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Transcriber's notes:
Corrected spellings
'casualities' to 'casualties'
'Midshipmen's hitch' to 'Midshipman's hitch'
Illustration for Timber Hitch is Fig. 38, not Fig. 32
There is no Fig. 134.
KNOTS, SPLICES AND ROPE WORK
A Practical Treatise
Giving Complete and Simple Directions for Making All the Most Useful
and Ornamental Knots in Common Use, with Chapters on Splicing,
Pointing, Seizing, Serving, etc. Adapted for the use of Travellers,
Campers, Yachtsmen, Boy Scouts, and All Others Having to Use or Handle
Ropes for Any Purpose.
by
A. HYATT VERRILL
Editor Popular Science Dept., "American Boy Magazine."
SECOND REVISED EDITION
Illustrated with 156 Original Cuts Showing How Each Knot, Tie or
Splice is Formed and Its Appearance When Complete.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER I
CORDAGE
Kinds of Rope. Construction of Rope. Strength of Ropes. Weight of
Ropes. Material Used in Making Ropes.
CHAPTER II
SIMPLE KNOTS AND BENDS
Parts of Rope. Whipping and Seizing Rope. Loops. Cuckolds' Necks.
Clinches. Overhand and Figure-eight Knots. Square and Reef Knots.
Granny Knots. Open-hand and Fishermen's Knots. Ordinary Knots and
Weavers' Knots. Garrick Bends and Hawser Hitches. Half-hitches.
CHAPTER III
TIES AND HITCHES
Larks' Heads. Slippery and Half-hitches. Clove Hitches. Gunners' Knots
and Timber Hitches. Twists, Catspaws, and Blackwall Hitches. Chain
Hitch. Rolling and Magnus Hitches. Studding-sail and Gaff-topsail
Halyard Bends. Roband and Fisherman's Hitches.
CHAPTER IV
NOOSES, LOOPS, AND MOORING KNOTS
Waterman's Knot. Larks' Heads with Nooses. Cleat and Wharf Ties.
Bow-line Knots. Loops and Loop Knots.
CHAPTER V
SHORTENINGS, GROMMETS, AND SELVAGEES
Two-, Three-, and Fivefold Shortenings. Single Plaits and Monkey
Chain. Twist Braids and Braiding Leather. Open Chains. Seized and Bow
Shortenings. Sheepshanks and Dogshanks. Grommets. Selvagee Straps and
Selvagee Boards. Flemish and Artificial Eyes. Throat Seizings. Lashed
Splices.
CHAPTER VI
LASHINGS, SEIZINGS, SPLICES, ETC.
Wedding Knots and Rose Lashings. Deadeye and Loop Lashings.
Belaying-pin Splice. Necklace Ties. Close Bands and End Pointing.
Ending Ropes. Short Splices. Long Splices. Eye and Cut Splices.
CHAPTER VII
FANCY KNOTS AND ROPE WORK
Single Crown Knots. Tucked Crowns. Single Wall Knots. Common and
French Shroud Knots. Double Crown and Double Wall Knots. Crowning Wall
Knots. Double Wall and Crown. Manrope Knots. Topsail-halyard Toggles.
Matthew Walker and Stopper Knots. Turks' Heads and Turks' Caps.
Worming, Parcelling, and Serving. Serving Mallet. Half-hitch Work.
Four-strand and Crown Braids. Rope Buckles and Swivels. Slinging Casks
and Barrels. Rope Belting.
INDEX
INTRODUCTION
The history of ropes and knots is so dim and ancient that really
little is known of their origin. That earliest man used cordage of
some kind and by his ingenuity succeeded in tying the material
together, is indisputable, for the most ancient carvings and
decorations of prehistoric man show knots in several forms. Doubtless
the trailing vines and plants first suggested ropes to human beings;
and it is quite probable that these same vines, in their various
twistings and twinings, gave man his first idea of knots.
Since the earliest times knots have been everywhere interwoven with
human affairs; jugglers have used them in their tricks; they have
become almost a part of many occupations and trades, while in song and
story they have become the symbol of steadfastness and strength.
Few realize the importance that knots and cordage have played in the
world's history, but if it had not been for these simple and every-day
things, which as a rule are given far too little consideration, the
human race could never have developed beyond savages. Indeed, I am not
sure but it would be safe to state that the real difference between
civilized and savage man consists largely in the knowledge of knots
and rope work. No cloth could be woven, no net or seine knitted, no
bow strung and no craft sailed on lake or sea without numerous knots
and proper lines or ropes; and Columbus himself would have been far
more handicapped without knots than without a compass.
History abounds with mention of knots, and in the eighth book of
"Odyssey" Ulysses is represented as securing various articles of
raiment by a rope fastened in a "knot closed with Circean art"; and as
further proof of the prominence the ancients gave to knots the famous
Gordian Knot may be mentioned. Probably no one will ever learn just
how this fabulous knot was tied, and like many modern knots it was
doubtless far easier for Alexander to cut it than to untie it.
The old sorcerers used knots in various ways, and the witches of
Lapland sold sailors so-called "Wind Knots," which were untied by the
sailors when they desired a particular wind. Even modern conjurors and
wizards use knots extensively in their exhibitions and upon the
accuracy and manner in which their knots are tied depends the success
of their tricks.
In heraldry many knots have been used as symbols and badges and many
old Coats of Arms bear intricate and handsome knots, or entwined
ropes, emblazoned upon them.
As to the utility of knots and rope work there can be no question. A
little knowledge of knots has saved many a life in storm and wreck,
and if every one knew how to quickly and securely tie a knot there
would be far fewer casualties in hotel and similar fires. In a
thousand ways and times a knowledge of rope and knots is useful and
many times necessary. Many an accident has occurred through a knot or
splice being improperly formed, and even in tying an ordinary bundle
or "roping" a trunk or box few people tie a knot that is secure and
yet readily undone and quickly made. In a life of travel and adventure
in out-of-the-way places, in yachting or boating, in hunting or
fishing, and even in motoring, to command a number of good knots and
splices is to make life safer, easier, and more enjoyable, aside from
the real pleasure one may find in learning the interesting art of
knot-tying.
Through countless ages the various forms of knots and fastenings for
rope, cable, or cord have been developed; the best kinds being
steadily improved and handed down from generation to generation, while
the poor or inferior fastenings have been discarded by those whose
callings required the use of cordage.
Gradually, too, each profession or trade has adopted the knots best
suited to its requirements, and thus we find the Sailor's Knot; the
Weaver's Knot; Fishermen's knots; Builders' knots; Butchers' knots;
and many others which have taken their names from the use to which
they are especially adapted.
In addition to these useful knots, there are many kinds of ornamental
or fancy knots used in ornamenting the ends of ropes, decorating
shrouds of vessels, railings, and similar objects; while certain
braids or plaits, formed by a series of knots, are widely used aboard
ship and on land.
In many cases ropes or cable must be joined in such a way that they
present a smooth and even surface and for such purposes splices are
used, while knots used merely as temporary fastenings and which must
be readily and quickly tied and untied are commonly known as "bends"
or "hitches." Oddly enough, it is far easier to tie a poor knot than a
good one, and in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred the tyro, when
attempting to join two ropes together, will tie either a "slippery" or
a "jamming" knot and will seldom succeed in making a recognized and
"ship-shape" knot of any sort.
The number of knots, ties, bends, hitches, splices, and shortenings in
use is almost unlimited and they are most confusing and bewildering to
the uninitiated. The most useful and ornamental, as well as the most
reliable, are comparatively few in number, and in reality each knot
learned leads readily to another; in the following pages I have
endeavored to describe them in such a manner that their construction
may be readily understood and mastered.
THE AUTHOR.
JANUARY, 1917.
CHAPTER I
CORDAGE
Before taking up the matter of knots and splices in detail it may be
well to give attention to cordage in general. Cordage, in its broadest
sense, includes all forms and kinds of rope, string, twine, cable,
etc., formed of braided or twisted strands. In making a rope or line
the fibres (_A_, Fig. 1) of hemp, jute, cotton, or other material are
loosely twisted together to form what is technically known as a "yarn"
(_B_, Fig. 1). When two or more yarns are twisted together they form a
"strand" (_C_, Fig. 1). Three or more strands form a rope (_D_, Fig.
1), and three ropes form a cable (_E_, Fig. 1). To form a strand the
yarns are twisted together in the opposite direction from that in
which the original fibres were twisted; to form a rope the strands are
twisted in the opposite direction from the yarns of the strands, and
to form a cable each rope is twisted opposite from the twist of the
strands. In this way the natural tendency for each yarn, strand, or
rope to untwist serves to bind or hold the whole firmly together (Fig.
1).
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Construction of rope.]
Rope is usually three-stranded and the strands turn from left to right
or "with the sun," while cable is left-handed or twisted "against the
sun" (_E_, Fig. 1). Certain ropes, such as "bolt-rope" and most
cables, are laid around a "core" (_F_, Fig. 2) or central strand and
in many cases are four-stranded (Fig. 2).
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--Bolt-rope.]
The strength of a rope depends largely upon the strength and length of
the fibres from which it is made, but the amount each yarn and strand
is twisted, as well as the method used in bleaching or preparing the
fibres, has much to do with the strength of the finished line.
Roughly, the strength of ropes may be calculated by multiplying the
circumference of the rope in inches by itself and the fifth part of
the product will be the number of tons the rope will sustain. For
example, if the rope is 5 inches in circumference, 5 X 5 = 25,
one-fifth of which is 5, the number of tons that can safely be carried
on a 5-inch rope. To ascertain the weight of ordinary "right hand"
rope, multiply the circumference in inches by itself and multiply, the
result by the length of rope in fathoms and divide the product by
3.75. For example, to find the weight of a 5-inch rope, 50 fathoms in
length: 5 X 5 = 25; 25 x 50 = 1,250; 1,250 / 3.75 = 333-1/3 lbs. These
figures apply to Manila or hemp rope, which is the kind commonly used,
but jute, sisal-flax, grass, and silk are also used considerably.
Cotton rope is seldom used save for small hand-lines, clothes-lines,
twine, etc., while wire rope is largely used nowadays for rigging
vessels, derricks, winches, etc., but as splicing wire rope is
different from the method employed in fibre rope, and as knots have no
place in wire rigging, we will not consider it.