Authorised dealer for: Crosby, Ferrotiger, Indef, Titan, UMI, Youngman & Zebra

Shop No. 1 to 4 Laxminarayan Society, Building B, 285 Koregaon Road, Opp. Bund Garden Water Pumping
Station,Pune 411001, Maharashtra, India
Email: info@tacklers.co.in, farah@tacklers.co.in Telephone: (020) 26122595

FLEMISH EYE SLING

It is quite unfortunate that Flemish Eye Slings are not as well known as they should be, given their versatility, and their
high WLL (≈ 95% of the strength of the rope). It is hoped that this write up engenders a greater appreciation and use of
this equipment.

ote:

The Flemish Eye is one of the methods of wire rope termination that involves turning the wire rope upon itself and
affixing the dead end upon the live end by enmeshing the wires of both together. This enmeshing process is called
‘splicing’ or ‘marrying’.

The section of rope that has been spliced thus may or may not be reinforced by a steel sleeve that is swaged (or
‘radially forged’) onto the said section. The details of the splicing technique need to be specified on its identification tag,
also known as the Consolidation Certification.

The ‘eye’ of Flemish Eye refers to the ‘ovoid’ loop resulting from turning the wire upon itself. This eye serves as a
mechanism of attachment to other equipment such as hooks, clamps and master/universal links, etc.

Description of how a Flemish Eye (also known as an ‘Eye Splice’) is prepared:

Although there may be variation on this these, the following is a more or less a standard method of preparing an ‘eye
splice’. The rope in question is a standard 6/1 steel wire rope:

• Seize the rope from the end at a distance equal to the loop desired, PLUS an additional length of about 10 times
the diameter of the rope.

• Split the terminal end of the rope beyond the seizing into two sections as follows: 1) One section containing three
stands – we will call this ‘Section A’; and 2) Another section comprising the (remaining three strands + the rope
core) – we will call this ‘Section B’

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 • Now bend Section B of the rope into the desired sized loop. Section B should extend for some distance beyond
the throat of the loop. This extension will later be spliced onto the ‘live’ end of the rope – i.e., the ‘intact’ section of
rope beyond the loop – let us call this ‘Section C’

• Lay the three separated/unlayed strands of Section A onto the grooves created (by the removal of Section A) on
the looped section, i.e., Section B, as close to the throat as possible.

• The reasons for first separating the two sections and then re-uniting them are as follows: 1) The ‘Flexibility’ and
‘Deformability’ of a rope increase as its diameter and thickness decrease. Thus, it is easier to achieve a satisfactory
loop using a circumferential section of the rope, rather than using the rope with its original diameter; and 2) The
rope thus unlayed, will now be ready for splicing with the intact rope beyond the throat of the loop.

• After the loop is thus complete, what you should be left with are the six strands ends (or ‘tails’ in splicing parlance)
and the core that protrude beyond the throat of the loop. The length of these unlayed tails protruding beyond the
loop with depend on 1) The size of the loop; 2) The length of the wire which was circumferentially sectioned.

• Tuck (i.e. interweave) the six strands plus core into the intact section of the rope beyond the throat, i.e., ‘Section
C’. The precise position and order of tucks may be observed from the two videos provided.

• Consolidate the spliced section i.e. Section C, by circumferentially tapping it sharply with a hammer, such that all
the stands cleave together, and the ends of the tails are flush with the overall surface of the splice.

• Hydraulically swage an appropriate sleeve over the spliced section/Section C to reinforce the joint.

• Load test the sling thus created.

ote:
DIAGRAM OF THE ACHIEVING AN EYE SPLICE USING 6/1 WIRE ROPE

VIDEO DEMONSTRATION FOR MAKING A FLEMISH EYE SLING - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luXO_jwLYOk

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