Turnbuckles are one of the most amazing innovations in the rigging and wire rope industry.
By BOB S.
06/21/07
Turnbuckles are used mostly for rigging and the wire rope industry. A turnbuckle is recognized by a large circular or oblate spheroid shape metal housing which is hollowed out so one can insert bolts or screws with many types of ends. On either side there are deep bored out holes with threads for screws. A turnbuckle is best used to cut out any slack or to increase tension to any given weight depending on the need. Turnbuckles are seen a lot in sailboats. They are used to attach the sail to the mast and adjust the tension accordingly. Turnbuckles can have many combinations of ends such as eye to eye, stub to stub, jaw to jaw, eye to stub, jaw to eye, and many other combinations. There are two main categories of turnbuckles and they are closed body and open body. The closed body is stronger but it's drawback is that you can not see how far the screws in each end are screwed together. Which in some cases will be against the code. The open body although much not as strong is helpful for the opposite reason. Open body turnbuckles are better insofar as to say that they do not hold any water inside them they drain and water is metal's natural enemy. It causes corrosion in any and all metal items over specified amount of time.