UKC

Not as dodgy as it sounds.

I've spent a rainy afternoon weaving a retired climbing rope into an ocean knot mat and now need to finish off the ends.

I can tuck them under easily enough where they can't be seen but they need to be secured. Have had a look at a few of the blogs etc where there are instructions but none are particularly helpful i.e. they give suggestions but don't actually show what any of them look like.

Have come to the conclusion that I could glue a few cm of the ends alongside one of it's mates and it would be invisible and secure. Would also maybe add a drop or two of glue between some of the main knot joins just to make the whole thing more rigid.

What glue though. I don't want to dissolve the rope, nor do I want it to have tacky bits on it. Does anyone know what glue would be compatible with a climbing rope - obviously it's not going to be used to climb on again.

In reply to Sealwife:

Well carpet fitters seem to do OK with their spray adhesives and nylon carpet so why not just buy a pot of Evo-Stik? Obviously you'll need to be over 18.

In reply to Sealwife:

I'd sew the ends to the adjacent rope - a mat that will be walked on won't survive with glue alone - there's relatively little gluing surface.
alternatively, if you can get the ends to meet then do something like this:-
youtube.com/watch?v=vGtJh4lEE90&
Or if the end pokes back under the mat then remove the core so the rope can be flattened and glue/sew that to the base of the mat. More gluing surface which will be in compression rather than tension.

In reply to Rigid Raider:

I think there might be some Evo-Stik in the garage, so I'll give it a go on a spare bit to see what happens.

In reply to Sealwife:

Nylon is pretty slippery. Seam sealer (sold as seamgrip?) would probably stick and it's clear and flexible. There's also something sold as shoo-goo or shoe-goo you'll find with a bit of googling, super tough, clear and flexible, sticks to *everything* (wouldn't be surprised if it's the same stuff as seamgrip). Personally I'd consider stitching the bits you don't want to move with some heavy duty thread. Seal the rope ends with heat and stitch them down.
jk

In reply to Sealwife:

Ah, now I think removing a bit of core and flattening it might work well, never thought of that. If the Evo-Stik doesn't work, I'll find some Seamgrip.

In reply to Sealwife:

A hot knife can work perfectly for that kind of thing. Just melt the end you want to attach then press it firmly into place. If you've got it hot enough then after just a few seconds it bonds stronger than any glue. I once tried this technique to make a loop of 5mm accessory cord, pressing the 2 cut ends together, and it took my whole bodyweight without snapping.

In reply to john arran:

Ref the Hot Knife

Having made quite a few rope mats do exactly this, I use a soldering iron but a knife would work.
Heat both ends of the rope with the knife and press together if needed smear the joint with the knife. Do this
where the joint will not be seen ie underneath as the joint will be blackened.

HTH

In reply to Sealwife:

Brilliant suggestion, never thought of melting the ends.

In reply to Sealwife:
if you make a couple of neat tight sleeves, say an inch or so long, for the rope out of cut up plastic milkbottle round the two places you want to glue together, you can araldite the sleeve together without applying any adhesive to the rope at all - so it is unchanged. Or use adhesive tape. I often use this method in electrical/radio contexts for cables, batteries etc etc etc. Blue Peter aspirant....


Milkbottle plastic is the solution to thousands of home/engineering problems.

It's strong, light, costs nothing, is an insulator, can be formed into all kinds of shapes, washers, tubes etc etc.

In reply to jkarran:


Top tip - nylon thread can be hard to come by in normal shops, but anglers use it to 'whip' their eyes to their rods. Your local tackle shop should have some 'whipping thread' or you can get it online obviously. It's much stronger than cotton thread and doesn't rot. It's not to be confused with rope whipping twine which is used to stop the ends of ropes fraying and is much thicker.

In reply to john arran:


That's impressive, I might try that one day

In reply to Sealwife:
The sailor's method - and one I've used is to stitch them together. It pretty invincible, but you'll need a good sized needle and strongish thread. An other sailors method is to whip them together. Thats good too, provided you know how to stop the whipping unravelling.

In reply to Dave Perry:

Glue the whipping

In reply to Dave B:



I didn't want to complicate matters by describing west country whipping, common Whipping, Sailmaker's Whipping, Palm and Needle Whipping or the finer points of Seizings.

Glue should be fine though. Its how the thread on buttons, after being sewn on suits were secured in the up=market suit manufacturers i once briefly worked at.