Purchase line frayed by rope lock

[MNicolai]

Spike mark goes into the rope lock.

It's a school and a couple students use the rigging a few times a year but normal use is me and another guy. Can't say that it's never been used as a brake -- could see why it'd be tempting for the last few inches of the rope travel, but I can say with some certainty it doesn't regularly get used for speed control.

Should add that a few months ago one of the nuts from the rear of a rope lock (on a different set) fell off the bolt and into the tension block, getting jammed in their and preventing the set from moving. Subsequent review found more than 1/3 of those nuts were barely finger-tight, some of them not even.

 

[mstaylor]

In picture eight there looks like a small piece of metal on the right side of the lock. Can't tell if that is just a piece of the fray but it bears looking into. When you have it inspected where those sections wind up when flown out needs to be looked at also.

 

[MNicolai]

In picture eight there looks like a small piece of metal on the right side of the lock. Can't tell if that is just a piece of the fray but it bears looking into. When you have it inspected where those sections wind up when flown out needs to be looked at also.

If you and I are looking at the same thing, I believe in the hi-res it appears to just be the texture of the rope.

 

[HiThere]

Yeah...tape sucks. I avoid it on the ropes but I'm not the only person who works in the theatre. There actually was a short piece of white ribbon (because someone thought white was a good color for this) twisted into the rope here, but I removed it for the photo so that were wasn't any confusion about what was the frayed ribbon and what was the frayed rope.

Is there any possibility that the rope was damaged when this ribbon was inserted?

 

[MJPDX]

Looking at the pics again in pic 10 the lock does not look square to the lockrail. Also in the same photo on you lineset #1 handline the on-stage side looks to have a start of a fray.
Also it looks like a lot of your parts got shipped early to the project and were not protected well from the elements.
I saw this several years ago the main contractor for a school had the pig weight shipped way early to the project and it sat in the rain. Then the poor subcontractor had to setup a tent and sandblast all 20,000 lbs weight on the loading bridge.

 

[MNicolai]

Possible, but unlikely. I'd expect to see more damage on either side of the rope rather than just on the front and then not at all on the back. I also wouldn't expect it to be that severe lest someone was using a knife. Our standard practice is to have one person untwist the rope with their hands as best they can, then have a second person slide the ribbon through, sometimes pushing it through with a screwdriver or key (which I'm certain I'm about to be told is terrible practice and that we should be using knitting needles). I'd also expect to see similar damage on ribbon spikes on other sets.

 

[MNicolai]

Looking at the pics again in pic 10 the lock does not look square to the lockrail. Also in the same photo on you lineset #1 handline the on-stage side looks to have a start of a fray.
Also it looks like a lot of your parts got shipped early to the project and were not protected well from the elements.
I saw this several years ago the main contractor for a school had the pig weight shipped way early to the project and it sat in the rain. Then the poor subcontractor had to setup a tent and sandblast all 20,000 lbs weight on the loading bridge.

You have a good eye. Can't say that it's actually a fray on line set #1, but I'll check it out. Could be one of our mangled ribbon spikes that's seen better days.

As for the weight -- we're not the first owners. The weight came used from another theatre (don't know which). Still pretty peeved our general contractor didn't enforce their contract with the rigging installer to have the pipe weight bricks painted, and our usual inspector advised that we get all of our bricks painted at some point to clean them up, dull sharp edges, and such forth.

 

[MPowers]

....... sometimes pushing it through with a screwdriver or key (which I'm certain I'm about to be told is terrible practice and that we should be using knitting needles). .......

Actually, an old screwdriver, with the tip ground and polished, makes a rather nice fid. Knitting needles are usually too weak and will bend or break with any rope larger than 3/8" dia. The screwdriver has a nice handle for getting a good grip to push through, the disadvantage is it isn't tapered and doesn't open up the lay after being pushed through. One of the best spike tools I have is a screwdriver with the tip ground and polished smooth and an 1/8" x 3/8" slot machined in the flat of the tip. put the twill tape in the slot, push it through, pull the ribbon out of the slot and pull the tool back out. Make a spike with one person in 5 seconds.

 

[MPowers]

Actually, an old screwdriver, with the tip ground and polished, makes a rather nice fid.

Fid : A tool for splicing rope and macrame. Simplest are a steel rod with a point. Many have wood handles to aid in pushing through the rope. Many are hollow to allow smaller ropes and twines to be inserted in larger ropes.

SAMSON ROPE Double Braid Splicing Kit at West Marine

NEW ENGLAND ROPES Fid at West Marine

Brion Toss - Point Hudson Phid, Splicing Fid

Sea-Dog Stainless Steel Splicing Fid, Wood Handle 1/8" to 1/2"

Hollow Fid

Bailey's - Samson 9/16" Tubular Splicing Fid

 

[MNicolai]

What looked like a fray on line set #1 is not. It's almost worse -- a duct tape spike mark. I've just placed an order for 30 yards of twill tape in assorted colors and hopefully that never happens. I don't know who brought duct tape into our theatre, but rest assured if I ever find them there will be problems. It's already a force of habit to throw away any rolls of duct tape I see walk into the theatre, although it's been several months since anyone has tried.

In other news, I noticed a similar but not as bad fray on another line set (one of our legs), also directly on top of the spike mark. For whatever the reason, another issue I noticed today is that one of our line sets doesn't go all of the way to the grid -- it falls about a foot and half short before it gets stuck. I'm going to see if I can get this maintenance visit turned into a full-fledged inspection because this is just ridiculous.

 

[MNicolai]

Final verdict from rigging inspection: the damage was caused not by rope locks but most likely by someone damage the outer fibers on the fronts of the ropes while trying to place the ribbon spikes. The set is still locked out waiting confirmation from the head cheese that we've got the green light to keep using the ropes as they are, but I presume because he hasn't come to me panicked that we have to replace several purchase lines that the rigger deemed it acceptable to continue using the ropes (again -- still looking for confirmation on that; keep forgetting to ask).

I've ordered a bunch of bright red and bright green twill tape for ribbon spikes, cut it down into small pieces and singed the edges with a lighter to reduce fraying on the ends. Tried a plastic fid from a nearby hardware store -- should've known better; it worked well for three spikes and then the plastic tip was bent out of shape. I have a couple aluminum ones on order now that I'm waiting to show up.

While the rigger was doing the inspection, we also had him check out a weird noise on one of our line-shaft winches. For whatever the reason, when operated, it seems to vibrate the grid in a way that causes an obscure, sharp screeching noise. He wasn't able to figure out if it was benign or if it's indicative of a greater problem, but he's contacting the manufacturer to determine if there are any actions we should be taking.

 

[nd925a]

Actually, an old screwdriver, with the tip ground and polished, makes a rather nice fid. Knitting needles are usually too weak and will bend or break with any rope larger than 3/8" dia. The screwdriver has a nice handle for getting a good grip to push through, the disadvantage is it isn't tapered and doesn't open up the lay after being pushed through. One of the best spike tools I have is a screwdriver with the tip ground and polished smooth and an 1/8" x 3/8" slot machined in the flat of the tip. put the twill tape in the slot, push it through, pull the ribbon out of the slot and pull the tool back out. Make a spike with one person in 5 seconds.

This sounds like those screwdriver looking things they have at auto parts stores to patch holes in car tires.

 

[MNicolai]

Confirmed that we've been given a green light by the rigging inspector to continue using those purchase lines. (now if I didn't have to leave 2 sets permanently locked out because they get stuck hitting the tracks for the adjacent draw curtains, I'd be borderline satisfied with our rigging...)