Saturday, January 15, 2011

Five strand flat sinnet...

Here's another flat sinnet from Stuart Grainger's Creative Ropecraft. It's just one of many shown to be made with up to six strands in the book, like a previous one I blogged about a few years ago.

I've started this paracord belt version, using the buckle from an old leather belt. I've treated the pair of tan paracord lines as one cord. The tan and one of the foliage green paracord cords are strictly core strands for the sinnet to be woven around, and would only need to be as long at the belt would be, where the working strands(3 of them) would need to be much longer. I haven't figured out a needed length, feet of cord per inch of sinnet, because there are variables that would depend on how tight/loose the sinnet is made, size/number of core strands woven around, etc... The sinnet would also work well for a bracelet, pet collar, or strap.

16 comments:

woodduck said...

I love your stuff. I need help fonding the orange and blue cord you used in your Auburn University wrist bands, looked and looked but it seems to have eluded me. Any help would be great. Thanks, You do wonderful work.

Stormdrane said...

@woodduck, The orange cord(Attwood utility cord) came from Walmart. The 2mm blue trot line/mini blind string came from ebay, and I do not see it currently available, but you can use any similar color/sized cordage.

Jay Dub said...

Man I would probably buy something like that if you were to sell it.

Unknown said...

I love your blog. I appreciate all the different projects that you have done and are doing. Thanks for sharing your know-how. I am a fan.

arbatron said...

how would you end the braid when the belt is done?

Stormdrane said...

@arbatron, Finishing can be done in various different ways. Backbraid the ends into the knotwork, trim the ends and sew onto a piece of leather for the belt tip, dropping strands to a smaller flat knot like a cobra stitch/Solomon bar/Portuguese sinnet, etc...

Stormdrane said...

@Denear, I think they were upgrading the website, but Lighthound.com carries the Schmuckatelli skull beads in the 'Lanyard' section of the website...

Da Curly Wolf said...

@Stormdrane...be curious to know what the total footage used is when it's finished big guy.

@woodduck-you tried any of the sites supplied by SD? Supply Captain and Going Gear, and the others I can't think of off the top of my head? I want to say Going Gear had some last time I looked in November.

Benjamin Peer said...

It would be awesome if you did a post of the place where you get all your cord that isn't 550 paracord. for the smaller knots.

Stormdrane said...

@Benjamin, I've sourced smaller sized cord from mowfugger(ebay), fixmyblinds.com, and Supply Captain(Type I cord), all listed in my links list. Other knot tyers have recommended using the 'Handy Hundred' smaller diameter cord from R&W Rope Warehouse, also in the links list.

I've also used different types of smaller cordage (hemp, cotton, nylon, polyester, polyethylene, leather, etc.) from Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, True Value Hardware, Michaels Craft Stores, Hobby Lobby, and the local Army/Navy surplus location.

Michael McGregor said...

Do you have any pictures of how to backbraid?

Stormdrane said...

@Michael, I don't have any process examples on back braiding, but what is being done is the cord strands are turned back and woven into the previous knot work for an inch or two to finish.

With round braids, it looks like splicing, and with flat braids the cords can be run back on one side, where they'll be hidden from view, or if there are a lot of strands, some worked on one side, some the other.

Back braiding will thicken up whatever you're tying, and can be tricky hiding the ends sometimes...

David Goodger said...

I'd like to make a paracord belt for western-style buckles, but I'd like to be able to remove and swap out the buckle. Compatible belts usually go through the buckle's loop and snap closed. Any tips for a detachable paracord belt?

Cool blog, thanks!

Stormdrane said...

@David, I've not made a 'detachable' type belt, but maybe using a loop of shock cord and a button knot, at the start of a paracord belt, might work with that type of buckle... Something similar to what I used with a paracord sheath, but where the belt goes around the attachment and the loop stretches and holds around the knot or a sewn on button, something to make it secure even without being under tension...

Stormdrane said...

@David, I took a quick look at the machine woven paracord belts from this link, and they use a Chicago screw to attach to their buckles, and that looks to work well...

Off Grid Survival said...

This is really cool, totally have to try and make one of these would be way more helpful then a regular belt in a survival situation.