Whipping
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Whipping: involves taking a thread and wrapping it around the diameter of the rope to secure it in place the most secure form of whipping is sailermakers whipping |
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Sailmakers whipping
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Whipping the ends of your ropes results in minimum bulk making it easy for the rope to pass under wraps. Coloured whipping can be used to signify the length of the rope, distinguish between different sets of rope, or just to make your rope more distinct in environments where there are multiple riggers.
Some people use both whipping and a stopper knot, the whipping serving a purely decorative (or identification) function.
One of the often reported problems with whipping is it failing and coming off the rope, whipping is not as secure as a multi-strand stopper knot, however whipping often fails because it has been tied poorly.
To ensure that the whipping stays in place:
- Apply the whipping in a clockwise direction
- Make sure that your whipping is as tight as possible, the area that has been whipped should end up being narrower than the area above it and below it.
- When tying your whipping start away from the end of the rope and work up not down.
- Make sure the whipping covers an area equal to or greater than the width of the rope, e.g. if you have a 6mm rope, your whipping should cover at least 6mm of rope.
- Leave rope tails twice the length of the whipping.
- Use a strong whipping thread.
Whipping threads can be any type of thread, however if you use a piece of thin cotton that you can break by pulling on it you are at risk of your rope unravelling. If you would like to use coloured thread, then embroidery thread is a good option, but you can also use the same material as your rope - e.g. Jute or Hemp. If your material is very fibrous then adding some wax to it first will make it far easier to handle. In terms of longevity and strength one of the best options is upholstery thread, or bookbinders thread.
To learn how to apply a sailmaker's whipping, see the link below for instructions from the wonderful website animated knots (although as mentioned above please leave longer tails than shown in the video).