Knots on a Broom Handle

Here's some more knots I've tied from Tom Hall's Turk's-Head Knot Tips.

I've posted a couple of these earlier, but they look 100x better after being tightened down.

The ones with the gaucho interweave will make great horn knots, and is probably how I will tie them from now often. Only because it looks cleaner and won't stretch when pulled apart. Even though the other way to tie a horn knot isn't pulled apart rather pushed together, it still kinda bothers me.

Each one of these can be tied with two colors (ex: the second one), but the top and bottom one are done with one continuous strand. I prefer it that way, unless requested otherwise, because it provides less ends to be cut and melted when you are done tying.

From top to bottom on the mandrel (old broom handle):
5X6 Casa with Gaucho Interweave
7X6 Casa with Gaucho Interweave
7X6 Casa with Pineapple Interweave

Random Turk's Head Knots

7X6 Casa with Pineapple Interweave

I've been looking through some old books that I have and one that I use a lot is Tom Hall's Turk's-Head Knot Tips. This has many many knots that are both useful, really cool to look at, and a good puzzle to tie.

The colors I have used don't really go together, but it's the only extra cord I had lying around at the time.



Here are some of the ones I have tied from the book:

7X6 Casa with Herringbone Interweave

9X5 Casa with Herringbone Interweave

4X3 Casa with Herringbone Interweave

9X5 Casa with Gaucho Interweave

Keepers

My brother had a problem with finding a good quality keeper to pass his rope through. We came up with a few of different ideas on how it should be made. First was using a 6 strand round braid and making two 3 strand braids that split and come back together to form a hole. It would have worked, but it turned  too thick for our purpose. So I settled with a four strand round braid and made the hole by twisting the two ropes together to form a loop.

The last one uses the six strand round braid but I used some leftover microcord, and it satisfied the thickness and look I was originally going for.

Key Chain Lanyard with Buckle

A guy the other day wanted a lanyard that he could attach his keys to but also detach they key when getting ready to start his car. I had seen similar things around the internet that used a buckle at the end of the lanyard for this very reason. The lanyard is done with a four strand round braid of alternating colors and then spliced back on itself closer to the buckle. The bottom is done with a simple solomon braid knot. The colors used are white and caribbean blue.

Another Call Lanyard

Here are the pictures of the 2nd call lanyard that I made for myself. It, like the other, includes 10 loops to hold 5 different calls. I went with a camo/military look and used Olive Drap and Tan for the colors. It came out great again and as with anything I tie, it got easier and went faster. Here are a couple close up pictures for your enjoyment.

Duck or Coyote Call Lanyard

I had a buddy of mine call me the other day and requested my own rendition of a duck call lanyard made outta paracord. I gave him some ideas on the look and colors, and then after some back and forth I came up with this. The size of the picture makes it a little difficult to see the exact techniques and knots used so I will explain them here:

• Major part of the lanyard is done with a cobra or solomon knot
• The ball looking knot on the bottom is a 3X5 Turks head knot with 3 passes
• Every one of the loops is done with a Gibbet Knot

I used Olive Drap and Orange Camo for the colors.

I also tied one for my self, since I liked the idea and construction so well. There is only a couple differences between his and mine that I felt we necessary. First is that the cord used to loop is put the the part of the solomon bar that goes back and forth in the middle. In the first lanyard that I made, I put the cords through the outside loop of the solomon bar. I made the change because in my version the lanyard will lay flat on a table or my chest. It's really not a big deal I just prefer it that way. The other change I made was that the bottom loop passed through both solomon bars that are pressed together underneath the Turks head knot. This is done for more of a symmetrical look, instead of a practical use. 

Dog Leash

I first made one of these last summer for my dog because I wanted a thicker and more durable dog leash. I used maroon and white as the colors and it came out great. The only problem with this type of leash is that the knot used to create the leash takes forever to tie when wanting it longer. But it looked so good that my wife's friend wanted one for herself, just not as long (thank god!). Anyways here's a couple of pictures of the final result.

The knots used were:

• Solomon bar for the handle
• 6X5 Turk's head knot for the junction of the handle to the leash
• The length of the leash is done with a round crown sinnet
• The three different colored knots on the buckle end are all 3X5 Turk's head knots. 

Leatherman Case

I completed this project about a year ago. I saw an example that Stormdrane had done and some others around the internet and decided to give it a try. I have seen some people make a wooden block to tie around, which is a very smart idea, but I just did mine with the tool inside. The edge of the case is a king cobra knot or large Solomon knot. The middle is just a basic basket weave. And the knot on the top is a diamond stopper knot.

Both sides of the basket weave and the green strand used in the king cobra knot are all one strand of paracord. I did this in order to mitigate the number of burned ends that show.

After a year of having is bounce around in bags, toolboxes, and being dropped on the ground, it has stood strong and kept its shape very well.

Horn Knots

This is a new blog of the different projects I take on. I am brand new to making and maintaining a blog so bear with me. For my first post I will start with a knot of sorts that is pretty easy and repetitive once you can get the hang of it. It is known as a "horn knot," among cowboys and ranch hands. When I first tried my hand at this knot, it stumped me for a good while. This knot is used for securing a rope around the saddle horn when roping calves. It can also be tied around the actual saddle horn to create friction against calf ropes and it also protects the saddle horn's leather from wear and tear. 

Sizing the horn knot is interesting. When you tie this knot it can be as wide or long as you possibly want it, which makes why this knot is so very versatile. I haven't found anywhere online or in books where it details how to describe the sizing of a horn knot, so I have come up with my own. Turks head knots are done by bights and lead, so instead I go by twists and height. 

The first picture is an example of a couple of horn knots that are used when securing a calf rope. The one on the left done with paracord, and the one on the right is made of nylon rope. Traditionally if you were to buy a horn knot at tack shop, they will be made of nylon. Being an avid user of paracord, I like to use the different colors and styles of paracord to make them look better and more fluid. I size all my small horn knots at 6 twists and 6 high. Each takes 8 feet of cord to tie without tightening. 

These two horn knots have not been tighten and are waiting to be put onto a saddle horn. These horn knots are 7 twists by 13 high, and use 25 feet or so of paracord without tightening.










The left and below pictures are the two 7x13 horn knots finished around saddle horns. It took about 3 series of tightening starting from the middle and working down, then starting again from the middle and working back
up.