Knots, Bends, Splices / With tables of strengths of ropes, etc. and wire rigging

by Captain Jutsum

MISCELLANEOUS ODDS AND ENDS.

(1). A Palm and Needle Whipping is a more permanent way of securing a rope's end from fraying than the common whipping put on by hand. First, place the needle under one of the strands and draw nearly the whole length of twine through. Take a considerable number of turns round the rope with the twine, drawing each well taut in turn, and finish up by following round with the needle between each strand, forming a series of frappings, and cut off the end of the twine short (Fig. 105).

(2). A West Country Whipping is formed by middling the twine around the part of the rope to be marked and half knotting it at every half turn, so that each half knot will be on opposite sides. When a sufficient number of turns are passed, finish it off with a reef knot.

(3). An American Whipping is sometimes used for the ends of hawsers. It is commenced in the same way as a common whipping, but finished off by having both ends out in the middle of the whipping and forming a reef knot. This is done by leaving the first end out when you commence to pass the turns on the bight over the last end.

(4). To Point a Rope End.—First put a stop on at twice and a half the circumference of the rope from the end, which will leave about the length for pointing, unlay the rope to the stop and then unlay the strands. Split a number of the outside yarns and make a nettle out of each yarn. (A nettle is made by laying up the yarns with the finger and thumb left-handed.) When the nettles are made stop them back on the standing part of the rope; then form the point with the rest of the yarns by scraping them down to a proper size with a knife, and marl them down together with twine; divide the nettles, taking every other one up and every other one down. Pass three turns with a piece of twine—which is called the warp—very taut round the part where the nettles separate, taking a hitch with the last turn. Continue to repeat this process by placing every alternate nettle up and down, passing the warp or "filling," taking a hitch each time, until the point is to its required length. It is generally finished off by working a small Flemish eye in the end (Figs. 106 and 107).

(5). Turk's Head.—The Turk's Head is one of the most common of the ornamental knots used at sea, and is formed from an ordinary clove hitch (Fig. 108) made sufficiently slack to allow for the working of the other parts.

Having formed the clove hitch, pass b over c and tuck a under and up through the bight formed by c as in Fig. 109. It will then be found that there is another twist in the parts b and c, tuck a under e and over b. Then go on as in Fig. 109, and put b over c again and tuck a as before. The number of crossings required depends principally on the size of the material on which the Turk's Head is formed. To finish off as in Fig. 110, the part a is made to follow d (Fig 108) round for three times.

(6). Mousing a Hook.—All hooks in running gear should be moused as in Fig. 111.

(7). Securing Lead Line to Lead.—The lead is fitted with a good wire grommet parcelled over. The lead line should have a long eye spliced in it, and is secured by passing the eye through the grommet and over the lead (Fig. 112).

(8). Fitting a Flag.—A toggle should be secured at the head of the hoist by an eye splice; a length of rope equal to the width of the flag left below the hoist, as this is the distance the flags should be apart, and then a running eye splice made so as to be rapidly attached to the next flag.

(9). To Stick a Cringle.—First unlay a single strand from the size of rope your cringle is required to be, whip both ends, reeve the strand through the left hand eyelet hole in the sail, having one end longer than the other—nearly a third—keeping the roping of the sail towards you. If a thimble is to be put in the cringle, lay up the parts of the strand together, counting three lays; commence with the short end of the strand towards you, then reeve the long strand from you through the right hand eyelet hole, taking it through the cringle, and it will be in the right position to lay up in the vacant space left in the cringle; when done, the one end will hang down inside the right hand eyelet hole and the other end outside the left hand one; the ends are then hitched by being rove through their respective eyelet holes and passed over the leech rope and under their own part, one hitch being towards you and the other from you; then take the ends down under one strand on the right and two on the left of cringle nearest to it; then tuck the ends under the first two strands nearest the hitch, heaving them well in place; the cringle is then fidded out, and the thimble is put in on the fore part of the sail. The ends of the strand are then tucked back, left-handed, under one strand, again under two, right-handed, as in the first place, heaving them taut in place at each tuck, the ends are then whipped with two of their own yarns and cut off. If a large cringle is needed, count an extra number of lays—5, 7, etc., always an odd number.

(10). To Finish a Cringle off on the Crown.—Commence as before, but after laying up the strand, instead of forming a hitch with each end, the ends are rove through their respective eyelet holes and tucked back under two strands of the cringles and again laid up as far as the crown, forming a four-stranded cringle, and finished off by tucking the ends under two strands and crossing them under the crown of the cringle and cut close off.

In working a cringle in a piece of rope the only difference is there are no eyelet holes, therefore the strand is tucked under two strands of the rope it is to be worked in.

(11). To Lengthen a Rope of a Sail with a Single Strand.—Say it is necessary to give a sail one cloth more spread, it would then be necessary to lengthen the head and foot rope. Supposing the width of cloth to be 2 feet and the size of the rope 3 in. After ripping the rope off four cloths, first of all cut the strand at the distance 2 ft. 6 in. from each other as in Fig. 115.

Cut one of the strands at a and unlay it to c, then cut one of the strands remaining at c and unlay it to b, laying the strand a up again as far as b; then cut the only remaining strand at b, which will be the centre, when your rope will be in two parts. By following the plan the wrong strand cannot possibly be cut. The rope will now appear as in Fig. 116.

Now marry the long end a to the end b, then lay up the long strand c in the lays of the strand a, and marry it to the other strand b as in Fig. 117.

Take a strand about 10 ft. in length of the same size rope and marry one end to the short strand a as shown above, then fill up the space left from a to c by laying in the new strand, and marry the other end to the short strand c. You will then have four splices to finish off as ordinary long splices (Fig. 118).

(11). Jury Knot. The jury knot is useful when a jury mast has to be rigged, as the loops form a means of attaching the necessary supports to the mast. The centre k (Fig. 120) is slipped over the masthead, and the weight brought on the stays tightens it and holds it in its position on the mast.

It is formed by three ordinary half-hitches, each placed behind the other and with the loop of the last laid over the first, as in Fig. 119.

Having done this, keep the hitches together with the right hand, and with the left take a and dip it under b and pull c through a and b. Then, holding the knot with the left hand, place f over e, and pull d between e and f. Take g in the teeth and pull on the parts g, f, and a. The ends h and z may be either knotted or spliced.

(13). Sling for a Barrel.—The following method of slinging a barrel is adopted when it is desired to hoist it up end on.

Pass the bight a of the rope under the lower end of the barrel and bring the two parts up, and with them form an overhand knot b, which is opened out so as to fit over the end of the barrel.

The bight a is placed under the cask, and the overhand knot b is slipped over the head, and the two ends are brought up and knotted as in Fig. 122.

(14). Chain Knot.—An easy and ornamental way of shortening a rope is that known as the chain knot.

To form it proceed as though you are going to make an ordinary overhand knot, but instead of working with both ends use the end and a bight as in Fig. 123.

This will form the loop a, Fig. 123, through which pass a bight of b and continue in this way until all the slack rope is used up, and it can be finished off by running the end through the last loop (Fig. 124).

(15). Double Chain.—The Double Chain is a little more intricate than the chain knot, and is formed by taking a turn round the standing part and thus forming a loop c, through which the end a is passed, thus forming the loop b (Fig. 125).

The end a is brought back and dipped down through b and this is continued as long as required, finishing off by running the end through the last bight and hauling it taut (Fig. 126).

(16). Twist Or Plait Knot.—Another method of shortening a small handy rope is known as the twist or plait knot.

Arrange the rope in such a manner that the amount to be taken up forms a bight as in Fig. 127.

Then by taking a over b and c over b, and so on, taking the outside one on each side alternately over the middle one, the plait is formed. To keep the plait clear, the end has to be continually dipped through the first bight made (Fig. 128).