Turks Head confusion..help please

[leatheroo]

I am trying to teach myself how to do a turks head. I have been using this guide http://www.folsoms.net/knots/tejay However after i finish the lacing bit, the finished product is too big. Am i right in understanding that you have to fiddle and tighten the lacing to fit the project that you want to apply it too? I tried doing this and hours later i thought there must be a better way.

[rgerbitz]

If your strings are fitting together tightly then you may not be able to tighten it down. Which means that you either need smaller string or a bigger something to tie onto. A picture of your project may be helpful for me to be more accurate in understanding what you are doing. And going back and tightening a knot sucks, and with time and practice you shouldn't have to do that as often. You will learn in time what fits where and how much tension to put into the knot when you start so that when you finish everything will be just perfect. :glare:

Hope this helps

Rob Gerbitz

[rharris]

Leatheroo

If your knot is too big after tightening it you will need to reduce the number of blights and leads or reduce the size of your string. Here is the tutorial I use http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Marlinspikeknotworks/files/. Go to page 8-9-10-11-12 for the tutorial on the turks head.

Hope this helps

RussH

[leatheroo]

sorry i could not post a picture as i pulled the attempted turks head apart!! I think my main question is...if i was going to cover something with the turks head am i suppose to be doing it on the piece to be covered which would mean sticking pins in to the piece or am i supposed to be doing it on a mandrel and then transferring to the piece i want to cover. Thanks for helping.

[HorsehairBraider]

The answer is, you can do it either way... but when you have the experience, no need for the pins. You just tie it.

I taught myself to braid by taking apart old work very slowly and writing down what happened in the knot. So since the knot was in place, I thought that was the way to do it. Therefore I just learned to do it that way. Years later I found out there were books ( DUH) and that a lot of times people would tie the knot on a mandrel, transfer it and then re-tighten it. Well, you can't do that with horsehair. It won't stand being re-kinked like that and just breaks. So completely by accident I taught myself to do it the fastest way.

You will find that the pins are nice, but very quickly you will not need them. You do have to get creative in how you hold the piece - I often hold it in a sort of awkward way, to get the bights in the right place - but it is completly possible to do it without pins or a mandrel. In fact I would encourage you to learn that way, because it saves so much time and trouble.

Sometimes it helps to put down a little "mousing" like tape or something, that you tie over the top of. (I don't usually use tape, I just tie another knot there and then tie another on top. For example I might tie a "ring knot" first, then tie the final knot on top of the ring knot.) That helps the bights to stay in place as you go around and make the turns of the knot. It also gives the knot some nice body. Sometimes you might want it more flat, so you would dispense with the mousing.

[leatheroo]

many thanks, so practice practice practice....