What's with my line/knots?

[Hairy_Harold]

I'm trying to tie a 70 turn bimini twist on my castway 20lbs braid and it seems to break easier then my 6lbs fireline (with same knot). I know that the castway is 20lbs tested but is 6lbs fireline really that strong or is there something wrong with my knots? It breaks dead at the top of where the line turns back over itself every time I can break it with my hands but the fireline cut into my hands (proper cut me).

[bennykenny]

stop doing so many turns its not needed, the more turns you put the weaker it gets, there was a thread on here not so long ago about it being tested my a guy in america who was writing for a fishing mag , he found that between 12 and 20 turns was the strongest, cheers bennykenny

[Hairy_Harold]

I was just going by this guide http://www.ausfish.com.au/harro/knots.shtml

[WestOzDesertFisher]

Click on the link in this thread mate.

http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?t=138344

[bennykenny]

thanks for finding that westoz, this article is a must read.

[Hairy_Harold]

Yep well that'll stuf me, at least my arm won't want to fall off after practicing 12 turn biminis compared to 70 turn ones :|. Only started tying them last night and found them really easy compared to what I thought i'd be dealing with. Thanks for that guys shall have to see how they fair (for me)

[Tim_N]

The big no-no when tying a Bimini is applying tension at the top of the knot when starting the spiral down. DO NOT apply any tension from the top but rather spread the legs (if I'm allowed to say that) to gain tension to start the downward spiral.
If you pull from the top, you will apply undue pressure, usually sideways, which compromises the braid.
If you find your knot is breaking here, and this is the usual place for a Bimini to fail, then it is because you are being too hard on it and applying pressure from the wrong places. Work from the bottom up.
Also when winding down, the tag end tension on the downward spiral needs not to be great, so when feeding the tag for the spiral, do so under very light load.
A 72 turn Bimini in Castaway tied correctly will not let you down.
Tim