Splicing an eye in the end of a line

You can splice line that small; it's just a little tedious.

i687.photobucket.com/.../SPLICE3.jpg

What I would do is simple enough, if you have the right bits-and-pieces laying about.

You want a teeny-tiny sewing needle, one as close to the diameter of the monofiliament as you can find.  You'd want a bit of scrap about 3-4" long, and a handy bit of dowel.  Lastly, a 3-4" bit of fine stranded wire--like 22-18 AWG.  

Take the scrap and create a hole to take part of the needle.  Bore and set the dowel some convenient distance along the scrap (no more than 3-4" I should think.  

Strip the electrical wire and extract one strand and save it in a spring clip (dab the end of the remaining wire with a drop of CA glue).

Dab the middle of the needle with a tiny bit of mineral oil.

Take some length of EZ line and pass it around the needle and then around the dowel on the jig.   Hold it taut with spring clamps.  

Take the fine strand of wire and loop it around the EZ line as close to the needle as you can get it.   Loop both the ends of the wire around the EZ line for 5 or 5 turns, or until it starts looking like the lump of the eye clamp.  Dab a teeny amount of Super-thin CA at the joint (hence the oil on the needle, to prevent sticking).  Let this all set up a bit.

Cut the stub (we nautical types call that the running end) end of the EZ line as close up behind your new splice., the other end can just go free.

Now, if you have lived a good life, given to charity, was nice to your mother, and held you mouth just right, you can slip the monofiliment just into into the eye of the needle.  Then, as you slip the EZ line eye off the needle, the monolfilament will be threaded right through.  Que Voilá as our amies Français say.

In 1/48, I'd probably scour my collection of ex-vetenary needles for something just big enough for doubled EZ Line to pass through.  

Or, you could call on the help of your local microsurgeon. There is suturing material out there that already has the needle attached the suture line, it seems to me to be a little bit of a shortcut.

Here is a demo, you could apply this method to modeling, I would think.

http://plasticsurgery.stanford.edu/education/microsurgery/suturing.html

Thank you CMac. So essentially it's a seize that looks like a splice.

I follow the idea pretty well, and am eager to try it.

I'll post pictures as I go along. Thank you for the advice.

Here's a link that might help you. Scroll down the page and see how this modeler is making his eye splices.

www.modelshipbuilder.com/.../forum_viewtopic.php

That's a pretty nice site!

The challenge I have is that the cables are only 1/4" in reality, so the traditional techniques using thread don't apply. I'm beginning to wonder if a little blob of glue and some careful hand painting may work best.

GMorrison, you're right.  There's no point trying to eyesplice a line that small; there's just no way it can be done without looking way out of scale.  A blob of glue and careful hand painting will do it about as well as it can be done.