This Project was carried out by Team Veder’s Vassels in the 2025 Semester 2, SMR2 Project group. The team: Alexandra Banias | Isaï Borrias | Aaron McGlynn
PRESS RELEASE
THIMBLE FLEX
Hendrik Veder Group announces a new machine for the industry of steel wire and fibre products to enable the automation of heavy-duty thimble linking to contribute to a safer working environment.
Modernising thimble operations: safer, faster, and built for heavy-duty steel rigging environments.
24th of June 2025
Hendrik Veder Group, a leading European supplier of lifting and hoisting solutions, is developing a new machine to automate the heavy-duty linking of steel thimbles in master links. This innovative tool is designed to enhance safety, precision, and speed for rigging operations involving steel wire and fiber rope. Built for industrial durability, the machine automates the previously manual process of opening and positioning thimbles, significantly reducing physical strain on technicians while maintaining compliance with EU safety standards.
In the current manual workflow, technicians must use hammers and pipes to open steel thimbles, which is both physically demanding and time-consuming.
The use of hand tools for prying open steel thimbles introduces a high risk of injury, particularly to the hands and wrists, due to the significant force required. This manual approach often results in inconsistent thimble shapes and positioning, which can compromise the reliability and safety of the lifting assemblies they form part of. Additionally, the process is time-consuming and labor-intensive, slowing production and increasing operational costs. Over time, the repetitive and force-heavy nature of the task contributes to operator fatigue and raises the risk of long-term strain injuries among skilled workers.
OVERVIEW
Hendrik-Veder Group are a steel wire and fibre rope company, they deliver such products for the purposes of nautical useage. The are the largest supplier of steel ropes in europe and one of the largest globally.
PROBLEM
When creating these ropes, a steel thumble is required so as to strengthen the rope and protect it and the object it is hooked around. These thimbles need to be bent open to place the rope around. Bending the thimbles takes an enourmous amount of force, particularly for the larger sizes. Currently they are bent open by hand, which is extremely strenuous on the workers, to the point of injury in some cases. The company would like to have this process automated by a machine.
Solution
Due to the immense forces required to bend these products open a half scale system was designed to prove the concept that this process could be automated, while staying safe for those in the design process.
the process of the system is fairly simplistic in operation.
press “start” button on the screen, this will return the device to it’s home position, from here there are 9 steps each with buttons that will be explained below:
- This button allows the user to choose which size of thimble they are operating with. after adjustments are made the top of the machine can be lifted off and thimbles can be loaded into the queue system
- This button opens the masterlink clamp, the side door can now be slid out and masterlink can be placed inside the jaws.
- Once both doors are closed, this button will activate the piston to push the thimble into the loading area
- The clamp that holds the thimble in place is tightend ensuring the thimble wont move during the bending process
- The base plate holding the thimble in place is withdrawn now that the thimble is secured.
- The opening thimble is extended to bend the thimble to the open position.
- The masterlink is pulled into place aronud the, now open, thimble
- The piston to bend the thimble closed is extended
- the thimble clamp is released and the masterlink clamp is pushed towards the system door, the clamp is then released so that the thimble is ready to be taken out of the system
Notes:
- the system will completely stop all motion if either door is removed, this is due to contact switches that hold the system in place if they are released.
- steps 3-8 can be repeated to allow multiple thimbles to be loaded onto one single masterlink
Customer Quote:
“At Hendrik Veder Group, we are excited to share the results of a successful collaboration with a group of talented students, who have developed a promising concept for automating the heavy-duty linking of steel thimbles into master links. Their solution addresses exactly the challenges we aimed to solve: improving safety, reducing physical strain, and increasing consistency and efficiency in rigging operations involving steel wire and fibre rope.
The concept they delivered aligns perfectly with our vision and demonstrates both creativity and technical insight. It offers a solid foundation for eliminating the manual use of hammers and pipes, a physically demanding and injury-prone process, while ensuring compliance with EU safety standards.
We’re now taking the next steps to further refine and develop this concept into a fully operational, industrial-grade machine. There’s still work to be done to perfect the design, but this collaboration has brought us significantly closer to a safer and more efficient solution for our industry.”
-Enzo Visser
Quote from project lead:
“Leading the project of the thimble bending and assembly machine was an incredible opportunity to turn an industrial challenge into an automated solution. This project pushed our technical boundaries and strengthened our collaboration as a team, especially given the reduced number of teammates. Designing a complete proof of concept of a machine and being able to implement it has definitely strengthened the team’s confidence in their individual abilities. Being part of Veder’s Vassals provided the perfect environment to innovate, learn, and grow, not just as student engineers, but also as designers and problem-solvers”
-Alexandra Banias
FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS
- The system is currently only designed as an example, it operates to bend open 3D printed replicas of the real Thimbles. To implement for a real design the frame would need to be build of steel and additional reinforcements could be needed to withstand the additional forces. Hydraulics would need to replace the pneumatics as the pneumatics would not be able to supply enough force for the metal thimbles.
- The system currently uses 3 seperate plugs for power, the internal wiring should be reworked to make these only one plug
- the system needs to be scaled up, the example thimbles are nly half the size of the real ones.
FAQ
- What was the main goal of the project?
The main Goal of this project was to ensure that we could automate the human process of bending open the thimbles and add safety features to ensure injury was avoided when carrying out process
- How does your system ensure safe operation?
Our system ensures safe operation by being completely sealed off while in operation. If either door is opened the system comes to a complete halt
- What Additional features have you included outwith initial Customer Requests?
We have included a system in which multiple thimbles can be queued so that the system does not have to be opened and refilled after every cycle
- How do you ensure that the system is operable with mutliple sizes of thimbles and master links?
The whole system is adjustable to ensure that each thimble can fit. The bending pistons to bend the thimble open have ball joints on their heads to ensure that they always apply even pressure regardless of how they contact the thimble. The masterlink clamp is a vice, ensureing it can be tightened until it is secure.
- Does your machine meet customer requests?
Our system does not match original requests as it had to be scaled down to be completed within time requirements of the semester. However, after scope had been adjusted the system we designed met the scope of the project.