Chris, Before I closed my marine repair business couple years ago, I routinely made hand crimp lifelines. They're OK. I have them on Touche'. They don't have that really nice professional look of a machine swaged lifeline.
I used a tool like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Johnson-Marine-Lifeline-NO-15-Hand-Crimper-Tool-/162610511560?hash=item25dc577ec8:g:fWIAAOSwQVZZfSAr A word of caution on buying a used crimper. If the tool has been used a lot, the tolerances may be so loose that you don't get a proper crimp. They don't have that really nice professional look of a machine swaged lifeline. There are a few tricks. You must measure fairly accurately. You need to really plan out the configuration with enough adjusters and/or turnbuckles to make it fit with adequate tension, etc. If you don't rotate the crimper 180 between crimps, the fitting will have a slight curve to it. My advice is to price out hand crimp vs machine crimp lifelines. If the difference isn't totally painful, go with the machine crimp. The appearance may be a factor to a discerning buyer when you sell the boat. Dennis C. Touche' 35-1 #83 Mandeville, LA On Thu, Aug 31, 2017 at 9:47 AM, Chris Hobson via CnC-List < cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > The surveyor when I bought the boat said I could replace the standing > rigging myself one wire at a time. Of course I had a lot of gusto when I > first purchased her and balls to hoist atop and unclip 37 year old standing > rigging. Today I have the phone number of a rigger who was recommended to > inspect my original rig and lifelines, expecting a hefty price tag I am > keen on the idea of at least doing the lifelines myself. Digging around I > found these hand-crimping lifeline fittings from Bosun http://www. > bosunsupplies.com/Lifeline-Fittings-Hand-Crimp/ anyone had any experience > replacing their lifelines and any lessons they could pass on? I’m sure > having the rigging replaced could mean a deal on the lifelines, but wanted > to explore my options. > > Chris Hobson > S/V Going > 1980 C&C MKI > Hull 615 > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > This list is supported by the generous donations of our members. If you > wish to make a contribution to offset our costs, please go to: > https://www.paypal.me/stumurray > > All Contributions are greatly appreciated! > >
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