How to Make a Rope
By Frank Stoll
Did you ever make a rope? It is an ambition worthy of every Woodcrafter. “But,” you say, “how can we make ropes? The materials from which they are made are found in distant lands.” Commercially and generally speaking, that is true, although cotton, of which the United States produces 60°% of the world supply, is used extensively in the manufacture of cords and lines. Cotton is perhaps the most flexible of the commercial materials and is sufficiently strong for the smaller cordage. Common hemp is superior, possessing the combination of strength, flexibility, and durability.
Custom among sailors has decreed that the term “rope” indicates that the diameter is one inch or more. Other authorities agree that the diameter may be one-half inch or more. However, we hear cords of one-quarter inch diameter called “rope.”
The principal rope materials are: common hemp, Manila hemp, sisal hemp, Phormium hemp, Sunn hemp, Jubbulpore hemp, jute, coir, flax, agave fiber, and cotton, all of which are vegetable.
A rope is composed of a certain number of strands, the strand itself being made up of a number of single threads or yarn. Three strands twisted together form a “hawserlaid” rope. The prepared fiber is twisted or spun to the right hand to form the yarn; the required number of yarns ..text pokračuje
