Tension Gauge for 1/2" wire

[Dennis1]

I'm a newbie to the forum, but I did a search of "tension gauge" and found 4 threads, but none to direct me where I can find a tension gauge for 1/2" wire. I think I own just about everything in Brion's catalog now **smile**, but he just doesn't resell any tension gauges ... yet ....

Loos doesn't sell anything large enough (I already own their gauge for the largest wire they measure) and I'm looking for a tension gauge to measure my 1/2" wire upper shrouds. I'm not leaving the dock anytime soon, but I'd like to get a good dock tune. Who knows, maybe outfitting will run faster than I think and I'll actually go sailing - I appreciate any and all help.

I seem to recall that Brion mentioned "Hanes/Haines/??" as manufacturing a tension gauge for larger wire in the "Tuning Your Rig" video, but I'm just not finding this name with Google for some strange reason - probably just misspelling it ...

Thanks for the help !!
Dennis

[Matthew Sebring]

Don't know if they make gauges but I'm thinking you are meaning Hayn. http://www.hayn.com/marine/rigging/index.html

[Dennis1]

Matthew - Thanks for the link !! Aha, no wonder I couldn't locate 'em. That's a great resource for parts. I found a link within their site to tools, but no tension gauges among the four tools offered so I suspect you're right about them probably not having gauges. I'll keep hunting and welcome any more links or paths to follow. Again, I really appreciate the feedback !!

[Dennis1]

For the record, I was checking out the link list on Brion's site and www.sailingservices.com doesn't have a gauge large enough for 1/2" wire line.

The website for Schaefer (www.schaefer.com) has apparently been bought out.

[Brion Toss]

Hello,
I have seen gauges for much larger wire on big square-riggers, but have no idea where they came from. For your boat, I'd check tune by other means, like measuring stretch, and dynamic tuning. What is the boat? What is the rig configuration?
Fair leads,
Brion Toss

[Dennis1]

Brion - I sent you a PM with a link to pics on the original owner's site, which I'm careful not to post publicly in order to make sure I don't overwhelm his site.

For everyone else, my sailboat is a 50' sloop-rigged Columbia 50, which I believe is the last sailboat designed by Bill Tripp just before he died. As I indicated to Brion, please feel free to correct me if my research has misled me there. I'm trying to get a good dock tune and appreciate any help in finding a good tool for 1/2" wire line. I appreciate all the feedback from folks already and welcome any comments, thoughts or general observations ...

[Ian]

Search for "Fulmer Tension Meter". It is similar to the Dillon.
Ian

[Dennis1]

Ian - Thank you so much for the pointer !! I found the Fulmer tension meter at the A. Noble & Son Ltd site (Top match on Google). It's strange that it's under the Electronics products. I wonder how many tension gauges that I've failed to find if they are likewise located under electronics sections ...

Anyway, I couldn't find a price on the site so I've E-Mailed them for some info. I'll let ya know what I find. I'm hoping it's a bit cheaper than the model that looks similar to it. I'm guessing that this one will be out of my price range, but we'll see. Again, thanks for the info on this !!

[Ian]

Dennis
I don't know your land of abode. Nobles are an Australian Company. If you are in the US, exchange rate should be "cheap as chips" (Crikey! ). There is a Nobles near me in Rockhampton (Queensland Aus.) although the one in Sydney no doubt has more stock. If you need any assistance let me know.
Ian

[Dennis1]

Ian - I'm in Jacksonville, Florida in the U.S. so I'm hoping from your note that perhaps it's not too expensive. I did receive a response back on my E-Mail to the Australian company and they forwarded it to the main office, which I believe was in England, to reply back to me since I'm in a different country from their store. I'll let everyone know what info I receive back from the main office once they respond.

I sure appreciate the kind offer for assistance. I'm just trying to find something out there that will let me get the tension for my 1/2 inch upper shrouds. If you run across anything that may fit the bill, please feel free to post it here and I'll gladly check it out. Thanks for the upbeat reply !!