Saturday, June 14, 2008

Father's Day Lanyard...

Here's a lanyard that I made my dad for Father's Day.

I've seen some really nice ones online, like these and some others here, which are very impressive.  I made a simpler version, so I wouldn't get in over my head and tangled up. It still took me a few hours to finish it.

For the completed lanyard, I used a 3-peg knitting spool, Solomon Bar/Portuguese sinnet, weaving with two warps/racking seizing, snake knot, and three different Turk's Head knots.

Attached is a Rough Rider rigging knife, which is not bad at all for what it cost, although the 'locking' marlinspike doesn't stay locked as it should, so be aware of that if you actually intend to use it with knot work instead of as a 'letter opener'.

I've seen and handled different models of rigging knives and some have locking spikes, others do not, so you have to take care to make sure it doesn't close up on your hand when working with them to tighten/loosen knots.  Schrade, Camillus, Buck, and Case, are just a few that have made the same type knife in the past in the states, and older used models are hard to find and cost considerably more.

I've had several folks ask me about the 'weaving with two warps/racking seizing' section, so I've added a couple of photos showing the process loose and tightened.

7 comments:

  1. Beautiful Work, once again Stormdrane.

    I chose to make my father a far simpler keychain using the chain sinnet you showcased on 21 May. I used the colors of the Flag of Ireland and finished the ends with a lanyard knot.

    I find that your blog provides great inspiration and fodder for my work and wanted to ask a couple of ?s about this lanyard.

    1) material used looks a lot like type I paracord. Is it?
    2) how long are each section and did you use single strands or are there joints underneath the TH's
    3) Did you start with the clip end and Port Sennet and then follow the lanyard around?

    Enjoy your father's day with your dad. We are blessed to both still have our fathers here with us.

    Cheers!

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  2. Brian, thanks for the comments.

    1)The cord is 'trot line' which is braided nylon over a core. I get it from the seller 'mowfugger' on ebay.

    2 & 3)I didn't really keep track of how much cord I used, but I started off with a 50ft length just to be safe.

    I made the 3-peg knitting spool section first, in the middle of that length of cord.

    With the single strand coming from each end, I added cord of a few feet to each side, finding the middle of that cord, and slid on the first couple of Turk's Head knots, made around wooden beads, before doing the weaving with two warps section.

    I then changed to the Solomon Bar/Portuguese sinnet section, two strands around the original long ones, on each side, and before I brought them together, I added two more Turk's Heads that I slid on and tightened over the transitions.

    I brought all six strands together making the single larger Solomon Bar/Portuguese sinnet, with two strands around four, then looped them over the snap hook and made the snake knot. I added another Turk's Head over that transistion.

    I cut off 20ft of the starting 50, but didn't keep track of how long the added pieces were, but I'm guessing total cord used was between 40-50ft counting the TH knots too.

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  3. Stormdrane,

    Do you think this could be made using the Type 1 paracord from Supply Captain? I'm just not sure if that would be too thick.

    Do you know what thickness of trotline you bought from the guy on ebay? He has several thicknesses.

    Thanks for your blogging, IMHO you have the best site out there.

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  4. I used the 2mm sized trot line on that one, which is close to the same size as the 'Type I' paracord, so I don't think it would be too thick. Thanks and Merry Christmas! :)

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  5. SD - I was looking thru your blog and the links, but couldn't find an answer. Do you know the variation on the cobra knot/ Portugese sinnet to get it to twist? I saw a knife lanyard in San Diego that was just the cobra knot alternating in flat/twist/flat sections. Thanks.

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  6. AUX, yes, the twisting version is just done without alternating the knots like you would with the flat version. Here's a couple of examples:

    Flat and twisted

    Twisted

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  7. Excellent! Thanks and have a great New Year! ~AUX

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