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How To Make Rope: Hickory Withes. Select A Green Branch of Mockernut, Shagbark, or Pignut

This document provides instructions for making rope using natural fibers. It explains that ropes are composed of strands twisted together, and strands are made up of twisted fibers or yarns. The key steps are to bundle fibers into three strands, twist each strand in the opposite direction of the previous one to form a rope, and add more fibers to the strands as you twist to maintain an even diameter. With practice twisting fibers by hand, one can make functional ropes to serve similar purposes as commercially produced ropes.

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133 views

How To Make Rope: Hickory Withes. Select A Green Branch of Mockernut, Shagbark, or Pignut

This document provides instructions for making rope using natural fibers. It explains that ropes are composed of strands twisted together, and strands are made up of twisted fibers or yarns. The key steps are to bundle fibers into three strands, twist each strand in the opposite direction of the previous one to form a rope, and add more fibers to the strands as you twist to maintain an even diameter. With practice twisting fibers by hand, one can make functional ropes to serve similar purposes as commercially produced ropes.

Uploaded by

nightclown
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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How to Make Rope

February is a particularly eventful time for all Woodcrafters. During this month
were born Washington and Lincoln, whose influence has been so great in
American life.

Both were trained in the outdoors and knew how to take care of themselves in it.
They had the seeing eye, the hearing ear, and the thinking hand. To them a
jackknife and an ax  were fundamental tools with which they could build a cabin
and make a table, a spoon, or almost anything they required, from the woods
around them.

Handicraft is fine training for young people and the finest  recreation for older
people.

We have all heard of withes. Can you make one?

Hickory Withes. Select a green branch of Mockernut, Shagbark, or Pignut


hickory, of diameter to give strength required. One-half inch is a practical size for
hand work. The longer, straighter, and more uniform the branch, the better it will
serve your purpose. Carefully trim off all lateral twigs if any exist. Holding the
branch firmly in both hands, bend it from butt to tip and in every direction, gently
at first to avoid kinks. Continue this "working up" process until the entire stick is
supple, taking care not to leave stiff or unworked sections.

Now tie it into an overhand knot, large at first, then reduce the size of the bight by
sliding along the end and standing (tip and butt). Continue to wrap the ends
around the original loop until they are used up. A good withe when completed
should have three strands in every part, be free from kinks and nearly circular.
Such a withe will withstand an outward strain of from 100 to 1,000 pounds.

We know that withes (sometimes spelled wythes) have been in use by civilized
peoples for the past four hundred years, and beyond a doubt they were used by
the ancient tribes. Bacon relates the story of a condemned Irish rebel early in
Queen Elizabeth's reign, or about 1560, who requested of the deputy that he "be
hanged in a withe, not a halter." Withes in those days were made of willow or
osier. The hickories are American trees and supply our best material where great
strength is required. Ax and hammer handles, as well as wooden axles,
whiffletrees, and ox yokes, are examples. This wood will not, however, withstand
exposure to the weather.
A Hickory Withe Made By Frank Stoll

The uses of withes are too many and varied to enumerate in detail, but in general
they have served the purposes which ropes and iron bands now serve. A few
suggestions follow: For hoops or bails on tubs, pails, or baskets; as a binder for
the top of a tripod for open-fire kettle, poles for tepee, or for derrick; for holding
banisters and railings in place or for shackles in the game of "Stung."

Woodcrafters might try substituting withes wherever ropes are needed as


binders, and report the uses.

How to Make a Rope

By Frank Stoll
Did you ever make a rope? It is an ambition worthy of every Woodcrafter. "But,"
you say, "how can we make ropes? The materials from which they are made are
found in distant lands." Commercially and generally speaking, that is true,
although cotton, of which the United States produces 60% of the world supply, is
used extensively in the manufacture of cords and lines. Cotton is perhaps the
most flexible of the commercial materials and is sufficiently strong for the smaller
cordage. Common hemp is superior, possessing the combination of strength,
flexibility, and durability.

Custom among sailors has decreed that the term "rope" indicates that the
diameter is one inch or more. Other authorities agree that the diameter may be
one-half inch or more. However, we hear cords of one-quarter inch diameter
called "rope."

The principal rope materials are: common hemp, Manila hemp, sisal hemp,
Phormium hemp, Sunn hemp, Jubbulpore hemp, jute, coir, flax, agave fiber, and
cotton, all of which are vegetable.

A rope is composed of a certain number of strands, the strand itself being made
up of a number of single threads of yarn. Three strands twisted together form a
"hawserlaid" rope. The prepared fiber is twisted or spun to the right hand to form
the yarn; the required number of yarns receive a left-hand twist to form a strand;
three strands twisted to the right make a hawser; three hawsers twisted to the left
form a cable. Thus the twist in each operation is in a different direction from that
of the preceding one. The yield of rope from a given length of yarn is about three-
fourths of the length of the yarn composing it.

The material from which you make your rope is, for the purpose of learning, of
less importance than the method employed. Almost any available fibrous material
will serve your purpose. The young, inner bark of most shrubs and trees is very
adaptable. The accompanying illustration is made from such bark of the hickory,
is about the color of Manila paper, is reasonably flexible and very strong. The
length of the individual fibers is of little consequence, since in hand-made rope
additional pieces are twisted into the "strand" as required to maintain a uniform
size.

Having selected your material, make three little bundles of uniform size. Around
each bundle, near one end, wrap a single thread of the material. Now place the
three bundles parallel, with binding threads at the same point, and again wrap a
thread around the three directly outside of the first three threads. These bundles
are your strands. Holding this foundation firmly in the left hand, with thumb and
finger tips at the band, take one strand in the right hand and twist it to the left;
meanwhile wrap it outside of the other two strands to the right. Hold this one in
place with the thumb of the left hand, while the same twisting and wrapping
operation is practiced on strand number two. Now hold the two in place, retaining
the twist, while the third strand is twisted and wrapped. All that now remains is to
repeat the process, introducing additional threads to the strands as others are
used up in your progress.

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