tape. My guess would be that 5 years would be a max life too.
Eric, what color is your sunlight-exposed tape? I’ve been using black on the assumption that dark colors will offer better longevity in UV exposure.
Chuck
Hi Chuck,
The tape that I use is white for no other reason than that is what is on the shelf at the store. It had not occurred to me to look into other colors but you are right that it would likely have an effect on lifespan.
Thanks.
Eric
Split ring pliers are a great help, and save your fingernails. I have this pair, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BL6OZ8/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Hi Keith,
I thought I had every tool known to humankind, and now you go bringing up another one! 🙂