Rigging or Wire Tension Gauge

thingiverse

This is a straightforward "Loos" type tension gauge that I created to set the rigging on my yacht. The main body is constructed in one piece on a standard 200mm bed. The springs can be any common type of spring with roughly the right size and tension, as the gauge will need calibration in any case. To calibrate the gauge, I used the "wire stretch" method (1mm stretch over 2meter length of 1X19 wire is 5% of breaking load) and marked the gauge at 5% and 10%. After testing, I found that to be accurate enough to extrapolate and mark higher tensions. There can be a very high load on the wire bending lugs, so I added holes for screws to increase strength. For better results, I suggest using a high number of perimeters and top and bottom layers. However, I discovered that PLA could withstand pretty high loads (at least 15% breaking load) with just three perimeters and layers, and no reinforcing screws fitted.