Wire Rope Sling Capping

Resin filled sleeves used as part of safer, stronger, easier Flemish Eye terminations are not a new concept. The first systems evolved in the late 1970’s and saw patent approvals in the early 1980’s. One such system developed by Martin Black Wire Ropes, worked alongside WIRELOCK® using one of our resins to patent the MAKLOCK® system. The great bonus of this system was that with a normal Flemish Eye the terminal efficiency was around 70/75%, with a press applied ferrule this increased to 90%, but with the resin filled sleeve terminal efficiency of 100% was achieved. The system was used successfully for a short time but because of general inertia and the current standards – PM20 – it did not go into general use.

In the early 2000’s a single innovative operator Franklin Offshore, revisited this technology realising the potential that it offered it, and its customers. They engaged the skills of the WIRELOCK® business to work closely with them to establish the perfect product for their own development of this technology. This culminated in the development and patenting of their very own system of resin filled Flemish Eye sleeve, a termination called Flemish-Lock®. For this system, and this system alone, WIRELOCK® supply a special formulation MAKLOCK® resin system. MAKLOCK® resin has been supplied and used in Franklin’s highly successful system, for over 10 years, the system has Type Approval of both Lloyds Register and ABS. Flemish-Lock® is currently the world’s leading resin filled termination system.

The success of the Franklin Offshore Flemish-Lock® system has inevitably lead to the creation of interest of others who sought to re-engineer this process to provide their own terminations. WIRELOCK® Sling was launched as a product offering for general use with resin filled sleeve terminations. It was based around the original Martin Black system technology and is a broad-spectrum product that is fit for use in varying formats of sleeve application. WIRELOCK® Sling is only the resin fill element of end terminations that our customers design, test and deliver themselves.

In 2015 the use of resin filled sleeves was officially introduced as an approved method of termination under IMCA notes of guidance – note of guidance reference IMCA 179.