International Guild of Knot Tyers Forum
General => Chit Chat => Topic started by: newbee on January 23, 2007, 08:17:08 PM
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I am kind of new to all of this. I got a copy of the Marlinespike sailor and have been practicing some of the knots. The problem I am having is what to do with the end of the line for a turks head or a hitch. I wrapped the handle of a pitcher with a french spiral to make it easier to hold when it is cold out of the refrigerator and i don't really know what to do with the end. I can't really tuck it under because the line is pulled tight and I don't know how to get it underneath without having a loosely tied hitch at the end of the run.
Thanks so much.
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It depends on various things, for me. If it's synthetic line, I've been known to cut it rather short, then melt the last bit of the end down to where it's flush with the rest of the knot.
For a loose knot, i.e., one that has plenty of slack in it after it's completed, I have sometimes pulled enough of the two ends out that I could splice them together and taper the splice to somewhat minimize its appearance. After that, the knot is worked even again, absorbing the slack next to the splice into the body of the knot.
With metal, I either just tuck the ends in and leave them alone, or I cut them flush and solder or fuse them. I try not to do so perfect a job that the customer and his friends can't find it at all, because part of the fun is the discovery that, yes, it really is a knot, and the ends are findable :)
I tie a lot of cotton turk's head bracelets to give away, and out of a combination of laziness and an affection for added decoration, I usually just bring the ends out and whip or splice or stop-knot them, then fray anywhere from half an inch on up of the ends to make a fluffy tassel past the stop.
Loren
http://www.golden-knots.com/
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Hello. Fellow Newbie.
I was shown to cut the ends short for the Turk's Head and to then bury them within the finished knot.
As for the Hitches....based on what I have seen of other works by the more prominent members here and in ABOK, a Turk's head is placed at both ends. Acting as a seizing.
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A bit of an expansion on that:
When doing the turkshead (we'll assume a 'simple' or three-bight) you will want to pass the lead three times thru the knot so that each crossing part shows three lines.... when the third pass comes back to the starting point, you want to make the last pass so that you now have one lead going out of the knot "north" and the other lead going out of the knot "south". "Fair" the knot up (tighten all the leads and be sure they're lying flat and pretty) then pull hard on one lead end and snip it very close to the crossing part. Do the same with the other lead end... rope tension will tend to pull the snipped end back under the crossing parts a bit and if need be you can poke the remainder under with a spike very gently...just enuf to hide the snipped end.
Providing you have faired the knot sufficiently tight, this will hold under almost all circumstances. For a pitcher handle, I'd make the turkshead leads start and stop on the side of the handle, rather than at the back or front of the handle due to hand friction... less chance of the end being worked loose. Of course, a nice coating of varnish or urethane will eliminate that problem.
Clear as mud, no doubt, but my best shot at it.
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Here is another thought regarding the French hitching - it looks great to finish it with a TH but why not just finish it in place? If you have ever applied service (also known as serving) to a piece of line, you know that you have to bury the end. Do the same with FH by making the last four or five hitches of the FH looser, even really loose. When you reach the point where you want to stop, tuck the end of the line under all those loose turns you just made down to and just above the last firmly tightened hitch. Now take your trusty pricker or dulled pointed awl or whatever tool you use to pull on a line with so as not to irritate the line and pull the first loose hitch (the one above the last tight one) tight so that you have now trapped the end of the line under that hitch. Do the same with the next hitch above, getting a longer and longer loop or bight of line hanging out of your hitching (don't worry - it will disappear in a minute). When you get to your final hitch, you now have all that loose material in one place, at the end of your hitches, and you can go back to the end, four or five turns back down the line where it is just hanging out, and pull it through underneath all the tightened hitches (you'll need to use a marlinespike hitch or something like it to pull on the end like billy-o) so as to take out all the slack. Cut away the free end from under the hitches and there you are - a hidden end and a nice neat finish! Try it and let us know how you get on with it? ;D
Squarerigger
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"What do you do with the ends" - "I cut them off and throw them away"
Sorry - couldn't resist that one....
Turk's Heads - After the last tuck, continue in the same direction but under everything until the working end emerges from the side of the knot. Do this with both ends. When you have finished pulling the knot up tight, pull gently on each end and cut it off close to the knot - the new end will then shrink back under the knot out of sight. If you are tying a Turk's Head ring, woggle, bracelet etc - where the two ends finally lay alongside the same crossing (knot complete) either glue or sew them to that crossing and cut the ends of short.
Hitching - You can hide the ends. Lay on your hitching until you have 6 to 8 turns left to go. Lay your finger, a hollow fid, (empty ball pen case) or something along the work and lay on the final turns over this . Pass the working end under these turns up toward the start. Now tighten the turns/hitches over this (hemostats/long nose pliers might help here), and in the case of French Hitching, keep the end in line with the half hitches - when complete pull the end (you may need pliers to do this) until the bight is close up to the end of the hitching. Cut the end off by holding a sharp blade against the cord between two turns of the hitching - then work the end back and forth until it parts. Remember to hold the blade still and move the cord - do not saw with it or you will damage the hitching.
Gordon
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Okay so i got a bit impatient and just stiched the end to the last hitch on the bottom of the handle. a TH would not really work here because of the shape of the handle. I will remember this for the next one though. I really couldn't figure out how to get the end under the hitch and still make it tight. It seems so simple not thanks.
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I followed the series of posts and appreciated not knowing it all. I liked so much what Squarerigger said,
"it looks great to finish it with a TH but why not just finish it in place?"
It seemed to make a bunch of sense! So I tried the technique on my bicycle handlebars with the glueless handlebar tape. WOW!!
I was/am so/still impressed!
Fellow Newbie....you'll get it. After tying with knots for about 2 years I am deeply impressed with the amount of knowledge that my unconscious has absorbed, shining through when I again attempt to tackle chores that completely baffled me hence.