The craft of rope production

Subtitles are useful.

What a mastery of the craft. These guys are an inspiration, for sure. And it's cool to see the steps involved, and know that if push came to shove and we had to make our own rope, we wouldn't have to reinvent the wheel.

This reminds me of some of the electronic wire twisting we used to do with wooden structures to make flexible cabling. That later turned into a complicated piece of machinery, but the cables coming off of that machine were fantastic to work with.

When I was a kid a 1" + diameter rope used to pull bales of hay into the hay mow broke. One of our old neighbors was called to "fix" it and he did just that. The rope at the fix was a bit larger, but it was hard to tell if you didn't know where the break had been. Some of those old dudes had a lot of smarts other that schooling taught them. And, I believe the Amish and Mennonites probably still have and use a lot of the older methods of not just rope making, but rural/agricultural knowledge stored in their memories.

Very interesting, thanks for posting!
I was not aware of the many steps this process included - but what an exquisite result!

From my genealogical studies I know that all bigger villages or at least towns had a rope maker. The profession is one of those that was used for a profession name (like in English Smith, Taylor etc.): Seiler.
The surname is quite common in Germany as was the profession.

Today, there is only one similar guild that I know of, the barrelmakers/coopers. If you have ever been to Munich, you might have been lucky to see the dance of the Schäfflers which is only performed every 7 years (since over 500 years) and that has its supposed origin in the pest epidemics and the Schäfflers encouragement for the population and a triumph of life. Sadly today only a small portion of the members are real barrelmakers as crafts are dying out quickly.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sch%C3%A4fflertanz

Thanks for this posting. The rope they made from hemp is so beautiful. I wish I could grow hemp: This is such a wonderful plant. It used to grow well in Wisconsin. We have lost so much...

Wow! That's amazing to watch. Such an impressive and dedicated trade and skill. And so important to still know how to do that by hand.

I have heard a saying which I think is attributed to Native American Culture that "The one who survives is the one who makes rope". To ponder this I realise just how much is made of rope or string or woven fibre and how important these things are for existing and surviving.

I make string and also weave baskets out of garden fibres like stripped and dried banana trunk (I live in the subtropics) but can't imagine how much skill and time it would take to make real strong and durable rope for all kinds of uses. It's not just the making of the rope, it's also the growing of the fiber plant to begin with that's also important.

Such a life skill is shown here. Thanks for sharing the video. It's priceless

Jesse Glessner wrote:

When I was a kid a 1" + diameter rope used to pull bales of hay into the hay mow broke. One of our old neighbors was called to "fix" it and he did just that. The rope at the fix was a bit larger, but it was hard to tell if you didn't know where the break had been. Some of those old dudes had a lot of smarts other that schooling taught them. And, I believe the Amish and Mennonites probably still have and use a lot of the older methods of not just rope making, but rural/agricultural knowledge stored in their memories.

That rope "fix" sounds like a long (or short) running splice - something this 'old dude' learned in Boy Scouts (early 1960's) - Scouting, in my day, taught a lot of 'primitive skills' they sadly don't teach anymore... The 1998 BS Handbook I have from when my boys were Scouting has lots of knots but no splices... (for just one example)

Then, of course, OUR current culture seems devoid of preserving our traditions and 'skills', learning from our elders, etc...

Glad to see some cultures still preserve some of the old ways

Here is a good video ,well explained, of how to make a long splice in a rope:
https://youtu.be/sN-cnO8Fqrc?si=FkLUobcmTQi7ayy_
And this one is a great video for a short splice:
https://youtu.be/jgR22SOhkFM?si=bwqt6a78qldDvcSP
They sure make it sound easy. The advantage of the long splice is the the junction will not make the rope too bulky.
The short splice is that it is a bit easier [they say], but bulkier too.
If you google :Making a running splice, you will find these 2 plus doing an eye splice, which is handy too when you want to make an eye without the usual metal gizmos that will tear into your hand if you are not careful!
My hubby showed me how to do an eye splice with 2 metal cables. The thing is still holding solid, 3 years after completion!

A rather different rope technique, but it might be nice to keep the crafts connected:

This one is very simple, making rope strands from straw in Korea. No tools needed, but still needs two people with more skill than it looks I suspect!

Since we’ve added knots in this thread…
- and thanks for the video links to splices - good stuff

- I really liked the “fid” tool ‘Mark the braider’ was using in his short splice video.
Did a little shopping around and found the one he was using (C.S. Osborne & Co No. 477 - Fid) in a few places. Here’s a couple:
- Braider's fid- Osborne 477 - Zen Ropeworks - https://zenropeworks.com/product/osborne-477/ - 5,00 €
Zen Ropeworks also has a Rope making machines and tools
- Amazon.com: C.S. Osborne Fid Awl, Leathercraft, Blunt Point, Stainless Steel, 2.25 Inches - https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00YLCHK56 $10.75 (although, when I added it to my Amazon Shopping list it was on sale for $9.88

Rope making brings back fond memories of a BIG rope making rig (like 15-20 feet long-ish) they had at a traditional skills “Rendezvous” we used to take our Boy Scout troop to… back in the day

A couple of my go-to KNOT references:

> Animated Knots by Grog | Learn how to tie knots with step-by-step animation
https://www.animatedknots.com
The animations are available on the web plus ‘there’s an app for that’

> The Ashley Book Of Knots - Clifford W Ashley
Published in 1944, this is one of the most comprehensive works about knots I’ve come across

Available on Amazon:
The Ashley Book of Knots: Clifford W. Ashley: 9780385040259: Amazon.com: Books
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385040253?ie=UTF8&tag=aniknobygro-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0385040253

… and as a pdf on the Internet Archive
The Ashley Book Of Knots : Clifford W Ashley : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
https://archive.org/details/TheAshleyBookOfKnots/page/n423/mode/2up