HAMMOCK MAKING.
This chapter will describe the netting and slinging of hammocks.
[Illustration: Fig. 160.—Netting Needle.]
[Illustration: Fig. 161.—Netting Needle.]
Hammock making requires a netting needle of one of the shapes shown by
Figs. 160 and 161. It may be made from a piece of 3/16-in. pearwood,
beech, or boxwood about 8 in. long by ¾ in. wide. In needles as shown
by Fig. 161 the cord is wound round as when filling an ordinary
shuttle, and for Fig. 160 the cord is brought round the end at A up one
side, round the pin at B, and back the same side, the process being
repeated on the other side of the needle.
[Illustration: Figs. 162.—Mesh Stick.]
[Illustration: Figs. 163.—Mesh Stick Cross Section.]
A mesh stick (Fig. 162) is made of hardwood or bone about 5 in. long
and of an oval shape (Fig. 163); it may be about ¾ in. by ¼ in. in
section. At one end of the string to be used for the net tie a loop
A (Fig. 164), and place the knot on a nail or hook fixed in some
convenient position, as at A (Fig. 165). Place the mesh stick under
the loop as at B, put the cord under it, then pass the needle through
the loop and pull the cord tight. Now place the thumb of the left hand
on the cord beyond the loop as at A (Fig. 166), and with a turn of the
wrist of the right hand throw the cord to the position shown at B, then
pass the needle under the loop C, then through the bight of B, and down
as at D, and draw the knot tight, which should then assume the shape
shown by Fig. 167. The cord must be held firmly with the thumb at A
(Fig. 166) when pulling up the knots, as on this depends the uniformity
of the meshes.
[Illustration: Fig. 164.—Loop in Meshing.]
[Illustration: Fig. 165.—First Stage in Meshing.]
To continue the netting the stick is withdrawn and placed under A (Fig.
167), and the needle is then passed under the stick as in Fig. 165, and
brought through the loop B (Fig. 167), and the process shown by Fig.
166 is repeated to form another mesh, this being continued to make a
chain of meshes, say forty-five or fifty (Fig. 168), sufficient for
the width of the hammock. The loop A (Figs. 164, 165, and 168) that
was first tied is then untied, and it will then be found that all the
meshes are equal in size.
[Illustration: Fig. 166.—Second Stage in Meshing.]
Next the chain is opened out at right angles to the line in which it
was made, as shown by Fig. 169, and working across is begun by making a
mesh at A (Fig. 169), then at B, C, and so on, until the length of the
first lot of meshes has been reached, when the net is turned over and
another row of meshes worked until the one under A has been reached;
then the net is turned again and another row worked, and so on.
The meshes are worked as shown by Fig. 166, but at first, to ensure
uniformity, it will be well to put the loops D, E, F, and G (Fig. 169)
separately on the hook or nail as the meshes under them are made, but
after a little practice a cord may be reeved through the top line of
meshes, tied into a loop, and passed over the knee and then over the
foot, as the work progresses.
[Illustration: Fig. 167.—Third Stage of Meshing.]
[Illustration: Fig. 168.—Chain of Meshes.]
There are three ways of forming the ends. An ash stick may be used
at each end to which the end meshes are looped and tied, and a piece
of codline may be passed through the side meshes on each side and
attached to the ends of the sticks. At each end a stout cord is secured
to the stick in the form of a triangle for hanging the hammock. The
second plan is to tie a number of cords together by doubling them in
the centre and forming a loop, and each of the free ends, known as
“nettles,” is attached to one of the meshes of the net. The third and
perhaps the best plan is to reeve a cord about the size of a little
finger through the end meshes and splice it into the form of a grommet
as shown by Fig. 170. A thimble A is fixed in the end to which the
supporting cords are attached, and the cords which are reeved through
the side meshes are spliced into the eye B at C. When these “clews” are
used the net must be longer than for the sticks or nettles.
[Illustration: Fig. 169.—Beginning of Cross Netting.]
[Illustration: Fig. 170.—Hammock Clew.]