Wednesday, December 14, 2011

A hard head and a little backbone...

This hefty Titan Stainless Steel Skull got a Backbone Bar (TIAT design) added to it, using black and olive drab paracord, with a large Flat Gate Clip for attachment to a key ring or belt loop.  A couple of the end strands go around the clip and are tied in a double wall knot around all four strands, then trim and tuck the ends to finish.

The skull is large enough to use as a paperweight on it's own, although I prefer it with some knot work for lanyards/fobs, and I even tried one out to top a walking staff/cane.  When I get around to it, I'll add some glow-in-the-dark powder and epoxy to the eye sockets.

With a bit of epoxy in the divot on the underside of the skull and then placed over a screw that's still partially exposed above a cane/staff, it looks to work ok.  Just for decorative use though, as I think if it was used to clobber someone, it might end up getting launched instead.

Someone else may know of a more secure way to mount the skulls on a walking staff/stick/cane, maybe carving the top of the staff to fit the underside of the skull along with a screw/bolt and epoxy...

I've tried a couple of knot work attachments with the skull on the staff, with paracord going though the skull and then down through the staff lanyard hole in a loop, then weaving or headhunter knots around the staff, but haven't found one I really like yet...

I used large and medium clips on a wall knot paracord lanyard(navy blue), with a few spaced out Gaucho knots tied with orange Tether Cord.  This one's for clipping to a key ring, pocket knife, flashlight, etc. with the other end attached to a belt loop...

Thursday, December 08, 2011

Keeping track of time...

The last paracord watchband that I tied, was using JD of TIAT's 'Stitched Solomon Bar', and I liked that pattern so much, that I used it again with my Maratac Mid Pilot Automatic Watch from County Comm.  

The differences in this watchband version and the previous one, are a four strand core that's paired off and knotted around, and it's made in two sections, so no strands run across the underside of the watch.

Each section of paracord was tied between the watch pins and one half of the 5/8" side release buckle.  So sizing is in three measurements, of each of the two paracord sections and the space between the watch pins across the back side of the watch.

I started with a six foot length of paracord for each side of the band, and ended up using between 10 and 11 of those 12 feet of paracord in the end.

I tucked the end strands into the knot work on the underside of the band to finish, and they can be further secured with sewing needle and thread, melting, or a drop of super glue.

Friday, December 02, 2011

Walls go up, Crowns go down, Gaucho between flanked Spanish rings...

Coyote brown paracord in a round crown sinnet pocket knife lanyard/fob, with a couple of wall knots down the length. A 3 pass Gaucho knot in the center and a pair of 3 pass Spanish ring knots out to the sides, using black 0.9mm cord.

I used my copy of Bruce Grant's 'Encyclopedia of Rawhide and Leather Braiding' as a reference for the Gaucho and Spanish ring knots.

 And another with a square crown sinnet and 2 pass Gaucho knot around the center with 1.4mm cord.  The unseen center paracord section has round crowns tied, that the Gaucho knot was tied over.

The pocket knives shown are my Spyderco Salt I and Camillus Heat.