| SIMPLE GRAFTING Vince Brennan DMFK, RWI, COG |
| Last updated 2006-12-15 |
| Click on any picture to bring up a larger verzion! |
SIMPLE GRAFTING
This is a very pretty finish for just about any cylindrical object: Looms on oars, certain
splices in line, around a mast, on a pipe-stem in sailtwine, on a needlecase, or a
bellrope, the uses are endless. It is intended to provide a protective cover for
something that would ordinarily become chafed with usage or to ‘fatten up’ a detail like
the gripe on a ditty-bag lanyard.
It is a labour-intensive job and requires concentration and attention to keep it running
smoothly, but that’s the most difficult part of the whole thing.
The WARP is the long line which will circle the work and separate the WEFTS into an
up-and-down pattern
Determine what size line you will be using for the warp line... I recommend a line about
1/4 the size of the wefts if you’re using a larger size line for them (if you're covering a
large object) but for smaller lines where you’ll be using say a 1/8” or 3/16” line, then
DUCKWORKS has a nice unwaxed sailtwine in white which does the trick for me quite
nicely.... if you’re doing this on something small like the letter-opener, then Coats &
Clark’s Heavy-Duty Button thread is a good choice.
To start, you will want to cut as many lines as will tightly fit around the object to be
covered without their ‘bulging’ out.... and you must always remember that you want an
ODD number of lines so that the progression of over-one under-one will continue
around the work. giving you the alternating pattern so typical of grafting.
For small work, allow about 1.5:1 for the weft lines and a bit more for larger work,
since the bend over the warp will be more acute and use a bit more line.
Lay up your lines under a loose constrictor hitch to be sure you have enough (as I said)
to cover the work completely but not “bulge” over each other.
Fold the upper lines back out of the way and make up your warpline to the work with a
constrictor hitch... wrap your warp line around the work at least a few times to ensure
it doesn’t slip on you. Despite my advice above, this is a WAXED sailtwine (because
it's what I had on hand, that's why....)
Bring your warp up between any two lines and then wrap tightly for four turns OVER
EVERYTHING. Ensure that all the lines are neatly alongside one another as they're
being wrapped... Now you can remove the constrictor knot around the work as the
warpline is now securing the wefts in place.
Once you’ve done that, you’re ready to start grafting .
Take the next weft from where your wrap terminates and pass the warp under it, then
pass the warp over the next line, under the next line and so on, holding the work in
your left hand and slowly rotating it AWAY from you as you continue to pass the wefts
either over or under the warp. Keep a hard tension on the warpline as you’re doing
this. (I sit while I’m doing it and I lead the warp under my right arm and around my body
once, across my lap from left to right and then UNDER me asrse from right to left as I
sit... the spool of line I’m using for the warp usually sits on the floor beside my left
foot. This allows me to ‘feed” line as required just by raising up a bit and pulling out on
the left hand.... when I’ve got enough line to work with, I sit back down and the line is
clamped. It works well for me.
As you’re going around the work, be sure you pay attention to the progression of over
and under... it’s very easy to get two lines under and not notice it, and you won’t see
the error until you’ve come all the way around again.... be advised, you WILL do it and
you WILL be frustrated, but it’s the price you pay for pretty ropework. Just reverse the
rotation of the work, keeping tension on the warp, until you come to the error and
correct it.
That’s all there is to grafting. Keep the over and under pattern going and when you get
down to where you want to end the work, pass the warp over everything again for four
turns, then do a double half hitch around the work .
Again, the main problem with grafting is the boredom of “Over, Under, Over, Under,
Over....” but the end result is striking and worth the time....
After you’ve mastered this simple graft, there are many interesting complex graftings
that you can extrapolate from here.... I urge you to experiment and ruin a lot of line.... it
IS fun, and that’s what the whole thing is about, innit?
The work progresses quickly, but this piece has 55 weft lines and it takes about five
minutes to do one pass, so....
I'm no longer young and I have a wicked case of T.B. (Tiny Bladder), so I know I'm not
gonna get thru an entire job at one shot.... the solution is to stop the "over/under" and
NEATLY wrap the entire work about four or five times and then just put it down where it
won't be disturbed: string tension will hold the work in place until you've pumped
bilges.
Whe you return, re-arrange your warp line for tension and then rotate the work toward
you while taking up the warpline until you reach the place where you stopped, and just
continue from that point. Ahhhh.... the pause that refreshes!
Once you get to the end (about 1/4" from the end of the work), wrap the work neatly
overall and then put on four more turns.
At this point you may either take a VERY sharp kife or a utility blade and cut off the
excess lines using the wrap as a guide (be VERY CAREFUL NOT to cut the WARP line
here!) and then wrap the core of the work four times and finish with a constrictor or
two half-hitches.... Or you can part the wefts and lead the warp under them, wrap the
core and finish with a constrictor / half-hitches and THEN cut the excess weft-lines. I
favour the former method.... but getting used to the latter is a necessity, as you must
now trim off the other end. Again, be VERY CAREFUL NOT to cut the warp line or the
bloody thing becomes a major problem.
Two shots of the finished work: wrapped, cut and then varnished over on the ends
ONLY. Use a small brush and be sure you keep the (varnish)(glue)(snot) OFF of the
grafting unless you're going to do the whole work. It WILL change the colour of the line!
Bingo! Grafting! It's a bitch to do, but only because of the boredom.
Finish the ends with turksheads, make stoppers out of corks or construct
a stopper from larger line (1/8") making a seven or eight point star knot.
I'll add that to the page in a few days.
This needle case is 1.3" I.D. and about 5" long.
Est. time for a pro is four hours, for an advanced knottyer, 5 hours and for
a novice you should allow 6-7 hours and two bottles of Irish Whisky over
two days sitting. (It takes me three days to do one up, but then, I just
learned "Bye-Bye" and am still having trouble with "Patty-Cake", so....)
Thanks for listening and not throwing shellfish at me.
IF YOU CAME HERE FROM THE BELLROPE TUTORIAL, CLICK HERE TO RETURN, OR USE
YOUR BROWSER'S "BACK" BUTTON.
Otherwise, go explore!
This is a very pretty finish for just about any cylindrical object: Looms on oars, certain
splices in line, around a mast, on a pipe-stem in sailtwine, on a needlecase, or a
bellrope, the uses are endless. It is intended to provide a protective cover for
something that would ordinarily become chafed with usage or to ‘fatten up’ a detail like
the gripe on a ditty-bag lanyard.
It is a labour-intensive job and requires concentration and attention to keep it running
smoothly, but that’s the most difficult part of the whole thing.
The WARP is the long line which will circle the work and separate the WEFTS into an
up-and-down pattern
Determine what size line you will be using for the warp line... I recommend a line about
1/4 the size of the wefts if you’re using a larger size line for them (if you're covering a
large object) but for smaller lines where you’ll be using say a 1/8” or 3/16” line, then
DUCKWORKS has a nice unwaxed sailtwine in white which does the trick for me quite
nicely.... if you’re doing this on something small like the letter-opener, then Coats &
Clark’s Heavy-Duty Button thread is a good choice.
To start, you will want to cut as many lines as will tightly fit around the object to be
covered without their ‘bulging’ out.... and you must always remember that you want an
ODD number of lines so that the progression of over-one under-one will continue
around the work. giving you the alternating pattern so typical of grafting.
For small work, allow about 1.5:1 for the weft lines and a bit more for larger work,
since the bend over the warp will be more acute and use a bit more line.
Lay up your lines under a loose constrictor hitch to be sure you have enough (as I said)
to cover the work completely but not “bulge” over each other.
Fold the upper lines back out of the way and make up your warpline to the work with a
constrictor hitch... wrap your warp line around the work at least a few times to ensure
it doesn’t slip on you. Despite my advice above, this is a WAXED sailtwine (because
it's what I had on hand, that's why....)
Bring your warp up between any two lines and then wrap tightly for four turns OVER
EVERYTHING. Ensure that all the lines are neatly alongside one another as they're
being wrapped... Now you can remove the constrictor knot around the work as the
warpline is now securing the wefts in place.
Once you’ve done that, you’re ready to start grafting .
Take the next weft from where your wrap terminates and pass the warp under it, then
pass the warp over the next line, under the next line and so on, holding the work in
your left hand and slowly rotating it AWAY from you as you continue to pass the wefts
either over or under the warp. Keep a hard tension on the warpline as you’re doing
this. (I sit while I’m doing it and I lead the warp under my right arm and around my body
once, across my lap from left to right and then UNDER me asrse from right to left as I
sit... the spool of line I’m using for the warp usually sits on the floor beside my left
foot. This allows me to ‘feed” line as required just by raising up a bit and pulling out on
the left hand.... when I’ve got enough line to work with, I sit back down and the line is
clamped. It works well for me.
As you’re going around the work, be sure you pay attention to the progression of over
and under... it’s very easy to get two lines under and not notice it, and you won’t see
the error until you’ve come all the way around again.... be advised, you WILL do it and
you WILL be frustrated, but it’s the price you pay for pretty ropework. Just reverse the
rotation of the work, keeping tension on the warp, until you come to the error and
correct it.
That’s all there is to grafting. Keep the over and under pattern going and when you get
down to where you want to end the work, pass the warp over everything again for four
turns, then do a double half hitch around the work .
Again, the main problem with grafting is the boredom of “Over, Under, Over, Under,
Over....” but the end result is striking and worth the time....
After you’ve mastered this simple graft, there are many interesting complex graftings
that you can extrapolate from here.... I urge you to experiment and ruin a lot of line.... it
IS fun, and that’s what the whole thing is about, innit?
The work progresses quickly, but this piece has 55 weft lines and it takes about five
minutes to do one pass, so....
I'm no longer young and I have a wicked case of T.B. (Tiny Bladder), so I know I'm not
gonna get thru an entire job at one shot.... the solution is to stop the "over/under" and
NEATLY wrap the entire work about four or five times and then just put it down where it
won't be disturbed: string tension will hold the work in place until you've pumped
bilges.
Whe you return, re-arrange your warp line for tension and then rotate the work toward
you while taking up the warpline until you reach the place where you stopped, and just
continue from that point. Ahhhh.... the pause that refreshes!
Once you get to the end (about 1/4" from the end of the work), wrap the work neatly
overall and then put on four more turns.
At this point you may either take a VERY sharp kife or a utility blade and cut off the
excess lines using the wrap as a guide (be VERY CAREFUL NOT to cut the WARP line
here!) and then wrap the core of the work four times and finish with a constrictor or
two half-hitches.... Or you can part the wefts and lead the warp under them, wrap the
core and finish with a constrictor / half-hitches and THEN cut the excess weft-lines. I
favour the former method.... but getting used to the latter is a necessity, as you must
now trim off the other end. Again, be VERY CAREFUL NOT to cut the warp line or the
bloody thing becomes a major problem.
Two shots of the finished work: wrapped, cut and then varnished over on the ends
ONLY. Use a small brush and be sure you keep the (varnish)(glue)(snot) OFF of the
grafting unless you're going to do the whole work. It WILL change the colour of the line!
Bingo! Grafting! It's a bitch to do, but only because of the boredom.
Finish the ends with turksheads, make stoppers out of corks or construct
a stopper from larger line (1/8") making a seven or eight point star knot.
I'll add that to the page in a few days.
This needle case is 1.3" I.D. and about 5" long.
Est. time for a pro is four hours, for an advanced knottyer, 5 hours and for
a novice you should allow 6-7 hours and two bottles of Irish Whisky over
two days sitting. (It takes me three days to do one up, but then, I just
learned "Bye-Bye" and am still having trouble with "Patty-Cake", so....)
Thanks for listening and not throwing shellfish at me.
IF YOU CAME HERE FROM THE BELLROPE TUTORIAL, CLICK HERE TO RETURN, OR USE
YOUR BROWSER'S "BACK" BUTTON.
Otherwise, go explore!