How to cut an Aramid core rope
Premium Members can read the entire article here:
This tip comes from Australian rigging expert Richard Delaney. Connect with Richard on his excellent website Ropelab, Instagram, or his YouTube channel, where he has loads of concise, informative videos.
Yo! Disclaimer!
Important: the chemicals in superglue may not play nicely with most ropes. In this case we're using them only at the very END of the rope, which will never see a load. When you're doing this, be careful not to get glue on any other part of your rope.
(Aramid is the general term for a type of fiber. Kevlar and Technora are trade names for basically the same material.)
Need to cut and seal the ends of standard nylon rope or cord? The hot knife in every climbing shop works great.
But melting and cutting doesn’t work so well on Aramid core rope (such Sterling Powercord), because it’s fireproof!
Here’s a way to cut and seal an Aramid rope. (Works on regular climbing rope and cord too!)
What you need:
Tape. I used cloth athletic tape. Masking tape doesn’t hold very well.
Sharp, thin knife. Don’t use your favorite steel blade for this; it’ll dull fast. I used a tiny but very sharp ceramic knife. Razor blade works too.
Superglue. Cheap super glue have screw tops that don't work very well and the remaining glue is probably gonna dry out after you use it once. Name brand glue, like Loctite, have a much better quality, screw top, allowing you to reuse the glue. Spend a little more and get the good stuff.
Tip: Do this over a surface that you don't mind dripping superglue on! Ask me how I know this, and can't use my favorite green cutting board for food anymore . . .
1) Put a tight wrap of tape around the end of the rope. This helps make a clean cut.
2) Cut through the rope.
3) Smooooge some superglue into the fibers at the end.
