Matt Grenier

The common long splice can be used to create a seamless loop of stranded wire rope. The splice is most easily understood through the diagram below, which shows a splice using 7 strand wire rope. The gray box represents the “core space” of the cable, or the tubular space in the center of the cable where the core strand sits. The black lines at each end of the graphic represent the original core strand of the cable. The red lines refer to the six outer strands of one cable end, while the blue lines refer to the six outer strands of another cable end. As you can see, the long splice involves the elimination of a section of the original core of the cable. That section of core is replaced in turns by the various outer strands. This is done over a long distance in order to maintain the integrity of the cable throughout the splice. One challenge of this process is that the preformed spirals of the outer strands must be worked straight in order for them to sit properly in the core of the cable.

The video below is not for educational purposes and focuses mostly on the final stages of the splice where the ends of the strands are “rolled” into the core space of the cable. The cable in the video was used to create a grommet drive for a theatrical turntable. To learn more, see Matt’s portfolio.

If you would like to receive instructions on how to execute the long splice, please send an email using the contact form.