KNOTS 



3270 



KNOTS 



KNOTS, nots, in thread, string or rope, are 

 made in many ways, especially by sailors. The 

 harder you pull the cords in a good knot, the 

 stronger it becomes. For most purposes a knot 

 must be easy to tie and to untie. The clove- 

 hitch (Fig. 14), for instance, is tied with only 

 two motions and is untied as easily, but it is 

 so strong that it is used to fasten large steam- 

 ships to their piers. 



How to Tie Knots. (1) This is a simple 

 loop, the basis of all knots, called by sailors a 

 bight. 



(2) If you slip one end of the cord through 

 the loop you have an overhand knot, the one 

 knot that everyone knows how to make. 



(3) If before you put the end through the 

 loop you put it around the other end, you will 

 have a figure eight. 



(11) To shorten a rope temporarily make 

 these two loops around the ends of a larger 

 loop. 



(12) Each of the ropes is fastened around 

 the other in an overhand knot (2). 



(13) This is a loop which works like a lasso. 

 Instead of the metal ring we have an overhand 

 knot. Another overhand prevents unfastening. 



(14) To fasten a boat, slip on the spile a loop 

 having the loose end of the rope underneath, and 

 follow it. by another. 



(15) The two half-hitches, to fasten a boat 

 to a ring, are really two overhand knots ( 2 ) . 



(16) Pass the end of the rope through the 

 ring twice, making a loose loop, then around 

 the other end and through the loop, finishing 

 with a half-hitch (15). 



(17) This is a method of fastening together 

 the loose ends of a rope with thread. The 

 thread is laid along the rope a few inches, as 

 shown by the longer dotted line, then wound 



5~ Weaver's Knot 



6-Sheet bend 



7-B!ackwall hitch 8~ Granny knot 



11-Sheep shank 



12-Fishermans knot 



16- 



Anchor bend 

 14~Clove hitch 15-Two half hitches 



15- Slip noose 



20- Wall 

 lZ*-Stopping and binding 18- Seizing 19-Wali knot and crown 



HOW TO TIE KNOTS 



(4) Put the end a over, under and over the 

 end b, then bend both upward and do it again. 

 This is one of the best and simplest knots, but 

 be careful not to make it a granny (8). 



(5) Put the end a over and under the end b, 

 then put b over itself and under a, then a under 

 b and over and through the loop ; or, do as 

 in (6). 



(6) This method of fastening a rope to a hook 

 is in principle the same as (5). Put the rope 

 all the way around the hook from a and in fin- 

 ishing the loop bring the end b through the 

 hook. 



(7) This hitch is used in lifting heavy boxes. 

 It is merely a loop through which the hook is 

 inserted. 



(8) Starting as in (4), reverse the second 

 operation, putting 6 over, under and over a. 

 This is not as good a knot as the reef (4). 



(9), (10) With the loop as in (9), put the 

 loose end up through it, around the other end, 

 and back through the loop. Sailors painting the 

 outside of a ship sit in a bow-line knot. 



tightly to the end of the rope. The end a is 

 then looped about b, threaded back beneath the 

 winding as shown by the shorter dotted line, 

 and drawn tight. 



(18) This is a way that sailors fasten to- 

 gether two ropes or cables with a smaller one. 

 At a an eye is spliced (see SPLICING) about one 

 of the cables. The cord is led back and forth 

 around the two cables, very tightly, to b, then 

 into the empty space c, around to d and e and 

 so on, till it reaches the cord /, under which it 

 is led, the whole being finished with a clove 

 hitch (14). 



(19) This is to fasten the loose ends of the 

 strands of a rope. Make a fold with a, loop b 

 about the end of it, pass c around the end of 

 b and through the loop of a, and tighten the 

 knot evenly. 



(20) Make the wall knot as in (19), then 

 cross b over a, pass c around the end of b, 

 under a and over b. Tighten evenly. 



Consult . Hasluck's Knotting and Splicing 

 Ropes and Cordage. 



