Prosak 3.0 - having trouble trying to make rope out of thin egyptian cotton thread

[LON]

I bought a Prosak 3.0 rope maker and am having trouble trying to make rope out of thin egyptian cotton  thread.  Every time I start the winding process the thread breaks.  I have tried different weights same results.  Has anyone else tried this machine with thin thread?  It works fine with thicker thread.

 

Thanks,

 

Lon

[Mahuna]

I've made rope from #100 DMC Cordonnet, which measures .011 inch diameter (the finished rope is .0185) and haven't had breaking problems.  I suspect your weight is too heavy.  It might also be that you're trying to twist it too much.  Measure off 10% of the total length of the unwound strands, and don't make a rope less than 90% of the starting length to see if it makes a difference.  I've been very satisfied with the machine.

 

Frank

[JerseyCity Frankie]

Old thread is brittle. I wound up throwing away a lot of spools I had been snapping up at yard sales since they turned out to be ancient and frail.

[LON]

I've used new egyption cotton,  I just tried a cotton/polyester blend very strong it did not break but two of the hooks pulled together almost pulling the hook out of the axis.  It seems that two of the threads wind before the third starts.  I've also tried different weight from10 gms tho 70 grams five different weights. The winding process doesn't get far enough to overwind.  The weight only raises a few inches in a twelve foot length.

I've contacted the prosak people and they so far don't have an answer.  Hope someone has had this problem and found the fix. anyway thanks for the input.

 

Lon

[Mahuna]

You may be using a thread that is already wound in the same direction as the rope you're making (e.g right-hand thread used for right-hand rope).  In this case the thread will unwind before winding up.  This will cause the thread to be very loose and two of the threads will catch each other and pull the hooks and break the threads (I found this out the hard way).  The solution is to start a decent amount of space above the floor, so there is room for the thread to unwind, and to make sure you keep the threads away from each other by spreading your fingers through the three (or four) strands - I made a simple device to do this - a paddle with four notches in it to keep the threads separate.

 

Hope this helps.  Once you get it figured out, the Prosak (or a similar homemade device) is pretty cool.

[mtaylor]

Lon,

How much weight are you using?  

[LON]

I solved the problem by making a disk with 3 slots and placing it just above the weight.  I left it there until each thread wound about it's axis. when the weight raised the correct height I removed the disk and let it wind.  Made good rope.  Looks like Mahuna already figured this out.  

 

Thanks for the help,

 

Lon

[Mahuna]

I'm glad you got it working!

[usedtosail]

Yep, using a disk with notches works really well with small threads. I made one out of cardboard. No problem with them breaking. I do have a problem with the rope wanting to unwind itself. Has anyone solved that problem?

[usedtosail]

Ok, I am going to answer my own question. After doing a search on "unwind" in the forums I found a few threads that talk to this problem. It looks like it is the amount of winding of the individual threads that is the trick to not unwinding. So, I will try adding a lot more twist to the individual threads before releasing the weight.

[usedtosail]

And I will update my question and answer. The additional twisting of the individual strands did produce rope that did not want to unwind. I then experimented with making thicker rope from these thinner ropes, rotating them in the opposite direction. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts, I was able to figure out the right weight and amount of twist to make decent rope. I am really pleased with this rope walk and look forward to making the ropes for the Constitution.