Chambers
The items presented here are ones that can be useful for teaching basic knotting and lashings. There is no one right way to teach this subject so the items shown may not suit your requirements but I hope they may at least stimulate discussion and the development of new ideas. If you try any of the ideas please let me know if they worked for you or if you had any problems.
The first requirement for any knotting is some sort of rope or cord. Rope with a diameter of about 6mm is a useful size for general knotting. Natural fibre rope is often easier to use than synthetic fibre rope for beginners. Synthetic rope tends to be slippery and some types are very stiff. This means that a lot of knots are not very secure which is disheartening for a beginner. A low cost natural fibre rope that is very useful is sash cord, avoid types that are treated with chalk or wax. The ropes that you use should always be in good condition with the ends properly treated to prevent fraying. The end treatment can be modern, like heatshrink sleeving, or traditional, like whipping.
An additional type of cord that can be very useful, especially for multi-strand decorative knots, is a hiking boot lace. These are available in a selection of bright colours at approximately 1 metre long. They have a circular cross section and come with the ends finished off with a sleeve to prevent fraying. The laces are hard wearing and the bright colours are popular with budding knotters. As a bonus you will never be short of laces for your boots.
This unit was built for teaching lashings and general hitch tying in indoor situations where there is no equipment other than a table. It had to be low cost, small, light weight and quick to make. The end panels are 178mm by 98mm cut from 12mm chipboard. The parallel rods are 19mm diameter dowel cut to 204mm long. The dowels are glued and pinned into the end panels. The wood can be left in its natural state, if you prefer a surface finish avoid gloss varnish, it makes a very slippery surface for knot tying. Sizes can be adjusted to suit available material and personal preference. A set of loose rods is required for each unit. Make one 210mm long from 24mm diameter dowel and 5 or 6 at 210mm long from garden cane. Natural cane is best, the sort that is stained green always leaves marks on cordage and knotters alike.
The pictures show the unit rigged for its three main purposes (left to right), hitch tying, square lashing and snake lashing.
Thin guy rope cord of the sort used with small hike tents is useful for making lashings on this unit. The ends of the cord need to be finished off to avoid fraying.
This unit is an up market version of the previous one. Full credit must go to members of the Surrey Branch of the International Guild of Knot Tyers for the idea which they displayed at a Guild meeting. My version is lighter in weight than theirs because I used plastic water pipe in place of copper pipe. The base layout is also slightly different, mainly because I had to work from memory.
The base panel is 300mm by 210mm cut from 18mm chipboard. Its backed by an identical size panel of 2 to 3mm hardboard or plywood to block the ends of the pipe mounting holes. The base in the pictures is painted with emulsion paint and the underside is covered with thin felt to make it non-slip and to protect the table top. The pipe sections are made from standard 22mm OD plastic water pipe and pipe fittings. Make the pipe sections first then mark out the hole positions on the base. These need to be accurately drilled for everything to fit together neatly. A ring is mounted on the base with a cable clip. There is also a small cleat and a 86mm section of a plastic binding strip. The binding strip can be fixed in place with double sided adhesive foam tape.
In practice the unit works well and is useful for demonstrating methods to people. Its smart appearance helps to create a good business like impression.
As with the previous item the pictures show the unit rigged for its three main purposes (left to right), hitch tying, square lashing and diagonal lashing. Additional functions are tying hitches on the ring, using a cleat and holding the ends of multi-strand decorative work in the plastic binding strip.
Thin guy rope cord of the sort used with small hike tents is useful for working with this unit. The ends of the cord need to be finished off to avoid fraying.
Sample knots can sometimes be useful as reminders and as items to arouse some interest at demonstrations. Whatever method is used to make them they must be suitable for people to handle, their big selling feature is that they are a hands on prop. Let people inspect them and pass them around. Try to keep track of them or you may lose them!
The smaller sample knots are mounted on 100mm by 50mm pieces of cork tile using self adhesive cable clips. The knots are tied in PVC insulated wire. This comes in a wide variety of colours and is easy to use. The larger sample knots are mounted on 210mm by 100mm plywood panels using large paper fasteners. The back of the plywood is covered with thin felt. This covers the ends of the paper fasteners. The knots are tied in 10mm diameter rope with the working ends neatly whipped to differentiate them from the standing end which the viewer has to imagine disappearing into the distance. The rope shown in the pictures came from a large bag of offcuts that I bought from a rope maker. For hitches short sections of 24mm diameter wooden dowel can be mounted on the plywood using wood screws and spacers. The samples that I use do not have permanent name labels so that they cam be used as quiz items. I print labels on thin card using a computer printer when I need to label the knots.
I have left the most important item, people, until last. They are the most useful aid to teaching knotting. Always encourage the people you teach to pass on the knowledge that you have taught them. This way the information reaches more people, not everyone is going to be lucky enough to be taught directly by you!
An assisant like Tycoon, pictured above, can be a useful ice breaker and can help to put your pupils at their ease. I'm sure Tycoon has far more fans than I have!
I hope some of the information presented here is useful to you in your teaching. If you need more details about the any of the items email me and I will try to supply the information you need.