Tied up in knots-a bit of a rant

David Stifle

David Stifle

Joined
Nov 20, 2008
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10,188
I have a sword I want to put a couple of Turk's Head knots on. So I went to the internet, pulled up a bunch of youtube video's, and started at it. That was two days ago, and I have yet to tie a decent turk's head. I've got was frustrated my wife threatened to exile me. You would think once you lay down the pattern it would be easy to follow it around three times, wouldn't you. But after awhile your eyes start playing tricks on you. "now where does this go?, ah, right here" I've been wrong for times than I've been right.

If I knew a boy scot who could tie it for me, I swear I'd pay him big time.

Oh, and there's a guy on youtube, calls himself the paracordist, he has a video on showing how to tie a Long Turks head know, you know, one of those fancy knots that goes all the way down an ax handle. Grrr
 
Haha, sorry to laugh, but it is confusing at first! What type of turks head are you trying to tie? How many bights and how many wraps? It may be easier to try more bights on a bigger handle than a smaller TH. I would try a 5B/3L turks head. If you want I can put up a couple pics of starting one for you.

What type of cord ar you using? Practice with paracord first.


-Xander
 
Tie it on your fingers, or on a broomstick. Mark one ends black to keep them identified. Putting some CA on the work end is a good idea to make it have a hard section a couple inches long. This makes a sort of "needle". Once you have made all the weaves, just slip it on the sword and start tightening it up.
 
I'll get it, I think. Thanks for the tips, Stacy.

Xander, you laugh, dude! Well, I guess I have to smile myself. Such an easy thing, so much aggravation. Posting start up pics won;t help, the youtube video's are clear enough. It's just practice.
 
Other than a broom stick a great tool for doing this work is a wood cone. Usually about 8-10 inches tall and the taper can be whatever you want. As you tie, you can slip it down to get some working room to make a pass and slip it back to keep it taught. I used these when I taught stuff like this. Knotting and fancy work is an old passtime of mine, and yes practice makes it easier. If you want I'll send you a paracord fid for practicing things like this. It is a handy tool for this stuff.


-Xander
 
Yep, it probably took me thirty tries to get my first one to work. This was the animation I followed: http://www.ropeworks.biz/archive/Aturkhed.html Using a pair of needle nosed pliers on the back side helps a lot.

Once you have the process down with a single strand, rather than feeding the end of the cord through the knot to make a multi-strand knot (which I did several times before changing my method), double the cord over and tape the ends together. Then tie it just like you do with a single strand. The only thing is you need to be a bit more careful about the strands twisting and crossing over each other.
 
Storm Crow said:
Yep, it probably took me thirty tries to get my first one to work. This was the animation I followed: http://www.ropeworks.biz/archive/Aturkhed.html Using a pair of needle nosed pliers on the back side helps a lot.

Once you have the process down with a single strand, rather than feeding the end of the cord through the knot to make a multi-strand knot (which I did several times before changing my method), double the cord over and tape the ends together. Then tie it just like you do with a single strand. The only thing is you need to be a bit more careful about the strands twisting and crossing over each other.
Click to expand...

Thanks, James

Good animation. Appreciate the advice.
 
Once you get the Turk's Head down pat.....make one with about five or six feet of extra cord on each end. Snug the TH down tight at the ricasso, and then do a paracord wrap or pseudo-tsukamaki down the handle. Finish with another Turk's Head using the remaining cord, then a lanyard knot with the final ends. One single piece of cord does the whole handle.

Warning! - Pastors and people who live with young children or in-laws who are easily offended by cursing should not attempt this.
 
bladsmth said:
Once you get the Turk's Head down pat.....make one with about five or six feet of extra cord on each end. Snug the TH down tight at the ricasso, and then do a paracord wrap or pseudo-tsukamaki down the handle. Finish with another Turk's Head using the remaining cord, then a lanyard knot with the final ends. One single piece of cord does the whole handle.

Warning! - Pastors and people who live with young children or in-laws who are easily offended by cursing should not attempt this.
Click to expand...

Stacy, there's a guy on youtube who demonstrates this technique on a axe. He calls it the long turk's head knot, and he sets up the initial pattern using pins he tapes in place. It does look cool as heck when he's finished.
 
Do you have a link to that video, David? I'd be very curious to see it, even if my lack of knot and braid skills keeps me from being able to do it.
 
James, I just googled how to tie a turk's head knot, a ton of video's comes up, he calls himself the paracordist. He has a four part series on how to do a long turks head knot down the lenght of a small axe. It's easy to find, but I don't have the link.

By the way, Folks, I finally succeeded. I can't believe it was so easy once I got the hang of it. Definitly going to have to try the long turkshead now.
 
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