Willow Cordage Problems

[spoonman]

I have been having a few problems with my willow bark cordage and couldnt see much to help when I searched the forum. I was hoping someone could offer some advice. Here's what I've done.

1. Soak the bark over night which left the water a reddish brown colour

2. Cut thin strips from the bark

3. Preceeded to twist into cordage like nettle cordage

4. Found that when I tried to add another piece like you do with nettle cordage it wouldnt work and so was lift with the maximum lenght I could get from two strands

5. When finish tied a knot on the ends and then once it dried it came apart abit.

So can anyone help me make some quality cordage?

Thanks

 

[Tadpole]

I have been having a few problems with my willow bark cordage and couldnt see much to help when I searched the forum. I was hoping someone could offer some advice. Here's what I've done.

1. Soak the bark over night which left the water a reddish brown colour

2. Cut thin strips from the bark

3. Preceeded to twist into cordage like nettle cordage

4. Found that when I tried to add another piece like you do with nettle cordage it wouldnt work and so was lift with the maximum lenght I could get from two strands

5. When finish tied a knot on the ends and then once it dried it came apart abit.

So can anyone help me make some quality cordage?

Thanks

Did you remove the outer bark leaving the softer inner bark? Leaving on the outer bark make the cordage brittle
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showpost.php?p=78067

 

[spoonman]

Did you remove the outer bark leaving the softer inner bark? Leaving on the outer bark make the cordage brittle
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showpost.php?p=78067

I used the back of my knife to scrape the green outer layer off. Is this the same thing?

 

[Joe]

Hi Spoonman,

I normally scrape the outer bark off with the back of a knife or a dull drawknife held at 90 degrees to the bark, then with a sharp blade, score and remove thin strips of inner bark and leave them to dry in the sun or over a smokey fire. If you lay them up into cordage whilst still green or soaking wet after being soaked overnight then your nice tight twists will open up again due to the individual strands shrinking as they dry. The best thing to do is let the strips dry out first and then dampen them slightly before making the cordage. They only need a slight dampening to make them easier to work - I lick my fingers or dip them in a bowl of water whilst twisting.

For joining - when you come to the end of a length, taper it off slightly with your knife and do the same with the piece about to be joined so that once twisted together the overall thickness is the same. Any variations in thickness along the length of cordage will become a weak spot.

If you keep the outer bark shavings from the Willow, pop them in a billy can of water and boil your strips of inner bark in the mixture until the volume of water is reduced by about half then this will dye your strips a nice reddish brown colour, (do this before drying them out). A nice effect can be produced when you dye half the strips only and twist two different coloured lengths together for cordage.

Hope that's useful info

 

[Pict]

Making Bark Cordage

Here's a video I shot a while back on my technique for making Imbira Bark Cordage. I do things a little differently, but the vid shows my splicing technique, which may help.

This was done with raw bark.

Hope it helps.

Mac

 

[spoonman]

Thanks for the info people

I'll have another go and let you know how I get on.

 

[bushcraftbob]

I have done a bit of experimenting with willow cordage lately, I usually remove the outer bark with the back of the knife, then remove the inner bark. I then simmer the inner bark in a pan for an hour or so with the outer bark scrapings added. (Anybody else facncied drinking the liquid, smells nice...!) I then dry the fibres and twist in to cord after. The end result is a fairly strong cord even when a very thin cord is made.