Horn Knot Tightened to Saddle Horn

Had a customer a couple of weeks ago buy a big horn knot to go on his saddle horn. Most people who have been buying my knots have been tying them onto their horns themselves, but I do offer the service of tying it for them. So he brought me his saddle last week and I found time this weekend to knock it out. I had originally tied a 8Lx9B THK with a gaucho interweave or 17Lx19B gaucho knot, but when looking a the circumference of his saddle horn, I decided to reduce the number if bights. So, I retied the horn knot, this time a 17Lx15B gaucho knot. It took a three go-rounds of tightening. I got a little anxious when starting the last round by tightening too much, and by the end it was pretty tough to pull the line through. But after two hours or so of work I finally finished. The horn knot is made of a single strand 3/16" Solid Braided Nylon. Around 20 feet of cord when the knot was loose and then pulled out another 8 feet or so after it was tightened.

A Spanish Ring Knot Fix

My brother had a headstall which kept sliding up into the horse's eyes. So I used some 1/8" solid braided nylon and tied a couple of Spanish Ring Knots. These worked perfect. They are tied tight enough where they will not slide around. But, if you want to re-position them, all you need to do is twist them. Works the same way as threads on a nut and bolt.

A Nylon Keeper, plus some Horn Knots

I had a request for a Keeper that had the ability to be size adjustable. I started with a four strands 6 feet long, found the middle of each strand and started a four strand round braid. I made the four strand round braid about and inch and a half. Then I folded the braid to create an eye, then started an 8 strand round braid. The 8 strand round braid is done for about 16 inches. I then tied a constrictor knot to secure the braid in order to tie a stopper knot. I tied a 4 strand diamond stopper knot, then doubled it with the remaining 4 strands. Now that the stopper knot can be pressed through the eye, with a little force, I wanted to make sure it can be strongly secured. So, I tied a Spanish Ring Knot, tight enough that it wont come undone, but loose enough that it will slide nicely. I then tied a couple more Spanish Ring Knots down the braid from the stopper knot. This will make the size of the Keeper adjustable. In other words you can make the loop of the keeper have smaller diameters.

The cord I used is 1/8" Solid Braided Nylon. A total of 26 feet were used.

I went ahead and included another picture of some horn knots I finished.

Full view of the Keeper

Diamond Stopper knot followed by Spanish Ring Knots

Round braid eye followed by a Spanish Ring Knot

7X8 THK with Gaucho Interwave, used for Horn Knots

The horn knots are tied from 3/32" Solid Braided Nylon.

Koozies from Paracord and Nylon Cord

I've been meaning to post this for a while, but just never got around to it. In the past I have tried many different possible ways to tie a koozie that will not only cover most of the bottle and fit it correctly, but I also want it to be durable and not smash in on itself. The gaucho interweave on a basic Turks Head Knot fits this bill perfectly. I've tied them out of paracord, as well as solid braided nylon, and both work. I have included some pictures on the final product as well as a couple of in progress.

Yeti Cup Cover

I have some gutted maroon and white paracord that I wanted to utilize. Gig Em Aggies! The base knot is 13Lx10B THK, then added a pineapple interweave of maroon, then added another pineapple interweave of white. This makes it a three pass (over 3, under 3). It fits perfectly around the cup, and is pretty snug.

Horn Knots Revisited

After making simple horn knots for a while, I decided to step it up finally and make horn knots using a turk's head knot technique. I have some old horn knots that my grandpa made, so I just duplicated them. The cord is 3/16" Solid braided nylon. The THK is a 7x8 with a goucho interweave or also known as a 13x15 goucho knot.

These things are hard as a rock and do not move/stretch at all. Very good quality, and as long as it isn't cut or burned by flame. it will never wear out.

Turk's Head Knot Tool

Well I've been gathering the materials and trying to find the time for weeks now, and it has finally come to fruition. I got this idea from knottool.com. I found this website and quickly realized I wanted a lot of them and they are a little expensive, so instead I decided to make them myself. This first one that I'm posting is an 8 bight tool. The PCV pipe is 1-1/2" in diameter. The set screws are 6-32 x 1/2" and they have a recessed allen wrench head. I plan on making tubes like this one out of 2" & 3" pipe pretty soon.

Overall I am very happy with it. The only thing I would change is that with an even bight THK, the pins need to be staggered from the top & bottom, instead of lining up straight. Anyways I hope you enjoy!

The example knot I tied is a 9x8 casa.

Getting Ready To Work

I snapped this picture before I started working on some horn knots the other night. I thought it was a neat picture and figured I would share.

Tin Box Case No. 2

I had some other spare paracord and an old tobacco tin so I decided to tie another case. The OD paracord is poly instead of nylon, but the tan is nylon. For the spine or edge of the case I used a double cobra weave. I put in a couple of extra lengths of cord through the middle of the double cobra weave to make it wider to comfortably fit the tin box. Then I used the extra cord from the edging to weave the sides. The last thing I did was tie a single strand star knot to act as a button for closure. This design was mostly inspire by this project by Stormdrane.

Tin Box Pouch

I have made a case like this once before for my leatherman. I had some left over cord so I decided to make a case for an Altoids tin box. The outside edge is a double Solomon Bar. Then I just used the extra cord from the Solomon bars to make the weaves back and forth for the sides. The button on the side is a single strand star knot. I probably made it too tight because its sort of a pain to get in and out, but it'll work itself a little more loose over time. Reference: Stormdrane

Nylon Horn Knots

I've been away from tying for a while, so therefore I needed to replenish my inventory with some horn knots. I tied these from Solid Braided Nylon 3/16". I tied 4 small horn knots and 1 big horn knot. The first picture shows the smaller horn knots before they are tightened and ends trimmed. Second picture shows the final result of the small horn knots. And the last picture shows the big horn knot, which is not tightened. This is because the final result is tied around a saddle horn instead of a hollow core.

Workshop

This weekend I finally got my garage cleaned up and organized. I'm pretty slow right now on projects, so here is a picture of my workshop. The vice is mounted to the table and its what I used for most of my braiding and plaiting. The black tool box sitting on the table houses all of my cord, tools, and accessories. Also pictured is all of the books I use when working on new projects.

A Look at the Current Inventory

I've been continuously making new halters, pigging strings, and horn knots. So, I decided to take a picture of all the current products I've put out over the past couple weeks. Everything is made of paracord except for the white halter in the front. It is made from solid braid nylon rope. It's a lot stronger, and I wanted to see if it would be more popular. The last picture is a close up of the flat braid that makes the nose band of the white halter.