The line broke!

[Harry Bloomfield]

With a very large back garden and wanting a put up for her a reliable washing line, with no intermediate supports, one which lifted the washing well into the air out of the way - I designed a counterweighted line, with a simple winch to pull it down for loading and unloading.

I ended up with stainless steel wire for the main wire, then plastic covered mild steel wire for the mid section which rolled between two pulleys, because she insisted it had to be plastic covered where the washing hung. Fixed 10 feet up to a pole at the far end and fixed 20 feet up, at the near end where the heavy counterweight running in a length of 6" plastic pipe.

Luckily, I planned into the design a means of slowing the counterweight down, should the line snap, for it snapped a couple of days ago. The plain steel plastic covered line had rusted through, due to the plastic suffering UV damage and cracking.

I did originally attempt to find some SS plastic covered wire, but was unable to find any. Does anyone know of a source please, or am I looking for something which is simple not made?

[Richard]

Should find something here:

[Harry Bloomfield]

Richard explained on 05/08/2014 :

Thanks very much, they have some 4mm.

[newshound]

If you use stainless, does it *really* need to be plastic covered? In my experience rigging and safety wires on sailing boats stay pretty clean. Should be readily available from Chandlers (and eBay).

[Harry Bloomfield]

She has always insisted it does need to be plastic covered, but she is definitely weakening. Bare stainless I have in stock.

Getting back to the precautions I took with the heavy counterweight...

I made the weight a close fit to the diameter of pipe I used, then blocked the lower end and also added several inches of polystyrene. The idea was, that the weight built up air pressure like a piston as it fell then finally landed on depth of 6" of polystyrene. It worked a treat, landed with a barely whisper lol

[newshound]

I'm impressed. I aspire to design things like this, but seldom succeed!

[Graham.]

Sounds like something you could load up on the WARC bands.

[fred]

In article , Harry Bloomfield writes

To be fair, I think non-coated stainless could capture airborne muck which would pass to damp clothes, it doesn't take much to taint a clean wash.

In short, I think you need something coated and easily wiped down.

[Clive George]

I reckon she's right. Stainless can corrode a little, and getting iron stains in her best shirt would probably be a really bad idea. "Pretty clean" is different to "good enough for clothes". Almost certainly won't happen straight away, but do you really want to take the chance of damp fabric not doing something in contact with it?

[Harry Bloomfield]

Graham. laid this down on his screen :

No need - the top of the far pole carries the HF dipole :')

[newshound]

True of "cheap cutlery" stainless, not true for stainless to AISI 304 or

316 specification which you should get for wire rope. I agree that plastic covered rope will "wipe down" more easily for removal of airbourne grime, but it will also degrade from UV. Marine chandlers may have coated wires with high UV resistance for safety rails.

Expect the usual price multipliers: highest for "disabled", next highest for "sailing", only slightly lower for "equine".

[Bill]

In message , newshound writes

The guard rails on our boat are stainless covered in white plastic.

They were made up by a friend rather than bought from a chandler.

[F Murtz]

You are all too fussy, my mother lived all her life (died at 93) with plain stranded steel uncovered clothsline wire

[Brian Gaff]

Otherwise I was going to suggest some strange rope I saw at b/q. It was hollow down the middle so you could put it over mettal wire. Might have been a challenge for a long run though!

Brian

[Adrian C]

Sorry, can't get this out of my head.

Three, Six, Nine The goose drank wine The monkey chew tobacco on the streetcar line The line broke, the monkey got choked And they all went to heaven in a little rowboat"

Perhaps writing it down might help...

[whisky-dave]

" can't get this out of my head"

Sounds like a kylie song.

Earworms, I think they call ehees songs.

[Graham.]

And caught gonorrhea by all accounts.

[The Nomad]

Phew, not just me then

Avpx

[Harry Bloomfield]

Adrian C has brought this to us :

That was in my head, as I wrote the Subject line :')

[Mark]

if you are old enough to remember the original in 1965 having to write things down is becoming second nature :(

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