changing sheaves on masthead problem

[dancamp]

one more question Saildog? what do you mean by "attatching a cover to the bottom end of the halyard" to beef it up? What sort of cover?
thanks again

[jbondy]

Originally Posted by sailingdog

Dan-

6mm T900 has a breaking load of 4400 lbs, the same as most 3/8" polyester double braids. You could switch to that and if you want the line a bit thicker to handle easily, you could have a cover attached to the bottom end of the halyard.

6 mm or 1/4" 7x19 316 stainless wire has about the same breaking load as 6mm T-900.

That's the compound rope halyard I suggested above! Works great.

[sailingdog]

Basically, they'll be covering the bottom portion of the rope with a polyester braid, similar to the outer layer of a normal polyester double braid line. This makes the line effectively thicker—allowing it to be used in line clutches for larger diameter lines as well as making it easier on the hands.

[dancamp]

thanks again.
where can I buy this braided covering?
thanx

[KeelHaulin]

Or you could go with 8mm (or possibly 10mm) and strip off the cover where the wire previously ran. So you would have a standard core/cover halyard at the winch but then just the core where it goes aloft. That's a common practice for racing sailboats to minimize aloft weight while maintaining the strength of the halyard.

HTH...

[sailingdog]

Yes, he could go with 10 mm and the core is probably only 6mm in diameter.

Originally Posted by KeelHaulin

Or you could go with 8mm (or possibly 10mm) and strip off the cover where the wire previously ran. So you would have a standard core/cover halyard at the winch but then just the core where it goes aloft. That's a common practice for racing sailboats to minimize aloft weight while maintaining the strength of the halyard.

HTH...

Many riggers carry this type of product, especially if they cater to the racing crowd.

Originally Posted by dancamp

thanks again.
where can I buy this braided covering?
thanx

[dancamp]

Okay, my final solution is to buy 1/4 in. T-900 for my halyards (which fit perfectly inside the sheaves) and add a double braided wrapping at the ends for tying them off.
Once again, I deeply appreciate all the help that came from this wonderful forum. Hope this sort of help never ends.

[rocinante33]

Another factor here that hasn't been mentioned is that the sheaves may have burrs or grooves from years of wire halyard chafe. I think you should pull the sheaves out.... they need to be serviced anyway. A local machine shop can turn those sheaves for a very nominal fee. It would be a simple job for them. They can remove any burrs and also expand the grove to fit your new all-line halyard. When done machining, you can grease it up before reassembly and it will work better than new with the halyard led internally.

[dancamp]

thanks rocinante33
I should have mentioned that I eventually did remove the sheaves and filed them all down smooth to remove any burrs that were there. Put it all back together and added the T-900 1/4" line and it is all working fine now.
thanks again guys
dancamp009

[sailingdog]

Thanks for updating us...