Reverse twist cordage

[theamazingdrew]

Thanks Drew - it was the result of drinking beer while making nunchakus on power planers , about 40 years ago. Took it right to the bone - had to go to a plastic surgeon. Didn't hurt much until the next day.

Doc

damn bro
beer+any powertools=somthing hurting the next day
I have had my fair share of drunken accidents!

 

[DOC-CANADA]

Great tutorial Doc! This has been on my list for a while, and for some reason I've avoided it. I'll have to give it a whirl and it looks easier than I feared. Making cordage from jeans and other materials is another great skill from readily available materials.

I know how important cordage is and I haven't bothered to learn it yet, so I carry quite a bit with me in the form of 550 cord, jute twine, dental floss and sometimes braided masons twine (I use this a lot when teaching skills as you can get it in a variety of fluorescent colors which makes it easier for everyone to see).

Thanks for your help! This should keep me busy for a while.

Thanks kage and everyone else.

I don't know if anybody noticed or not, but this thread was originally posted almost 2 years ago.

Doc

 

[DOC-CANADA]

Hey MyNamesUsed,

That's basically the way you start a Flemish bow string.

Doc

 

[August West]

Borrowed my buddys cell phone, my camera will be here tuesday. Anywho this is what I have been up to.

 

[DOC-CANADA]

Borrowed my buddys cell phone, my camera will be here tuesday. Anywho this is what I have been up to.

Looks good, Chris. Gets addictive, doesn't it?

When I first learned, I was making cordage out of strips of paper cut from tv guides, strips of paper towels, strips of plastic bags - you name it.

A couple things I should mention, for people doing cordage for the first time - the reason the plied cordage doesn't come apart when you hold it up, is because the individual plies are twisted one way and the main cordage is twisted the opposite way, so in order for the plies to undo, the main cordage would have to twist tighter. One way to check if you did it correctly is to look at the individual fibres - even though the plies are twisted one way, and the main cordage, another, the individual fibres all align lengthwise with the main cord. I hope this makes sense - just got up and only had about 4 hours sleep.

If you're working with natural materials, when you're finished 'cording', you can go along and cut off the little fibres sticking out, or you can burn them off by running the cordage quickly through a flame, taking care of course .

Some Wood Nettle (Laportea canadensis) cordage (one of my favourite materials):

Oh, and Chris, welcome to yet another addiction.


Doc

 

[asemery]

Reverse cordage is easy to do do using a hand drill as shown in the steps below. If a hand drill is not bushcrafty enough you can substitute a short dowel or stick for the hook of the hand drill. Hold the loop of cord near the dowel with one hand and turn the dowel like a propellor until the initial twist is accomplished, tghen follow the outlined steps.
You could also use a rope club. Place the notched end of the club in place of the hook of the hand drill. The dowel acts as a handle and the stick is swung around twisting the strands. I call it a club because it really hurts if you hit your hand with the swinging stick. Tony

1. For shorter lengths measure out strands from outstretched hand to chin. These can be tied parallel (A), tied in a single loop (B), or interlocked loops (C).

2. Put the knotted end of one loop over a "S" hook at a fixed point and the other over a "S" hook on your drill.

3. Turn handle CLOCKWISE until kink develops in strands when tension is released. Put weight of some sort (just a few ounces) at midppoint of the twisting.

4. Bring the drill "S" hook over to the fixed point.

5. Bring the weight down below the "S" hooks and release the weight. . It will twist around in a dramatic fashion. Very impressive for the kids.

6. Tie off the "S" hook ends. Here are the finished cords in reverse order from above.

These short cords make nice soft shackles. A stopper knot slips through the loop in the unknotted end. Put a lanyard clip or split metal ring before twisting and you have an attractive zipper pull.

You can use this method for longer lengths. Place the hand drill 2 1/4 times the length of the finished rope, string the threads you are using and twist CLOCKWISE. When initial twisting is over place a fixed hook midway between the 2 "S" hooks. This can be a cup hook screwed into a 2 x 4 and taped or weighted in place. Place the twisted strands under the mid-point hook so they do not come out when you bring the drill "S" hook back to the starting point. You can also have a friend hold the hand drill at this mid-point.
Put the drill hook at the mid-point and twist COUNTER-CLOCKWISE. Tie off at the "S" hook end.