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Line Equalizer


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A necessary tool for the folks who make their own lines.

Have seen built in equalizers on some line winders,

but very seldom see them for sale.

Jim.

I have seen pictures of those equalizers, but haven't seen one in any catalogues .. so I built one. Brushed aluminum, nylon bearing, etc ... The first think I found out is that you can ruin the accuracy if you don't hold your finger perfectly centered. So, I filed a small notch in the back of the finger hole ... centered of course. By using a loop of line in the notch ... no fat fingers touching the equalizer ... the accuracy was greatly improved.

Then I watched Mike Kory check line lengths by observing the droop (sag) in a pair of lines. He had me hold the loops on one end of two lines even (a horizontal nail in an upright would work and not talk back), then he pulled the two lines tight at the other end, and then backed off a little until the lines had a slight sag in the center. When the sags were even, we were done checking. When they were not even, he pulled the long line slightly until the sags were even. The difference in the two line ends in his hands was the amount that had to be corrected.

I built a 120 foot line set today and used both methods ... belts and suspenders for us conservative mid-western folks if you please. Both the equalizer and the sag method yielded the same results. I'll probably continue using the equalizer 'cuz what fun is a hobby if it doesn't require tools? But, I'm convinced that the sag method is just as accurate.

Anybody else have any input ... preferences ... additional method?

Cheers,

Tom

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Climax do a winder that has an equaliser built in.

awinder.jpg

I Have a couple and have used them, but to be honest I find the droop method, combined with looping a line on each little finger and pulling with an equal pressure, does the job more easily. Line length is important, but it does not have to be absolutely perfect - 10mm out doesn't kill any one and is much less than the brain's tolerance (ie the natural inaccuracy of your inputs would be much greater - remember you brain is working your kite through a series of subconscious iterations - a little more left brake, little less, little bit less, bit more.....)

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remember you brain is working your kite through a series of subconscious iterations

Crikey I've only been away a week and you've obviously taken to hanging out with a more sophisticated crowd ... get you with your big words!

subconscious ill iteration in my case ;)

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Crikey I've only been away a week and you've obviously taken to hanging out with a more sophisticated crowd .
Don't worry Jonesey. When I was referring to ones brain handling complex 3D geometry calculations subconsiously I obviously was not thinking of your brain. That's more along the line of "Ug, more power, good, less power, bad. [distraction override] Look pretty girl. [stomach status report recd] Want Pork Pie"
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Jonesey> I'll take that as a compliment. (FYI: Stephen agrees with you) ;)

must check my lines, someone rather kindly left their line length checker behind (as pictured above) at Southampton festival.

So if it is yours, you know where to find it..... :)

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Don't worry Jonesey. When I was referring to ones brain handling complex 3D geometry calculations subconsiously I obviously was not thinking of your brain. That's more along the line of "Ug, more power, good, less power, bad. [distraction override] Look pretty girl. [stomach status report recd] Want Pork Pie"

Want pork pie?

Here you go.

Doesn't like ham and eggs.

post-2088-1216912646_thumb.jpg

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