| Making a Bell-rope by Vince Brennan with help from Marty Combs and several great books. |
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
| Click on ANY picture to see a larger version: Small pictures here are to allow dial-up customers easy access |
| Last updated 2006-12-15 |
Years ago I learned how to do this while in the Navy,
but lost the knowledge between then and about two
months ago, when a chance encounter with the
Tamaroa Maritime Foundation found myself promising
to make one up for them.
I realized that I'd totally forgotten the basics, but
remembered that Marty Combs, from whom I buy a
great deal of my raw cordage, had a bellrope-making
video listed on his website. He sent one with the next
order and I watched it and it all came back!
As a result, Tamaroa has her 20" bellrope and you are
now reading this tutorial on how to make one so YOU
won't have to experience the sinking feeling of
realizing that, once again, your alligator mouth has
over-ridden your jaybird ass.
but lost the knowledge between then and about two
months ago, when a chance encounter with the
Tamaroa Maritime Foundation found myself promising
to make one up for them.
I realized that I'd totally forgotten the basics, but
remembered that Marty Combs, from whom I buy a
great deal of my raw cordage, had a bellrope-making
video listed on his website. He sent one with the next
order and I watched it and it all came back!
As a result, Tamaroa has her 20" bellrope and you are
now reading this tutorial on how to make one so YOU
won't have to experience the sinking feeling of
realizing that, once again, your alligator mouth has
over-ridden your jaybird ass.
STEPS:
(1) determine size of rope /bell proportions
(2) acquire tools
(3) strop thimble
(4) lay up puddings(
5) cover puddings
6) finish covers
(7) apply decorations
(8) varnishing and preservation
(9) hanging rope from clapper
(10) variations
(11) what'd I forget?
RECOMMENDATIONS:
I heartily recommend a copy of P.P.O. Harrison's "The Harrison Book OF Knots", if you
can find one.... a wonderful book and a major piece of armament for any knottyer.
“The Encyclopedia Of Knots and Fancy Ropework”, by Raoul Graumont and John
Hensel, is another incredible source of inspiration, but this and “The Ashley Book of
Knots”, by Clifford Ashley, are best bought either by the experienced knotter or one
who intends to get into the craft seriously...try seeing if you can find one at your local
library and peruse it there: they are really not for beginners or the faint-of-heart. (Or
the impoverished!)
Line sources are hard to come by, but two stand out: for nylon cordage, R & W
Enterprises can't be beat and for natural (my preference) cordage, Marty Combs' site
is the best there is. He also carries books, thimbles and some other tools and has
videos available, all of which are great.
(1) PROPORTIONS
The size proportion between the diameter of the bell and it's bellrope is critical for a
good-looking job. Generally, I like to figure on a 4:3 relationship (if the bell is 12 "
diameter, the rope should be about 9" long) This works well with bells from 7" up
thru 20"... over that or under that, you're on your own.... Tamaroa's bell is a 24"
diameter, but I made the rope 20" for ceremonial purposes. Now, YMMV on this... if
you want to make a straight up-and-down bellrope, just modify the instructions
below.... I'M not gonna come 'write you a ticket" for "doing it wrong".... this is
supposed to be FUN, so HAVE fun! Experiment, change, delete or substitute
instructions.... enjoy youself! If you find something that works better, let me KNOW
and I'll amend this with your suggestions...
Proportion of the rope along it's length is also a factor for a pretty job. On small ropes
for pleasure craft, a straight up-and-down construction is just fine, a lot faster to do
and perfectly acceptable... mostly they just want something to be able to ring the bell,
but larger vessels and military craft should have the tapered profile as shewn above,
and that's what this tutorial will cover.
(2) TOOLS
Depending on how small the bell rope and line are and how intricate you're going to
get, you may need line-pullers, needlenose pliers and an exacto-knife, but for this
tutorial, all you'll need are a small 'scratch-awl' with a slightly blunt tip and a pair of
good, sharp small diagonal cutters for cutting line, a bottle of THIN or FAST SETTING
cyanoacrylate (superglue - pick it up at the hardware store when getting the awil and
cutters), some scrap cardboard and (if you want to use them) some bamboo
skewers, along with your cordage. For cordage, you'll need scrap rope/cord to make
the 'puddings", a small thimble for the eye, a small shackle to connect the rope to the
clapper's bail, sufficient cordage for the coverings and also for the decorative
turkshead, plenty of small stuff for constrictor knots and some black heavy button
thread for makring locations. Stock up on patience, while you're at it... you'll need it in
profusion later!
For 'small stuff" to do the constrictor knots, I recommend a good sailtwine...
DUCKWORKS sells waxed and un-waxed sailtwine at a reasonable rate... I'd use UN-
waxed for the constrictors and waxed for the strop (see #3), but you can use
unwaxed for both and still get a superior job. OR: you can simply take several 3'
lengths of whatever cord you'll be using to cover the bell and strip it into three
pieces... these make good constrictors, will produce a nice cover on the strop and it's
a lot cheaper than ordering something else you'll rarely use. The colour will match, as
well... it's what I use mostly now. (Dental Floss may give it a nice, minty smell, but it
just don't look right IMHO.) You choose which you'd like to use, but from now on when
I'm referring to 'small stuff", that's what I means.
While a professional looking job requires a good hard-laid cordage, you CAN get by
with #18 mason line from the hardware store, as long as it is tightly laid. For the
turksheads especially, the hard lay will keep the turkshead's appearance good...
softer laid lines will tend to 'flatten' out when worked and this makes for a lumpy and
sloppy finished look. That's why I recommend Marty's site and materials...his lines,
especially the #15b, are a good hard lay and hold their shape despite aggressive
working.
(3) STROPPING THE THIMBLE
This is the main support for the bell and it needs to be strong.... the thimble just
prevents wear on the inner part of the strop eye as it works against the clapper bail,
but the strop does all the work, so:
Take your thimble and lay up as many strands of cordage as it takes to fill the
thimble's saddle almost completely... you want to leave a bit so that when we wrap the
strop, the wrapping will fill it the rest of the way, and even be a teeny bit larger than
the saddle...cut your lines to 26" and middle them around the thimble... that'll give you
13" on a side... take a piece of black buttonthread and put a constrictor on each side
1/4" below the end of the thimble, then take the strop off the thimble....
There are several ways of wrapping the strop eye: you can serve it, you can take
another piece of small line and half-hitch it , or you can do a ringbolt coxcomb.... that's
my favourite as it looks the neatest.
At the point where you put one black constrictor, (SEE RINGBOLT TUTORIAL for a
pictorial on doing this!) take three lengths of small stuff, knot the ends and make
them fast to the strop's pudding with another constrictor... keep a tension on the
strop (I tie one end off on a chair-back and sit on the other end in a second chair: this
gives a good straight-line tension on my workpiece) while working. Take one of the
three pieces of small stuff and tie a half-hitch to the right, then the next piece and tie a
half--hitch to the left, then the last piece and tie a half-hitch to the right again.... at this
point you have two lines goint right and one line going left.... take the one on the RIGHT
that's furthest from you and tie another half hitch going left...now you've got two going
left and one going right.... and that's the key.... the one furthest away of the three is
always the next one to be tied and it ties so that it ends up in the other direction...
DON'T pull these hitches real tight.... we're not trying to strangle Aunt Louise, just
make sure she's not getting outta the house anytime soon.... if you pull these really
tight, you'll make it very difficult to bend the wrapped strop around the thimble later
on. Pull the hitches tight enough that they just 'bed' into the pudding and check your
work to see that each turn is laying true and does not 'jump' the previous hitch on the
bottom.... this happens all the time and when you find one, stop and pull the work until
you can correct it. YOU'LL know it's there if you don't fix it now, and it will leave a void
in the pattern.
Continue this until you reach the other black thread constrictor, toss another
constrictor on the three lines and trim them off short. If you did this right (and I'm
sure you did) then you'll have a nice row of hitches directly down the centre of the top
of the strop.... that's a 'ringbolt coxcomb' and you can use it on a LOT of things.
Take the wrapped strop and put it in the thinble's saddle, even the ends and put
another constrictor on it to make up the ends together and to form the strop to the
thimble's shape. It may be hard to bend, but fuss with it until it is tight in the saddle
and the ridge of knots runs straight and centered along the strop.... this can take
some 'foozling' to accomplish, but don’t give up... the end result is worth it.
If the strop is now bigger than the saddle, you may want to put a constrictor around
thimble and strop at a few points to make the strop conform tightly to the thimble...
use up to five to do this... if you need more, the strop is too large and probably won’t fit
no matter what.... either cut that one apart and remove a line or start another that's a
bit smaller.
(TIP: IF IT AIN'T RIGHT, RE-DO IT UNTIL IT IS RIGHT. If you have to throw something out
and start again, so be it. I can't think of the number ot times I've goten half-way thru a
project, discovered an error at the beginning and just pulled out the work and re-did it
correctly. Beleve me, it's worth it in the end....)
Now I'll assume you got the strop attached to the thimble, in place and running true
and a constrictor at the base of the thimble... on to the puddings...(
4) PUDDINGS
The core of a bellrope is comprised of a number of small pieces of rope/line which are
laid up together and then stopped off with constrictor hitchs in small stuff. WHY do
they call it a pudding? I’m damned if I know. I certainly wouldn't care to eat one, and I
doubt Jack Aubrey, fond as he was of "Spotted Dick," would care to partake, either.
For a 10" long rope, we've already set the main cores at 13".... (I do this so that I can
trim off nice and square and have a bit of line to pull on when trimming... and what's 3
inches more or less between friends?) so now it's really up to your taste and the
proportions of the bell you're building as to how large to make the puddings, how
many steps to put in them, and the like, but here are the basics: (If you want a very
stiff bellrope, before you do this take one or two bamboo cooking skewers and put
them in the center of the core lines and then constrictor around the whole thing.
Otherwise, just rely on the core and additional coverings to provide a firm body.)
Make fast the 13" center cores all the way to the end with a constrictor knot in
smallstuff every (appx) 3/4". Measure down from the TOP of the strop/thimble about
4" and use this as a starting point for the first layups.
Take as many pieces of cordage as will completely cover the core without bulging out
and cut them to nine inches.... constrictor these over the core at 3/4" intervals. Keep
the ends facing the thimble (up the rope) as even as possible so as to form a 'step"...
important later on... Go down another 3" and do the same thing... as many pieces of
cordage as will cover the new core diameter without bulging and constrictor... go
down another 3" and do it again.... Now you should have three 'steps" up along the
rope. Trim off all the steps so that they’re fairly flat and even around, then put another
constrictor right at the edge of the steps so as to pull the profile into a bit of a rounder
aspect. At the other end, measure from the strop/thimble top to your final length and
put TWO constrictors about 3/16" apart at that point.... you will trim this off so it's
square and even across the base of the bellrope. (If you want a rounded bottom
profile, you can shape the bottom a bit at this point, but the finial turksheads and
bottom cover will also help this.
Check your work to be sure it's even and symmetrical around and does not bend off in
one direction or another along the axis... if it does, just work it until it's straight and
plumb. A couple more constrictors here and there ain't such a bad idea, either,
especially if you used soft line for the puddings and it looks like me wearing tights...
kinda bulgy, y’know? Constrictor them bulges into shape now for a better apearance
in the finished product.
OK: we've got the thimble stropped and the puddings built up.... the end is trimmed off
nice and regular and there are more constrictors than Carter got Little Liver Pills...
essentially, your bellrope is done. All that's left is decorations! (Oh, one thing.... I like
to put a grommet or a wrap of cord around the core at each step... it softens the
transition and gives the decorative turksheads you'll put on over the covers a less
'abrupt' size transition. You'll have to experiment since I can’t tell how 'wide' a step
you'll make, but the rule of thumb is to put one grommet on that gives a finished
diameter a litle less than the next step, then one above that which gives a transition to
the smaller core... the picture does much better than the words. It's NOT a necessary
step, but it is a nice refinement.)
(5) COVERINGS
The accepted method is by using a continuous crown hitch, a continuous wall hitch,
an 'over-two' fender hitch or a simple grafting or cross-pointing. Maybe some kind
soul will do up a tutorial on cross-point work (coachwhipping), but that's one I can't do
myself, so I usually use the "over-two" hitch. I reserve grafting for only special
commission work as it takes for-(censored)-ever to do and is so easy to screw up.
Here are tutorials on OVER-TWO HITCHING and, for those who WANT to put
themselves through a torturous experience, on GRAFTING.
I’m gonna use the “over-two fender hitch” for this example.
Marty Combs made a great suggestion that you start in the MIDDLE of the bellrope and
work out to both ends.... it gives you more control and a better grip for the holding
hand, and since the pattern works the same either way, it is an invisible start, so:
For the stepped bellrope, figure out how many lines you’ll need from the SECOND step
back towards the strop eye and cut them a little longer so you’ll be sure to allow for
the increase in diameter of the third and fourth sizesteps toward the end, then follow
the directions in HITCHING. When you get to the first step, drop out a couple-three
lines so that you continue a nice tight hitch up to the strop eye, and finish it with a
constrictor or seizing about 1/4” below the pudding end. You’ll cover that with a
turkshead.
Now to do the bottom two sections: add enough strands to continue the hitching over
the increase to the next step and then do the same at that step on down to the
bottom.
This time you want to end the hitching at about 1/2” from the edge of the bottom, and
constrictor it real good and tight. Trim off all the excess lines and you’re ready to
“box” the bottom.
Take some small stuff and lay about nine or twelve pieces in parallel across the
bottom, constrictoring them so they lay flat but not so tight as to prevent the next
step: take a stand of small stuff and weave it under three over three in the center....
take another and continue doing this until you’ve “boxed” in the bottom with a 3 over 3
boxweave. Stick each end under that constrictor knot as you finish the weave. How
many total you will need depends on how wide the bellrope bottom is, but usually 4
sets across will suffice . Put ANOTHER constrictor over the ends and do this one
fairly tightly, then fair up the boxweave so it’s nicely perpendicular to itself and sheet
home the constrictor knot. Trim the ends so they are flush with the end of the hitching
and then apply turksheads at each step and at the bottom.
I usually use a 5x4 at the strop, another 5x4 at the first step, a 7x6 and the second
step, a 9x8 at the third and an 11x10 for the bottom, being sure that the turkshead
‘laps’ over the end and hides the boxweave edges. An alternative as most people use
is to make a ‘globe’ knot (Ashley’s #2216) in a larger line and close off the bottom of
the bellrope with this INSTEAD of the boxweave. These always seem to be a bit
‘bulbous’ to me and it’s not a look I love, but it IS the most common way of finishing off
the end of the bellrope, so I’m probably outta step with the rest of the parade. Usually
am.
You certainly can use any combination of turkshead sizes that cover the transitions,
and NOW the reason for those grommets becomes apparent: they provide a smoother
transition form step to step and you can use a smaller turkshead if you so desire, or
none at all for a plain rope.
I hope that this will give you the tools to build your own bellrope and have fun doing
so.... there are many examples of bellropes on the net to look at, but I especially
recommend the examples on Marty’s site, as well as those shewn on the IGKT’s main
web gallery. KHWW has a picture gallery as well that has quite a few bellropes
shewn .
I realize this has gotten a bit LARGE but I hope that the information is presented in
sufficient detail to aid most readers.
VB
(1) determine size of rope /bell proportions
(2) acquire tools
(3) strop thimble
(4) lay up puddings(
5) cover puddings
6) finish covers
(7) apply decorations
(8) varnishing and preservation
(9) hanging rope from clapper
(10) variations
(11) what'd I forget?
RECOMMENDATIONS:
I heartily recommend a copy of P.P.O. Harrison's "The Harrison Book OF Knots", if you
can find one.... a wonderful book and a major piece of armament for any knottyer.
“The Encyclopedia Of Knots and Fancy Ropework”, by Raoul Graumont and John
Hensel, is another incredible source of inspiration, but this and “The Ashley Book of
Knots”, by Clifford Ashley, are best bought either by the experienced knotter or one
who intends to get into the craft seriously...try seeing if you can find one at your local
library and peruse it there: they are really not for beginners or the faint-of-heart. (Or
the impoverished!)
Line sources are hard to come by, but two stand out: for nylon cordage, R & W
Enterprises can't be beat and for natural (my preference) cordage, Marty Combs' site
is the best there is. He also carries books, thimbles and some other tools and has
videos available, all of which are great.
(1) PROPORTIONS
The size proportion between the diameter of the bell and it's bellrope is critical for a
good-looking job. Generally, I like to figure on a 4:3 relationship (if the bell is 12 "
diameter, the rope should be about 9" long) This works well with bells from 7" up
thru 20"... over that or under that, you're on your own.... Tamaroa's bell is a 24"
diameter, but I made the rope 20" for ceremonial purposes. Now, YMMV on this... if
you want to make a straight up-and-down bellrope, just modify the instructions
below.... I'M not gonna come 'write you a ticket" for "doing it wrong".... this is
supposed to be FUN, so HAVE fun! Experiment, change, delete or substitute
instructions.... enjoy youself! If you find something that works better, let me KNOW
and I'll amend this with your suggestions...
Proportion of the rope along it's length is also a factor for a pretty job. On small ropes
for pleasure craft, a straight up-and-down construction is just fine, a lot faster to do
and perfectly acceptable... mostly they just want something to be able to ring the bell,
but larger vessels and military craft should have the tapered profile as shewn above,
and that's what this tutorial will cover.
(2) TOOLS
Depending on how small the bell rope and line are and how intricate you're going to
get, you may need line-pullers, needlenose pliers and an exacto-knife, but for this
tutorial, all you'll need are a small 'scratch-awl' with a slightly blunt tip and a pair of
good, sharp small diagonal cutters for cutting line, a bottle of THIN or FAST SETTING
cyanoacrylate (superglue - pick it up at the hardware store when getting the awil and
cutters), some scrap cardboard and (if you want to use them) some bamboo
skewers, along with your cordage. For cordage, you'll need scrap rope/cord to make
the 'puddings", a small thimble for the eye, a small shackle to connect the rope to the
clapper's bail, sufficient cordage for the coverings and also for the decorative
turkshead, plenty of small stuff for constrictor knots and some black heavy button
thread for makring locations. Stock up on patience, while you're at it... you'll need it in
profusion later!
For 'small stuff" to do the constrictor knots, I recommend a good sailtwine...
DUCKWORKS sells waxed and un-waxed sailtwine at a reasonable rate... I'd use UN-
waxed for the constrictors and waxed for the strop (see #3), but you can use
unwaxed for both and still get a superior job. OR: you can simply take several 3'
lengths of whatever cord you'll be using to cover the bell and strip it into three
pieces... these make good constrictors, will produce a nice cover on the strop and it's
a lot cheaper than ordering something else you'll rarely use. The colour will match, as
well... it's what I use mostly now. (Dental Floss may give it a nice, minty smell, but it
just don't look right IMHO.) You choose which you'd like to use, but from now on when
I'm referring to 'small stuff", that's what I means.
While a professional looking job requires a good hard-laid cordage, you CAN get by
with #18 mason line from the hardware store, as long as it is tightly laid. For the
turksheads especially, the hard lay will keep the turkshead's appearance good...
softer laid lines will tend to 'flatten' out when worked and this makes for a lumpy and
sloppy finished look. That's why I recommend Marty's site and materials...his lines,
especially the #15b, are a good hard lay and hold their shape despite aggressive
working.
(3) STROPPING THE THIMBLE
This is the main support for the bell and it needs to be strong.... the thimble just
prevents wear on the inner part of the strop eye as it works against the clapper bail,
but the strop does all the work, so:
Take your thimble and lay up as many strands of cordage as it takes to fill the
thimble's saddle almost completely... you want to leave a bit so that when we wrap the
strop, the wrapping will fill it the rest of the way, and even be a teeny bit larger than
the saddle...cut your lines to 26" and middle them around the thimble... that'll give you
13" on a side... take a piece of black buttonthread and put a constrictor on each side
1/4" below the end of the thimble, then take the strop off the thimble....
There are several ways of wrapping the strop eye: you can serve it, you can take
another piece of small line and half-hitch it , or you can do a ringbolt coxcomb.... that's
my favourite as it looks the neatest.
At the point where you put one black constrictor, (SEE RINGBOLT TUTORIAL for a
pictorial on doing this!) take three lengths of small stuff, knot the ends and make
them fast to the strop's pudding with another constrictor... keep a tension on the
strop (I tie one end off on a chair-back and sit on the other end in a second chair: this
gives a good straight-line tension on my workpiece) while working. Take one of the
three pieces of small stuff and tie a half-hitch to the right, then the next piece and tie a
half--hitch to the left, then the last piece and tie a half-hitch to the right again.... at this
point you have two lines goint right and one line going left.... take the one on the RIGHT
that's furthest from you and tie another half hitch going left...now you've got two going
left and one going right.... and that's the key.... the one furthest away of the three is
always the next one to be tied and it ties so that it ends up in the other direction...
DON'T pull these hitches real tight.... we're not trying to strangle Aunt Louise, just
make sure she's not getting outta the house anytime soon.... if you pull these really
tight, you'll make it very difficult to bend the wrapped strop around the thimble later
on. Pull the hitches tight enough that they just 'bed' into the pudding and check your
work to see that each turn is laying true and does not 'jump' the previous hitch on the
bottom.... this happens all the time and when you find one, stop and pull the work until
you can correct it. YOU'LL know it's there if you don't fix it now, and it will leave a void
in the pattern.
Continue this until you reach the other black thread constrictor, toss another
constrictor on the three lines and trim them off short. If you did this right (and I'm
sure you did) then you'll have a nice row of hitches directly down the centre of the top
of the strop.... that's a 'ringbolt coxcomb' and you can use it on a LOT of things.
Take the wrapped strop and put it in the thinble's saddle, even the ends and put
another constrictor on it to make up the ends together and to form the strop to the
thimble's shape. It may be hard to bend, but fuss with it until it is tight in the saddle
and the ridge of knots runs straight and centered along the strop.... this can take
some 'foozling' to accomplish, but don’t give up... the end result is worth it.
If the strop is now bigger than the saddle, you may want to put a constrictor around
thimble and strop at a few points to make the strop conform tightly to the thimble...
use up to five to do this... if you need more, the strop is too large and probably won’t fit
no matter what.... either cut that one apart and remove a line or start another that's a
bit smaller.
(TIP: IF IT AIN'T RIGHT, RE-DO IT UNTIL IT IS RIGHT. If you have to throw something out
and start again, so be it. I can't think of the number ot times I've goten half-way thru a
project, discovered an error at the beginning and just pulled out the work and re-did it
correctly. Beleve me, it's worth it in the end....)
Now I'll assume you got the strop attached to the thimble, in place and running true
and a constrictor at the base of the thimble... on to the puddings...(
4) PUDDINGS
The core of a bellrope is comprised of a number of small pieces of rope/line which are
laid up together and then stopped off with constrictor hitchs in small stuff. WHY do
they call it a pudding? I’m damned if I know. I certainly wouldn't care to eat one, and I
doubt Jack Aubrey, fond as he was of "Spotted Dick," would care to partake, either.
For a 10" long rope, we've already set the main cores at 13".... (I do this so that I can
trim off nice and square and have a bit of line to pull on when trimming... and what's 3
inches more or less between friends?) so now it's really up to your taste and the
proportions of the bell you're building as to how large to make the puddings, how
many steps to put in them, and the like, but here are the basics: (If you want a very
stiff bellrope, before you do this take one or two bamboo cooking skewers and put
them in the center of the core lines and then constrictor around the whole thing.
Otherwise, just rely on the core and additional coverings to provide a firm body.)
Make fast the 13" center cores all the way to the end with a constrictor knot in
smallstuff every (appx) 3/4". Measure down from the TOP of the strop/thimble about
4" and use this as a starting point for the first layups.
Take as many pieces of cordage as will completely cover the core without bulging out
and cut them to nine inches.... constrictor these over the core at 3/4" intervals. Keep
the ends facing the thimble (up the rope) as even as possible so as to form a 'step"...
important later on... Go down another 3" and do the same thing... as many pieces of
cordage as will cover the new core diameter without bulging and constrictor... go
down another 3" and do it again.... Now you should have three 'steps" up along the
rope. Trim off all the steps so that they’re fairly flat and even around, then put another
constrictor right at the edge of the steps so as to pull the profile into a bit of a rounder
aspect. At the other end, measure from the strop/thimble top to your final length and
put TWO constrictors about 3/16" apart at that point.... you will trim this off so it's
square and even across the base of the bellrope. (If you want a rounded bottom
profile, you can shape the bottom a bit at this point, but the finial turksheads and
bottom cover will also help this.
Check your work to be sure it's even and symmetrical around and does not bend off in
one direction or another along the axis... if it does, just work it until it's straight and
plumb. A couple more constrictors here and there ain't such a bad idea, either,
especially if you used soft line for the puddings and it looks like me wearing tights...
kinda bulgy, y’know? Constrictor them bulges into shape now for a better apearance
in the finished product.
OK: we've got the thimble stropped and the puddings built up.... the end is trimmed off
nice and regular and there are more constrictors than Carter got Little Liver Pills...
essentially, your bellrope is done. All that's left is decorations! (Oh, one thing.... I like
to put a grommet or a wrap of cord around the core at each step... it softens the
transition and gives the decorative turksheads you'll put on over the covers a less
'abrupt' size transition. You'll have to experiment since I can’t tell how 'wide' a step
you'll make, but the rule of thumb is to put one grommet on that gives a finished
diameter a litle less than the next step, then one above that which gives a transition to
the smaller core... the picture does much better than the words. It's NOT a necessary
step, but it is a nice refinement.)
(5) COVERINGS
The accepted method is by using a continuous crown hitch, a continuous wall hitch,
an 'over-two' fender hitch or a simple grafting or cross-pointing. Maybe some kind
soul will do up a tutorial on cross-point work (coachwhipping), but that's one I can't do
myself, so I usually use the "over-two" hitch. I reserve grafting for only special
commission work as it takes for-(censored)-ever to do and is so easy to screw up.
Here are tutorials on OVER-TWO HITCHING and, for those who WANT to put
themselves through a torturous experience, on GRAFTING.
I’m gonna use the “over-two fender hitch” for this example.
Marty Combs made a great suggestion that you start in the MIDDLE of the bellrope and
work out to both ends.... it gives you more control and a better grip for the holding
hand, and since the pattern works the same either way, it is an invisible start, so:
For the stepped bellrope, figure out how many lines you’ll need from the SECOND step
back towards the strop eye and cut them a little longer so you’ll be sure to allow for
the increase in diameter of the third and fourth sizesteps toward the end, then follow
the directions in HITCHING. When you get to the first step, drop out a couple-three
lines so that you continue a nice tight hitch up to the strop eye, and finish it with a
constrictor or seizing about 1/4” below the pudding end. You’ll cover that with a
turkshead.
Now to do the bottom two sections: add enough strands to continue the hitching over
the increase to the next step and then do the same at that step on down to the
bottom.
This time you want to end the hitching at about 1/2” from the edge of the bottom, and
constrictor it real good and tight. Trim off all the excess lines and you’re ready to
“box” the bottom.
Take some small stuff and lay about nine or twelve pieces in parallel across the
bottom, constrictoring them so they lay flat but not so tight as to prevent the next
step: take a stand of small stuff and weave it under three over three in the center....
take another and continue doing this until you’ve “boxed” in the bottom with a 3 over 3
boxweave. Stick each end under that constrictor knot as you finish the weave. How
many total you will need depends on how wide the bellrope bottom is, but usually 4
sets across will suffice . Put ANOTHER constrictor over the ends and do this one
fairly tightly, then fair up the boxweave so it’s nicely perpendicular to itself and sheet
home the constrictor knot. Trim the ends so they are flush with the end of the hitching
and then apply turksheads at each step and at the bottom.
I usually use a 5x4 at the strop, another 5x4 at the first step, a 7x6 and the second
step, a 9x8 at the third and an 11x10 for the bottom, being sure that the turkshead
‘laps’ over the end and hides the boxweave edges. An alternative as most people use
is to make a ‘globe’ knot (Ashley’s #2216) in a larger line and close off the bottom of
the bellrope with this INSTEAD of the boxweave. These always seem to be a bit
‘bulbous’ to me and it’s not a look I love, but it IS the most common way of finishing off
the end of the bellrope, so I’m probably outta step with the rest of the parade. Usually
am.
You certainly can use any combination of turkshead sizes that cover the transitions,
and NOW the reason for those grommets becomes apparent: they provide a smoother
transition form step to step and you can use a smaller turkshead if you so desire, or
none at all for a plain rope.
I hope that this will give you the tools to build your own bellrope and have fun doing
so.... there are many examples of bellropes on the net to look at, but I especially
recommend the examples on Marty’s site, as well as those shewn on the IGKT’s main
web gallery. KHWW has a picture gallery as well that has quite a few bellropes
shewn .
I realize this has gotten a bit LARGE but I hope that the information is presented in
sufficient detail to aid most readers.
VB
NOTE: This is written with the
amateur knotter in mind... for those
who have experience already in
knotying, I beg your indulgence if I
over-stress some of the basics.
amateur knotter in mind... for those
who have experience already in
knotying, I beg your indulgence if I
over-stress some of the basics.