washing line

[padswaggle]

Hi

I'm trying to learn knots fast and there is too much information. Nothing I have found has been even remotely helpful for my application. they all assume that the knots will be tied in a woven-fibre style rope. while this is very interesting and I have lost too many hours learning about the names of parts of knots, and various applications for them, I still haven't found anything that will knot in my washing line.

my washing line is a metal twist cable with a smooth plastic coating. it will kink, after much effort, and all knots I've tried in it simply spontaneously undo themselves. I guess it's more like fishing line that's 5mm thick.

all I wanna do is make a permanent loop in one end to hang over a hook. I'll figure out how to tie the other end to a post once I got that part.


GO! GREAT KNOTTERS OF THE 21st CENTURY! SHOW ME YOUR GENIUS! ^_^

[knot4u]

If your only tool is a hammer, then every problem looks like a nail!  In other words, think outside of knots, which I strongly believe is not your answer.  Instead, go with something like this:

http://www.azshowersolutions.com/Fuselage11.html

[Dan_Lehman]

my washing line is a metal twist cable with a smooth plastic coating.
it will kink, after much effort,
and all knots I've tried in it simply spontaneously undo themselves.
I guess it's more like fishing line that's 5mm thick.

all I wanna do is make a permanent loop in one end to hang over a hook.

I'm not sure what you mean by "it will kink, after much effort",
but guess that you're saying that the line is INflexible, but can
be made to bend (and, yes, monofilament fishline can be like
this --and once so bent, can have "memory" of that bend and
not want to straighten, completely).

The angler's "surgeon's knot", which we might otherwise
call a "double overhand / strangle loop", should be one
that can be forced into the line and then stay tied.  Similar
would be the grapevine loop.  (The s.l. and g.l. both use
strangle knots : the former is made by doubling the line
and then tying the knot (so one side will have the loop end
of the bight for your eye); the latter is, you could say, a
slipped strangle with the tail tied off to its SPart with
the same knot, and those pull together, abutting, when
the is loaded.

But, as Knot4U suggests, knotting might not be the best
solution.  I've not seen what he points to, but seizing an
eye into your line should be possible, using some suitably
fine & strong material, and maybe using those same
strangle knots for the binding (with multiple wraps,
not the basic one overwrap).  This would probably be the
neatest, most material-efficient solution.


Cheers,
--dl*
====

[Sweeney]

My wife's father was a user of plastic coated steel line until he found that the steel core is usually cheap stuff which is not even galvanised (let alone stainless) and so any crack in the plastic lets in water followed by rust followed by a sudden breakage! Commercially these lines are sold with a simple tinplate clamp and a nickel plated ring at the end similar in concept to that shown in the link by Knot4u but basically a bit of bent tin. Knots such as the double fisherman's do work but inevitably cause cracking in the plastic coating - and water ingress. I would advise against using this stuff at all but if you're stuck with it try folding the end to form a half hitch, use some insulating tape over the working end and standing part then use a strangle knot over the layers of tape to avoid biting into the plastic or holding it tightly so that it cracks at the point where the strangle knot ends. But if you value clean washing get rid!

Barry