KNOTTING AND SPLICING, the fast ening or tying of ropes or cords. There are hundreds of varieties of knots, most of which are used only on shipboard. Generally the re quirements of a useful knot may be stated to be that it should neither °slip)" nor ajam,)) that, while it holds without danger of slipping while the strain is on it, when slackened it should be easily untied again. The simplest knot is the common one tied on the end of a thread or cord to prevent it slipping. By passing a loop instead of the end of the cord the common slip-knot is formed; and a useful fixed loop is got by tying a simple knot, or the afigure of 8 kno0 on the loop of a cord. One of the simplest and most useful running knots for a small cord is made by means of two simple knots. The most secure method of fastening a line to, say, a bucket is the standing bow line; and a running bowline is formed by pass ing the end through the loop, thus making a running loop. Out of the score or so of methods of fastening a boat's painter the one which will be found most useful is the well-known two half-hitches. The timber hitch is useful for attaching a line to a spar or a stone, and the clove hitch is invaluable for many purposes. It is very simple and cannot slip. A simple method of fastening a rope to a hook is the blackwall hitch, where the strain on the main rope jams the end so tightly against the hook that it can not slip. There are many methods for short ening a rope temporarily, one of them being the sheepshank.
Of the methods for uniting the ends of two cords the simplest and one of the most secure is the common reef knot, which must be carefully distinguished from the which will jam if it does not slip; the reef knot will do neither. For very small cords or thread the best knot is the weaver's. The fish erman's knot is a very useful one for anglers, and is formed by a simple knot in each cord being slipped over the other; when drawn taut it is very secure, and it is easily separated by pulling the short ends. A useful method of
uniting large ropes is to tie a simple knot on the end of one rope and interlace the end of the other, and draw taut. This tie may also be made with' the figure of 8 knot. For very large ropes the carrick bend is the simplest and most secure. The bowline bend is formed by looping two bowline knots into each other. For attaching a small line to a thick rope the becket hitch is very useful.
°Splicingp is the process employed to join two ropes when it is not advisable to use a knot. The three chief varieties of the splice are the short splice, the long splice and the eye splice. The short splice is made by unlaying the ends of two ropes for a short distance and fitting them closely together; then, by the help of a marlinspike, the ends are laced over and under the strands of the opposite rope. When each strand has been passed through once, half of its thickness is cut away and the remainder passed through again} half of the remainder being also cut away, it is passed a third time, and, when all the strands are so treated, they are hauled taut and cut close. This reducing the thickness of the strands tapers off the splice. The long splice is employed when the rope is used to run through a block, as it does not thicken it. The ends of the two ropes are unlaid for a much longer distance than for the short splice, and similarly placed together. Then one strand is taken and further unwound for a considerable distance, and its vacant place filled up with the corresponding strand of the other rope, and the ends fastened as in the short splice. Other two of the strands are similarly spliced in the opposite direction, and the remaining two fastened at the original join ing place. The eye splice is, as the term MI plies, used to form an eye, or round a dead eye.
To prevent a rope fraying at the ends a variety of Methods are employed, the simplest being to serve or whip the end with small cord.