Transcriber’s Note: Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.
_“WORK” HANDBOOKS_
KNOTTING AND SPLICING
ROPES AND CORDAGE
KNOTTING
AND SPLICING
ROPES AND CORDAGE
_WITH NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS AND DIAGRAMS_
EDITED BY
PAUL N. HASLUCK
EDITOR OF “WORK” AND “BUILDING WORLD”
AUTHOR OF “HANDBOOKS FOR HANDICRAFTS,” ETC. ETC.
_PHILADELPHIA_
DAVID McKAY, PUBLISHER
610, _SOUTH WASHINGTON SQUARE_
1907
PREFACE.
This Handbook contains, in a form convenient for everyday use, a
comprehensive digest of the information on Knotting and Splicing Ropes
and Cordage, scattered over more than twenty thousand columns of the
journals it is my fortune to edit—and supplies concise information on
the details of the subjects on which it treats.
Readers who may desire additional information respecting special
details of the matters dealt with in this Handbook, or instructions on
kindred subjects, should address a question to The Editor of WORK, La
Belle Sauvage, London, E.C., so that it may be answered in the columns
of that journal.
P. N. HASLUCK.
_La Belle Sauvage, London._
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE
I.—Introduction: Rope Formation 9
II.—Simple and Useful Knots 15
III.—Eye Knots, Hitches, and Bends 24
IV.—Ring Knots and Rope Shortenings 43
V.—Ties and Lashings 59
VI.—Fancy Knots 66
VII.—Rope Splicing 89
VIII.—Working Cordage 96
IX.—Hammock Making 125
X.—Lashings and Ties for Scaffolding 130
XI.—Splicing and Socketing Wire Ropes 133
Index 156
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
FIG. PAGE
1.—Overhand Knot 15
2.—Fourfold Overhand Knot, Loose and Taut 15
3.—Figure-of-eight Knot 16
4.—Sailor’s Knots or Reef Knots 16
5.—Sailor’s Reef Knot, Half-made 17
6.—Granny or Lubber’s Knot 17
7.—Granny Knot, Taut 18
8.—Overhand Rosette Knot or Bow 19
9.—Weaver’s Knot, Half-made 20
10.—Weaver’s Knot, Closed 21
11.—Overhand Knot Joining Two Ropes 21
12.—Flemish Knot Joining Two Ropes 22
13.—Fisherman’s Knot 22
14.—Whipcord Knot 23
15.—Running Knot 24
16.—Fisherman’s Eye Knot 25
17.—Openhand Eye Knot 25
18.—Flemish Eye Knot 26
19.—Crabber’s Eye Knot 26
20.—Bowline Knot 27
21.—Running Bowline on Bight 28
22.—Running Knot with Two Ends—Loose 29
23.—Running Knot with Two Ends—Fastened 29
24.—Two Half Hitches 30
25.—Builder’s Knot 31
26.—Timber Hitch 32
27.—Killick Hitch 33
28.—Magnus Hitch 33
29.—Fisherman’s Bend 34
30.—Rolling Hitch 34
31.—Topsail Halliard Bend 35
32.—Racking Hitch 35
33.—Slippery Hitch 36
34.—Carrick Bend 36
35.—Bending Sheet to Clew of Sail 37
36.—More Secure Sheet Bend 38
37.—Bending Rope to Loop 38
38.—Blackwall Hitch 39
39.—Midshipman’s Hitch 40
40.—Marlinespike Hitch 40
41.—Regulating Lashing 41
42.—Stationer’s Knot 41
43.—Slippery Ring Knot 43
44.—Boat Knot 44
45.—Lark Boat Knot 44
46.—Lark’s Head 45
47.—Lark’s Head Stoppered 45
48.—Lark’s Head with Crossed Ends 46
49.—Double Lark’s Head 46
50.—Treble Lark’s Head 47
51.—Backhanded Sailor’s Knot 47
52.—Capstan Knot 48
53.—Another Form of Sailor’s Knot 48
54.—Gunner’s Knot 49
55.—Beginning of Artillery Knot 50
56.—Artillery Knot Finished 50
57.—Bend Shortening 51
58.—Chain Knot 51
59.—Beginning Chain Knot 52
60.—Twist Knot 53
61.—Beginning Twist Knot 53
62.—Sheepshanks 54
63.—Sheepshanks Fastened 54
64.—Sheepshanks Knotted 54
65.—Sheepshanks Knotted 55
66.—Boat Knot Shortening or Sheepshanks Toggled 56
67.—Knot Shortening 56
68.—Beginning Knot Shortening 57
69.—Double Chain Knot 57
70.—Wedding Knot 59
71.—Chain Knot Lashed to Spar 59
72.—Improved Chain Knot 60
73.—Cross Lashing 60
74.—Necklace Tie 61
75.—Packing Knot 61
76.—Finishing off Whipping 62
77.—Finishing off Whipping 62
78.—Nippering 63
79.—West Country Whipping 63
80.—Catspaw 64
81.—Beginning Catspaw 64
82.—Securing Block to Rope 65
83.—Wall Knot 66
84.—Stopper Knot 66
85.—Beginning Crowning 67
86.—Crowning Complete 67
87.—Beginning Manrope Knot 68
88.—Manrope Knot 68
89.—Tack Knot 68
90.—Matthew Walker Knot 69
91.—Matthew Walker Knot 70
92.—Beginning Diamond Knot 70
93.—Diamond Knot before Hauling Taut 71
94.—Single Diamond Knot 72
95.—Double Diamond Knot 72
96.—Shroud Knot 73
97.—Beginning Turk’s Head 74
98.—Turk’s Head 75
99.—Single Pitcher Knot 77
100.—Beginning Single Pitcher Knot 77
101.—Pitcher with Rope Handle 77
102.—Double Pitcher Knot 79
103.—Beginning Double Pitcher Knot 79
104.—Can or Jar in Sling 80
105.—Beginning Can Sling 81
106.—Shamrock Knot 82
107.—Beginning Shamrock Knot 82
108.—Another Way of making Shamrock Knot 83
109.—Beginning Dalliance Knot 84
110.—Next Stage in Dalliance Knot 85
111.—Davenport Brothers’ Knot 86
112.—Bellringer’s Knot 87
113.—Beginning Short Splice 89
114.—Marlinespike 90
115.—Pricker 90
116.—Long Rope Splice 91
117.—Cut Splice 92
118.—Beginning Cut Splice 93
119.—Eye Splice 93
120.—Splicing Grommet 94
121.—Finishing off Grommet 95
122.—Flemish Eye 96
123.—Grommet 97
124.—Selvagee 98
125.—Selvagee fastening Block to Rope 99
126.—Worming, Parcelling, and Marling 100
127.—Serving 100
128.—Belaying 101
129.—Fairleader 101
130.—Belaying Pin 102
131.—Toggle 103
132.—Another Form of Toggle 104
133.—Fender on Side of Boat 104
134.—Fender with Ropeyarn Heart 105
135.—Thimble Side View 106
136.—Thimble Cross Section 106
137.—Mousing a Hook 106
138.—Stropping a Block 107
139.—Pointing a Rope 108
140.—Another Method of Pointing a Rope 108
141.—Mainstay 109
142.—Shear-legs 110
143.—Wall Knot 111
144.—Crown 111
145.—Crown Hauled Taut 111
146.—Manrope Knot 112
147.—Pointing End of Yoke Line 112
148.—Fastening off Yoke Line 113
149.—Yoke Line Complete 114
150.—Stern Ladder 114
151.—Round of Stern Ladder 114
152.—Single Rope Ladder with Chocks 115
153.—Toe Chock for Rope Ladder 116
154.—Rope Ladder with Rungs 117
155.—Wood Rung 118
156.—Pilot Ladder 119
157.—Side Piece of Pilot Ladder 120
158.—Beginning Mat 121
159.—Mat Making 123
160.—Netting Needle 125
161.—Netting Needle 125
162.—Mesh Stick 125
163.—Mesh Stick Cross Section 125
164.—Loop in Meshing 126
165.—First Stage in Meshing 126
166.—Second Stage in Meshing 127
167.—Third Stage in Meshing 127
168.—Chain of Meshes 128
169.—Beginning of Cross Netting 129
170.—Hammock Clew 129
171.—Rope Lashing for Poles and Ledgers 130
172.—Chain Lashing for Poles and Ledgers 130
173.—Rope Lashing for Putlogs 130
174.—Poles Lashed and Wedged, with Footing 131
175.—Slinging Plank for Use as Stage 132
176.—Boatswain’s Chair 132
177.—Colliery Band Rope Driving System 134
178.—“Marrying” a Wire Rope Splice 135
179.—Method of Serving Wire Rope 136
180.—Partly-finished Splice 137
181.—Wire Rope ready for Splicing 137
182.—Right-handed Splice, First Tuck 138
183.—Right-handed Splice, all Ends Tucked Once 139
184.—Left-handed Splice, First Tuck 140
185.—Left-handed Splice, all Ends Tucked Once 141
186.—Long Splice, all Ends ready for Tucking 145
187.—Making Round Joint 146
188.—Half-round Top-Swage 147
189.—Wire Rope Clamp 148
190.—Link Socket 148
191.—Side View of Socket 149
192.—Socket Opened Out 149
193.—Socket in Wire Rope 149
194.—Hooped Winding Rope Socket 150
195.—Preparing Bulb on Wire Rope End 151
196.—Finished Bulb on Wire Rope End 151
197.—Set-hammer for Tightening Hoops 152
198.—Solid Socket with Closed Ends 152
199.—Solid Socket with Closed Ends 152
200.—Plan of Solid Socket with Open End 153
201.—Elevation of a Solid Socket with Open End 153
202.—Another Elevation of a Solid Socket with Open End 153
203.—Riveted Flat Rope Socket 154
204.—Cramped Flat Rope Socket 154
205.—Socket Cramp 155
206.—Riveting Spikes 155
207.—Riveting Spikes 155
208.—Rivet 155
KNOTTING AND SPLICING ROPES AND CORDAGE.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION: ROPE FORMATION.
Knotting is an ancient device with which very early inhabitants of
this earth must have been acquainted. From the beginning, mankind must
always have used some kind of knot to join animal sinews, plant fibres,
or hide strips which, in ancient days, were the prototypes of the
varieties of cordage now employed.
A large number of knots has been invented by the skill of man, and on
their strength and correct tying depend the lives of thousands and
thousands of workmen—seamen, building trade operatives, etc., day by
day. The importance of being able to make the knot best suited for the
occasion both rapidly and correctly may come in a new light to some
when it is pointed out that both lives and property have over and over
again been sacrificed to ill-made knots; and this little volume is put
forward in the belief that few things better repay the workman’s time
and trouble in learning than the manipulation of ropes and cordage.
Cordage is used almost daily by everyone in some form or other, but
comparatively few can handle it methodically. Men break their nails and
teeth gnawing at their own knots endeavouring to untie them, and time
and material are wasted. Time spent in learning a few of the simple
bends and hitches, reliable under strain and easy to unbend when the
strain is released, would never be regretted. It is not necessary for
a landsman to learn all the numerous uses to which rope is put, but a
knowledge of common “bends” is an inestimable convenience, if not a
necessity.
The security of a knot ought not to be, as many seem to think, in the
number of turns or hitches in its composition, but in the efficacy of
the nip. A “bend” or “hitch” must be so formed that the part of rope
under strain nips some portion of the knot, either against itself
or the object to which it is attached; and in learning a bend, or
impressing it upon one’s memory, it will be found most helpful to
notice particularly the nip of each separate one as it is studied.
Rope, though usually of hemp, is made of other materials for certain
purposes. Coir rope (cocoa-nut fibre), being light and buoyant, is
useful for warps, rocket lines, life-buoy lines, and drift-nets.
Manilla grass is adapted for reef points, yachts’ hawsers, and wherever
tar would be injurious. Hide is required for wheel-ropes, or where
great strength with pliability and small circumference is needed.
Cotton is serviceable for fancy work, etc. The “yarns” are formed by
twisting the hemp right-handed; the “strands,” by twisting or laying
up the yarns left-handed; and the rope, by laying up the strands
right-handed.
Three ropes laid up left-handed form what is known as a cable-laid
rope; four-stranded ropes are laid round a heart. Ropes are sometimes
laid left-handed, but if the strands are to be laid left-handed the
yarns are laid right-handed. If the parts of hemp, etc., be twisted
more than is necessary to hold them together, strength is lost. Upon
following the course of a yarn in a rope it will be found that, by this
alternate laying, it runs nearly straight with the direction of the
rope’s length.
A three-stranded rope will bear a greater strain in comparison with
its size than any other of the same material; cable-laid ropes and
four-stranded ropes are, roughly speaking, about one-fifth weaker. Rope
is measured by its circumference, and is laid up in lengths of 113
fathoms, sizes varying up to 28 in.; but it is not usually made up in
coils when the size exceeds 5 in. Very small ropes are distinguished
by their yarns rather than their size; thus sailors speak of nine-,
twelve-, and eighteen-yarn stuff, which is commonly called “seizing
stuff.”
If the fibres of which a rope is composed were laid parallel to one
another and fastened at the two ends, the combined strength of these
fibres would be utilised to the full; in other words, they lose
strength by being twisted or “laid up.” But, on the other hand, the
length of the fibres being at most but a few feet, their usefulness in
this state is very limited, and the inconvenience of using them so is
prohibitive. For this reason the fibres are first twisted into “yarns”;
these, again, are laid up into “strands,” a strand being formed of
several yarns; and, finally, three or more strands are formed into a
rope. As twisting diminishes the strength of a rope, it is important
that the yarns be carefully laid up, so as to bring an even strain on
every part. It should not be laid up too hard—that is, it should only
have sufficient twist in it to prevent the fibres from being drawn out
without breaking.
“Hawser-laid” ropes are made of three strands laid right-handed,
or “with the sun,” as it is termed. “Shroud-laid” are made of four
strands laid right-handed. A “cable-laid” rope is made of three
hawser-laid ropes laid up left-handed, and therefore contains nine
strands. Obviously the size of a rope is regulated by the quantity of
yarns composing the strands, and not by the number of strands that it
contains.
With regard to the weight of ropes, it may be said that ropes of all
kinds are usually measured by their circumference. The weight of clean,
dry, hemp rope in pounds per fathom is one-fourth of the square of the
circumference in inches; for example, a 3-in. hemp rope (about 1 in.
in diameter) weighs ¼ × 32^2 = 2¼ lb. per fathom (6 ft.). A flat hemp
rope, with a width of about four times the thickness, weighs in pounds
per fathom about twice the square of the circumference in inches; for
example, a 3-in. by ¾-in. flat hemp rope will weigh about 2 × 7 = 14
lb. per fathom.
Round wire ropes weigh in pounds per fathom seven-eighths of the square
of the circumference in inches; for example, a 3-in. wire rope weighs
about ⅞ × 3^2 = 7⅞ lb. per fathom. A flat wire rope weighs in pounds
per fathom ten times the sectional area in square inches; for example,
a flat wire rope, 3 in. by ¾ in. = say 2 sq. in. area, will weigh about
10 × 2 = 20 lb. per fathom.
The maximum safe load on a rope depends on many circumstances, such as
quality, age and dryness of rope, nature of load, mode of lifting, etc.
Approximately, the safe load on a new hemp rope in hundredweights with
direct lift is three times the weight in pounds per fathom. On a sound
old rope fall one-half the square of the circumference is sufficient
load. A Bessemer steel wire rope will safely carry in hundredweights
three times the square of its circumference in inches, and a crucible
steel wire rope four times the square of its circumference. For hemp
ropes the minimum diameter of sheave should be circumference of rope +
2, and for wire ropes the diameter of sheave in inches should be equal
to circumference of rope in sixteenths.
The principle of rope making is very readily shown by holding the ends
of a piece of twine or whipcord, about a foot long, in the hands and
twisting it so as to increase the lay. If the twine be now slackened
by bringing the hands nearer to one another, a loop will first form in
the middle of the twine, and it will continue to twist itself up into a
compact cord which will not unlay, as the tension to which the strands
have been subjected causes friction between them, which holds them
together. In other words, the tendency of each part singly to unlay,
acting in opposite directions, is the means of keeping them together
when joined.
Some very interesting experiments were made by Réaumur, the purposes of
which were to ascertain the loss of strength occasioned by laying up
the fibres of various substances, one or two of which are given.
1. A thread, consisting of 832 fibres of silk, each of which carried 1
dram and 18 grains, broke with a weight of 5 lbs., though the sum of
the absolute strength of the fibres is 104 drams, or upwards of 8 lbs.
2 oz.
2. Three threads were twisted together, their mean strength being
nearly 8 lbs. They broke with 17½ lbs., whereas they should have
carried 24 lbs.
These experiments prove that though convenience and portability are
gained by twisting the fibres, there is a great loss in the strength of
the resultant rope.
In speaking of the size of a rope, the circumference and not the
diameter is alluded to. Thus, a three-inch rope would be slightly less
than an inch in diameter.
In practising knotting it is as well to use a tolerably firm material,
such as whipcord, for small common knots, or, still better, line used
for sea fishing. Either can be tied up and undone over and over again
without injuring it, which is not the case with twine; it is also more
easy to see which way the parts of a knot lie in the harder material,
and then to find out whether the turns are properly made or not. For
more complicated knots, particularly those where the strands of the
rope have to be unlaid to form the knot, such as a wall knot (p. 66)
or a Matthew Walker (p. 70), it is advisable to use three strands of
fishing line, each about a foot long. If a “seizing” (a seizing is
shown in Fig. 57, p. 51) be put round them in the centre, so as to hold
them firmly together, a good representation of a rope with the strands
unlaid ready for working is obtained. A knot can be made and unmade as
often as required in this way, without detriment to the strands; but
the strands of a rope, owing to their loose nature, will seldom bear
knotting more than once or twice. If desired, the knots can be made
as above described and kept for future reference. In string also it
is better to use hard laid stuff at first, but when these matters are
thoroughly understood knots can be made on any sort of cordage without
difficulty.