Ropes and Gourds

So in my last post, I had just taken a ropemaking workshop with Gwen Powell.  I can't tell you how much I enjoyed the class, even the part where I practice stop, drop, and roll without intending to.

After the class I went home and spent the evening surfing the web for more information about ropemaking.  It became an obsession.  By the next morning, I NEEDED a rope jack.

Contacted Stephanie at Dragonfly Farms - the website for Stephanie Gaustad and Alden Amos.  He made the rope jack we used in class.  Their products are specialty items, so they don't have inventories rope jacks waiting to be purchased.  In fact, there would be a pretty long wait if I ordered one.  As nice as their machine is, I needed one NOW, so I kept looking.

On any given day, you can  find about half a dozen rope machines on ebay.  I know because I've been watching daily for a few weeks.  So far there has been only one modern looking machine, and the rest have been antiques in varying conditions.  The machines  have had anywhere from three to five hooks.  Tempting, but cast iron can decay -- and can fracture under tension - such as the tension required to twist a rope.



After a couple of days looking for a maker of new machines, I decided there was no such beast.  And decided to order a gadget for making cords -- same concept but smaller output.  I had seen a Bradshaw cordmaker somewhere, and been intrigued by it.  I ordered it from Louise French and it arrived within a couple of days.   Excellent service!

This is a really fun tool and does not require more than one person to use.  An advantage over ropemaking that almost had me convinced to stop pining for the bigger machine.

 
 The cordmaker attaches to your power drill.  To add stability, you can rig up a sled for it.  I'd like to do this eventually -- making it high enough that the side of the cordmaker doesn't touch the work surface -- would definitely prevent accidental wear and tear.

It also comes with a wooden "outend" that has four hooks corresponding to the hooks on the cordmaker.  Clamp this to something at right angles to the work surface and you're set.

The "outend"

Basically, you run your yarns/strings/threads between the cordmaker and the outend.  You can run material between hooks on the outend to avoid having to make lots of cuts and knots, but you should never do this on the cordmaker because its hooks must be able to spin.  You don't have to use the same materials on each hook, but they should be equivalent in thickness or the cord will not twist evenly.  You also want to make sure to have the same tension on hook.

Then you get to start twisting!  For the first twist, you hold the cordmaker carefully by the side and start the drill.  Because you are restricting the case, the individual hooks will turn, putting twist into each group of strands.  As you continue to twist, the drill will be pulled toward the outend.  How much you let it twist depends on the materials you are using and how tight you want your final product.

When you have decided you have enough twist, then you stop the drill and wait for the hooks to stop rotating.  Let go of the cordmaker case so the whole thing can rotate.  Start the drill, and watch while it twists all of your groups of strands together. When you have decided that the cord has enough twist (another subjective decision), stop the drill, and tie off the cords at each end to prevent them from unraveling before you remove them from the hooks.  Depending on what you're going to do with the cord, you could also tape the ends. 

 I've been having a lot of fun with the cordmaker -- figuring out how to finish the ends neatly for jewelry has been a bit of a challenge (I'm not fond of jewelry that is simply tied on).  I actually went to a local bead store and the person there had no clue what I was talking about.  What I wanted was actually called a cord end (pretty arcane, huh?).

So here's a look at a few of the things I've been working on...

 

But the story doesn't end with the order for the cordmaker.  Because I just couldn't leave it alone. No,  I got hooked on YouTube videos about ropemaking, and saw several where the people mentioned "Rope Master."   I did a lot of websurfing on the name, but there's apparently a professional jumprope athlete (seriously!) and a mountain climbing rope by the same name.

The day after I ordered the cordmaker, I came across a link to "Farm Collector" but it led to a page full of farm equipment and no rope machines in sight.  Frustration!  I'll dispense with the boring details, but more tedious poking around that website finally resulted in this page.   I couldn't even tell if it was a current ad, but I called the number and left a message, figuring nothing would come of it.

Just a couple of hours later, I got a call from Mr. Rope Master.  He still makes and sells the machines, and we had a nice long conversation.  A very interesting man.  And my check to pay for my new 4-hook Rope Master was in the mail that afternoon.  In under a week, my machine was delivered.  It includes the twister on a stand, a hook for use as the "outend,", and a rope guide --  it's hanging on the hooks in the photos below and looks a little like a fancy bubble blowing wand.  And the machine is red!  Huzzah!

Now all I had to do was round up some friends to make rope.  Some pals and I had been planning a short trip to Welburn Gourd Farm over the July 4 holiday weekend, so I asked if they would like to make some ropes after we returned.  Didn't have to twist any arms.

On Thursday and Friday, I decided to work off some of my extravagance guilt by cleaning up my studio, which had again become a dumping place for things that needed a place to go.  And to make room for another addition to the studio (part of the extravagance guilt) that I will talk about next time.  After I've done something productive with it so I don't look like a complete flake.  I'm ok with being a partial flake, I guess.

Anyway, I had some things that took up a lot of shelf space because they don't "shelf" nicely.  I enjoy seeing them so I won't put them in boxes to save room.

I had a couple of packages of those Command removable hooks, so I hung them on the wall.

Got back a little shelf space and I get to enjoy looking at them every time I walk into the studio.

Now I'm looking around the studio for other things  I can hang on the walls because I like it so much.

Wonder if I can attach stuff to the ceiling?




  So Saturday arrived.  Field trip time!  I wasn't really interested in gourds.  I have no talent for drawing, carving, painting, etc.  And what else do you do with a gourd?  But I wanted to go just because I adore these ladies and knew we'd have a great time together.  And we did.  But I had no intention of buying any gourds.  None.

OK, so I saw some dolls that had been made using jewelry-sized gourds for the heads.  They were turned on their sides so the neck of the gourd was the doll's nose.  Did you ever see a dog so homely that you kinda fell in love with it?  I couldn't stop looking at these dolls and thinking I could do that.  These were made up as fairies, but I'm seeing a spinster, a weaver, a knitter, etc., each with her little tools and partially finished project.   The only thing I'd have to paint is the eyes.  Wonder who I can get to paint the eyes for me?   I came home with a handful of very small gourds. 

We had a great afternoon making rope.  So now we're thinking about cool things to make with all these ropes. I have a feeling our family and friends are going to get pretty tired of receiving rope-encrusted objects on gift-giving occasions.