Winching: Steel vs. Plasma

"Dave Martin" wrote in message
...
Following this thread with interest and I have spoken
to the UK importers.

Some experimental work has been done in the UK. One
identified problem is that the standard winch guillotines
do not cut the plasma cable as efficiently as they
do steel cable and that a strand or strands remain.


UHMWPE rope is very resistant to cuts - which is a good thing except when
you want the guillotine to cut it fast. Spectra is used in body armor that
protects against cutting weapons.

Taking advantage of the low melting point with a hot-blade guillotine seems
the way to go. Just make a steel blade and mount it solidly next to the
rope path. Use a rubber block to push the rope into the hot blade. Heat
the blade with current from the starting battery. A direct shunt across the
battery should heat the blade to 500C in a second or two.

Bill Daniels