Has "Practical Sailor" tested the various brands of swageless fittings, and if so, does anyone know which brand they preferred? ----- Original Message ----- From: <Wilsometer@aol.com> To: <southisland2@earthlink.net>; <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Saturday, November 29, 2003 1:54 PM Subject: standing rigging In a message dated 11/28/03 8:28:05 PM, southisland2@earthlink.net writes:
Does any one have experience with different kinds of make your own standing rigging, the likes, the dislikes, the problems with, the failures with certain types.
The some names are Navtec Dyform or Sta-Lock.
Mike
Mike, I have some (limited) experience with swageless fittings, and am researching them for an upcoming project on another boat (non-Montgomery). The benefits of swageless fittings are manifold. Unlike a swaged fitting, most swageless fittings can be disassembled and inspected. Also, the fittings can be reused (with new cones/wedges/formers), and therefore are often cheaper in the long run. Done properly, tests have proven them to be stronger than swaged fittings--often by a wide margin. Field repairs/replacements are possible with simple hand tools (can't do that with a swaged fitting). If properly sealed with silicone during assembly, they are more corrosion resistant than swaged fittings. The only failures I have heard about were due to two factors. First, there were some failures that occurred in the first generation of fittings due to bad metals. I believe this was corrected early on, and that there have not been problems since. Second, there have been some failures due to human error/poor assembly technique, but the same could be said of swaged fittings. Brion (yes that is the correct spelling) Toss of Port Townsend, WA, my favorite rigger, and the author of many rigging books/videos has put out a great video on installing Sta-Loks. I highly recommend getting one/watching it if you are considering doing these yourself. There are now several makes/types of swageless terminals on the market. Here are several that I know of: 1) Sta-Lok: Uses a wedge and former-cup in assembly--care must be taken that the individual wires (unlayed) are spread evenly around the cone, and that none of them slip into the slot in the cone during assembly. Around for a long time, and regarded as one of the best. Different wedges are available for standard 1x19 wire, Dyform 1x19 (Dyform wire is 'square' in section while standard is round), and 7x19. 2) Norseman: Similar to Sta-Lok, the Norseman fitting has also been around for quite a while. There was, I believe, a problem early in production with a bad batch of metal, but I haven't heard of any problems since. If I recall correctly, the Norseman only uses the cone (wedge) and no former. It too is available for all three types of wire. 3) Haynes Hi-Mod: Again, similar to the Sta-Lok, but incorporates a wedge/cone with individual notches for each strand of wire. This looks as if it would be much easier to assemble, as the most difficult step is keeping the wires evenly spaced and out of the 'crack' during assembly. I haven't researched these thoroughly, but intend to soon. 4) Sun-Cor: I haven't seen these yet, but apparently they are much easier to use as the wire is left intact (you don't have to unlay) with a cone/wedge slid over. The resulting 'squeeze' is more akin to that of a swaged fitting than those above. It would be interesting to see more data on these, as the installation is incredibly simple. My suspicion is that they might not be quite as strong. If/when I learn more, I will post findings. Scott, M15 #478 'bebe'