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bridle tying
In article <9305121513.AA21078@cod.nosc.mil>, reich@cod.nosc.mil (Ronald S. Reich) writes:
> Gee! if I keep this up I won't have to publish my book.
You don't want to do that Ron. What about all those people who don't
have network access?
> MATERIALS REQUIRED:
> 1. A piece of wood about 6 inches longer than the
> finished length of the lines you want to tie.
> 2. Two one inch long finishing nails and a hammer.
> 3. Supply of bridle line to suit your needs.
> 4. Felt tip marker.
> 5. Measuring tape.
I would add a large, fairly hard pulling single line kite. Why? Most
braided line lengthens under tension as a result of the braid
tightening up. Some line doesn't uniformly lengthen along it's entire
length. I've noticed that after a day of flying brand new line, flying
lines that were the same length when I started can be several inches
different by the end of the day. By flying a hard pulling kite on the
line you will use as a bridle, you tighten up the braid along the
entire length of line.
You might also want to add a soldering iron, or a candle or some other
source of heat to melt the ends of the bridle lines to keep them from
unraveling.
>IMPORTANT NOTE: The tightness with which you pull the line around
>the nail should be able to be repeated as close as possible on
>subsequent lines you tie.
One way to assure consistancy is to hang a weight on the line.
> 6. Tie an over hand knot in this bite as close to the pinch
>point as possible. You should try to be consistent with subsequent
>lines that you tie. Pull the knot good-n-tight.
Pull both knots tight slowly and firmly. Lefty Kreh and Mark Sosin, in
"Practical Fishing Knots" recommend lubricating the knot with water as
you draw it tight. A tight knot is a strong knot.
Hank Manseau, a local flyer who specializes in flying trains of
diamond stunt kites takes another step to assure that each set of
train lines is the same length. Hank has a board along his workbench
with two nails driven into it about an inch closer together than the
length of the train line. He places one loop on each nail and then
hangs a weight from the center of the line. He notes how far each line
sags and makes up sets of train lines out of lines that have the same
amount of sag.
--
Marty Sasaki
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