Tag Archives: hot knife

Can You Cut Dyneema Line with Kevlar Scissors??

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Just recently we published a couple of items on both dyneema line sizes and cutting them with dyneema scissors.

In my experimenting here, I happily got my dyneema lines out to find if there is any need for fuss about cutting it… there is!! My Stanley knife and scissor collection was useless.

I immediately googled “dyneema scissors” on Amazon and got the fright of my life … £40-£60 for a pair of scissors!! Tut tut NO!!! I noticed that kevlar scissors were about half the price, and so googled “can you cut dyneema with kevlar scissors?” and this interesting little video came up:-

You can never tell if these videos are genuine or not, can you? Anyway, I found on Amazon the exact Kevlar shears they use in this video – £20 !! Ordered a pair and they are great!! £20 sounds a lot, but at local coffee prices that’s only about 6 flat whites, and they’ll probably last a lifetime. I’m happy!!

It seems that a reason there may be so many kevlar shears out there to choose from is that this is the method of choice for cutting fibre optic cable. Who’d have known the big need for that ten years ago!

I’m less happy about sealing the rope-ends though. I’m using a keelboat rope burner from my toolbox at the minute – very quick, but leaves a bit of a blob. Might be OK. Sailboat RC recommend a quick swipe of THIN superglue along the line, cut it with your wife’s favourite ceramic kitchen knife, and then you can thread it through holes. I have a battery sealing knife in my toolbox – I must have dropped int once too often as it refuses to deal with dyneema or anything else at the moment. SailboatRC list a natty little USB plasma cutter – only 15 euros… but postage is 49 euros!! More research to do!

How to Neatly Finish Your Rigging Lines

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When you get your first radio sailing yacht, inevitably when you look around the rigging, you are going to wonder how owners very neatly finish off their lines with a very abrupt knot

If your mainsail is secured to the mast via fine rope eyes, take a look at how they are finished. Let yourself wonder, “how do they do that?”

I borrowed an IOM to try and get started, and had to ask the Fleet Captain how it was done. He used two basic bits of kit.

1/ Put an overhand knot to finish the line/lines. It’s easy to slide an overhand knot along and get it in exactly the right place.

2/ Use Superglue over the knot head to LOCK it down. Wet your fingers first – you don’t want to end up glued to your IOM or Marblehead, like one of those ‘Stop Oil’ protestors. Let it set.

I bought from WH Smith, this pack of three mini tubes of superglue. I reckon if you buy a single larger tube, one day you’ll be desperate to use it and it’ll have set like a rock or just gone off.

3/ The next challenge is to remove the tails on the other side of the overhand knot.

If you cut with a scissors or knife, it just won’t be perfect. It might even wriggle out of the knot over time, or leave a fraying end line.

So try one of these ‘thread zappers’ in the photo above. I don’t know what kind of handicraft uses these. It’s basically a battery powered hot knife on a small scale. You just place the hot tip on the thread/s close up to the waste side of the knot. Press the button and it melts the cord off with an immaculate finish.

Very cheap on Amazon. I carry one in my toolbox all the time now.