Idea to prevent Amsteel Blue from unraveling

[Rob In AL]

Last night as an experiment, I used some 1/4" white "write on" heat shrink tubing to "whip" the ends of some 1/8th Amsteel Blue. It seems to hold better than tape, can be done with nothing more than a match and scissors/knife and does not appear to affect the cord - not that it would matter. It's at a non-load bearing point.
The reason I used the white "write on" is because that's what Home Depot had at the time (in a small amount). The end result looks and feels like the end of a shoe lace.

Anyhow, just tossing that out there. Thoughts? Comments?

-Rob

[Cali]

Can you write on that white? You could label your head and foot ends. Or use different color shrink tubing on each end to depict which end is which.

[Rob In AL]

Can you write on that white? You could label your head and foot ends. Or use different color shrink tubing on each end to depict which end is which.

I used a lighter as the heat source since I don't have a hot air gun. The white didn't stay white for long despite trying to be really careful and waving it through the flame. Also, I was used pieces that were about 1/2 an inch long so there wasn't much room to write once it shrunk.

[Pipsissewa]

I used a lighter as the heat source since I don't have a hot air gun. The white didn't stay white for long despite trying to be really careful and waving it through the flame. Also, I was used pieces that were about 1/2 an inch long so there wasn't much room to write once it shrunk.

Yeah, that's what I was going to say. Heat shrink always gets an ugly sooty stain on it when you shrink it. I'm sure it's very apparent on the white. Maybe try clear heat shrink? I just melt my amsteel ends. HYOH!!!

[Rob In AL]

Yeah, that's what I was going to say. Heat shrink always gets an ugly sooty stain on it when you shrink it. I'm sure it's very apparent on the white. Maybe try clear heat shrink? I just melt my amsteel ends. HYOH!!!

Pips, all I got when I tried to melt the ends was a ball of hot gooey mess that looked terrible and didn't seem to hold together very well but that was using a match, not doing it correctly with a hot knife (which I don't have).

[Gresh]

Yeah, that's what I was going to say. Heat shrink always gets an ugly sooty stain on it when you shrink it. I'm sure it's very apparent on the white. Maybe try clear heat shrink? I just melt my amsteel ends. HYOH!!!

Try not using flame, but a heat gun or hair dryer.

[gmcttr]

I used a lighter as the heat source since I don't have a hot air gun. The white didn't stay white for long despite trying to be really careful and waving it through the flame....

Try holding it beside the flame instead of over it.

[Lupus]

I used a lighter as the heat source since I don't have a hot air gun. The white didn't stay white for long despite trying to be really careful and waving it through the flame. Also, I was used pieces that were about 1/2 an inch long so there wasn't much room to write once it shrunk.

Try using a Hair Dryer on the high heat setting. It will take a little longer than a heat gun, or your lighter, but you don't run the risk of burning anything and I would expect you'd avoid the black sooty stuff.

[Rob In AL]

Try using a Hair Dryer on the high heat setting. It will take a little longer than a heat gun, or your lighter, but you don't run the risk of burning anything and I would expect you'd avoid the black sooty stuff.

Since I'll have to go and buy either, I guess I'd get a heat gun as I would have no other use for a hair dryer (not enough hair). Personally, the sooty color doesn't bother me.

[wlaroche]

I used a lighter as the heat source since I don't have a hot air gun. The white didn't stay white for long despite trying to be really careful and waving it through the flame. Also, I was used pieces that were about 1/2 an inch long so there wasn't much room to write once it shrunk.

When shrinking with a lighter put the shrink tubing in the blue part of the flame. The white / yellow part will burn the shrink tubing.