Twisted mecate reins

[kiwibraider]

You’ve all been incredibly helpful and I’m eternally greatful for you advice and recommendations! I’ve got a good starting point to experiment with now, will try and post an update when I’ve got some bosals finished to show off too  

 

 

[Rahere]

Ashford's actually a Kiwi company: you might check if any of their kit's up to spinning 1/8" horsehair.

[kiwibraider]

On 6/25/2021 at 3:14 AM, Rahere said:

Ashford's actually a Kiwi company: you might check if any of their kit's up to spinning 1/8" horsehair.

Cheers! I’ve actually got one of their wheels, it’s great but only suitable for smaller twists unfortunately. Trying to figure out how I might be able to jig something up with a drill  at the moment  

[Rahere]

1 minute ago, kiwibraider said:

Cheers! I’ve actually got one of their wheels, it’s great but only suitable for smaller twists unfortunately. Trying to figure out how I might be able to jig something up with a drill  at the moment  

Don't forget you're only spinning a single ply, you'll use ropeworking to take it to twine, and then further. The saving grace is it's got an 18" staple! My e-Spinner's actually got a throat-reducer and jumbo bobbins, as do a good few of the wheels.

[kiwibraider]

1 hour ago, Rahere said:

Don't forget you're only spinning a single ply, you'll use ropeworking to take it to twine, and then further. The saving grace is it's got an 18" staple! My e-Spinner's actually got a throat-reducer and jumbo bobbins, as do a good few of the wheels.

Would you have any recommendations on where to get, or how to make a rope making machine?  
 

 

[MikeRock]

Look on ebay for rope making machines.  There are a few different approaches.  I have a four strand cast iron gizmo made a hundred years ago.  There are some nice ones made of wood and some steel hooks that work great.  A friend made one of the wooden ones and used some spikes, bent up, for the hooks. 

Edited July 3, 2021 by MikeRock
too many o's in hooks.

[kiwibraider]

42 minutes ago, MikeRock said:

Look on ebay for rope making machines.  There are a few different approaches.  I have a four strand cast iron gizmo made a hundred years ago.  There are some nice ones made of wood and some steel hooks that work great.  A friend made one of the wooden ones and used some spikes, bent up, for the hooks. 

Thanks for that! Is there any chance you have got any photos of yours, or your friends contraption? Helps give me an idea of what I should be looking at making  

thanks again for your help! It’s greatly appreciated 

[MikeRock]

The top one is like mine......  it was $90 on ebay.   The one down below  is like my friends.  You can see how the bent metal hooks are captured by the pieces of wood.  He just used spikes and washers to make his.

I'm sure there are youtube videos of these working. 

[MikeRock]

[Rahere]

You're missing the most essential part, the runner. It lives just between the rope and the strands, and stops twist doing odd things. It's most of the focus of the ropemaker.

Start off with four hooks on rods long enough to serve as axles. They go through a bearing in the front plate, are held in place by a small gear, and through another bearing in the rear plate. A larger gear in the centre turns all four, contrary to the previous lay. At the other end of the walk is a trolley carrying a larger single hook the rope strands oomr together at. As the strands are twisted, they shorten, and so it the far end can't move, they'll break. The trolley's on rails, to keep things headed in the right direction, but often working under friction, to keep a tension on the rope. Another trolley, free-floating is in the middle, carrying the runner, sometimes called a pear, which is roughly shaped like an artillery shell, but with grooves in. This guides the twist to come together: the point faces towards the rope forming. If it's a cored rope, the pear will have a hole in the centre for the core to pass through. It may be spun itself, in which case a fifth hook lies at the bottom of the spinner rig, but not always: a circus tightrope (and slackrope) has a counterlaid core, which makes knotting it impossible: I came up with what is now commonplace, the use of a Swedish Tirfor jack, which suffenly took over the entire world of circus, because it speeded rigging enormously. My knowledge came from the Royal Engineers, the UK military: my family are naval engineers, I built my first aged 10. A naval ropeworks may be a mile long. As you'll see in the video, the thing shortens by about a third each time, so you might need to rig a reduction pulley off the far end before the counterweight.

Edited July 3, 2021 by Rahere