Friday, June 06, 2008

Star Knot

I followed this tutorial to tie a Star Knot. The instructions and photos are easy to follow, but I think my using 1.4mm cord made it more difficult for me than it should have been.

Since I don't have self-threading needles, I just used a pair of hemostats to work the cord around and through the knot as needed.

14 comments:

Pauline Evanosky said...

Very pretty! Have you heard about KUMIHIMO - it's Japanese braid work. I saw some today and thought of you.

Stormdrane said...

Yes, I have seen some examples of that type braiding online. With so many strands being used together, it makes some pretty cool braid patterns.

Anonymous said...

hello Stormdrane...
...you can get the needles in a few sizes at Tandy/The Leather Factory...it took me years to learn the star knot!...i'd say you're doing great!...
Dan-Alaska
http://pineapple.myfunforum.org/

Stormdrane said...

Thanks. I had tried making my own 'needles' out of ink pen refills, but since they're not threaded, the cord fell out too easily and using glue was just messy.

I'd seen the Perma Lok needles that Tandy has, but wasn't sure if it would work for the smaller cord. Guess I'll have to try the smallest one and see...

Anonymous said...

hello Stormdrane...
...the smaller perma-loc needle from Tandy works great for cords 1.4mm-2mmm(?+-)...but they come with a flat tip which works great for lacing leather but not for cords....i buy a few of these needles and i file the flat tips off and then i use some "sheet-rock sand paper" on them...then i use NEVR-DULL (Brasso in cotton wadding) and polish them to a mirror shine...they work great for star knots!....an "ice pick" type needle also helps to "pry" the cords to make them look nice and in order....you might be able to find a nice collector's ice-pick on eBay?!....the larger perma-loc needle from Tandy works great on cords from 2mm-3mm(?+-)...you can get them with or without the flat tip....Dan-Alaska

Stormdrane said...

I received the couple of lacing needles that I ordered today. I was worried that they'd be too large, since it's hard to guess actual size from a photo on the net, but now that I have them, they look perfect. Thanks for the advice!

Anonymous said...

What size Perma-Lok is best for 550 paracord?

Stormdrane said...

For paracord sized cord, get the Jumbo 1193-02 lacing needle.

Cut the cord at a 45 degree angle, quick melt the end, and screw the needle onto the cord. Here's a demo video showing the process.

Ray said...

Hi, i've been trying to work out what a certain paracord knot is? a company called the pooch store make a lead called "Paracord Coupler Dog Leash" was wondering if you knew wha knot this was?

Stormdrane said...

@Ray, Their leashes look to be using 4 strand round braids, also called diamond and spiral braids depending on how a two color pattern looks with how you line up the cords as you work.

Boondoggleman.com has instructions on tying the braids and tutorials for paracord leashes are on the instructables.com website. I've made leashes and lanyards with those braids too.

Ray said...

@Stormdrane, yep thats defo the badboy. I've made some pretty long leads using cobra stitch then king cobra at clip end. I'm gonna give that one a go as i'm sending stuff out to guys overseas on MWD sections. Keep up the good work

Ray said...

Hi Again, i've got another knot i cant ID any way of posting pics on here? or can i e-mail it to you?

Couldn't get to grips with that braiding using the pictures, just didnt come out right, i think you should do a video ;-)

Stormdrane said...

@Ray, you can post a link to a photo in the comments section if you have it uploaded to something like imageshack or photobucket, or email it to me at Stormdrane at hotmail dot com.

Tine said...

bonjour,
cette petite étoile est vraiment magnifique.
je mets un lien.
Tine.