Cat O' Nine Tails

[K.NYPH]

I mentioned this to a number of people who ventured over to my Baker Tent at the Bush Moot and I said I would try to photograph it and post it on the forum.
It is a Cat O' Nine Tails that I made a number of years ago,it was a challenge I gave myself , I started with one 7m length of 8mm diameter rope " example of original rope is the short bit at the bottom of the pic" Normally a Cat O' Nine Tails is made using a large diameter rope then unlaying the rope to make the tails, well I fancied going the other way.
The Cat O' Nine Tails pictured was made from one 7m length by unlaying relaying etc "I wont go into detail as it would take a number of pages to explain plus you would be very bored" there are no bits added no joins ie if you had the urge it could be unlayed back to the original 7m length of 8mm diam rope.It is the only one in the world and I doubt I will do another one as there is a lot of maths and patience involved it took about 45 hours to do.

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[ickyan]

well that looks pretty hard

Does it have a use (mabyee a whip?)

 

[Toddy]

John, now that's *knotwork*

Seriously you had to have that sorted in your head before you even thought of unlaying the rope.

Beautiful work, just beautiful.

For those who don't do knotwork, the fan of knotted ends at the left are the ends of the rope, there are no other cuts at all, the tails, the weavings and the turk's heads are all worked in and from the one continuous length.

Thanks for posting

cheers,
Mary

 

[K.NYPH]

Yes they were used to flog sailors in the old days when they disobeyed an order ,the sailor would have to make his own and if he recieved a large number of lashes 100+ he would possibly die .there is a huge ammount I could say on the subject but my typing is not good .The knot on the end of the tails is the blood knot for obvious reasons and we use this today as a stopper knot.

 

[gregorach]

Impressive. Nasty, but impressive.

 

[Cobweb]

Wow, that's beautiful, I wish I had had time to come and see you at your tent, I was going to come along to the rope brush making session but I had other things that needed to be done, I'hope you'll be there next year!

 

[joejoe]

verynice , i have a handle nearly the same made by my father in the fifties

 

[Shewie]

Wow John you must have a lot of patience, very nice fella

 

[K.NYPH]

No. Just an obsessive masochist.

Thank you all, for your interest ,all I will say is..... GET KNOTTING :why:

 

[Shewie]

No. Just an obsessive masochist.

Yep, that'll do it aswell I guess

I've only just about mastered the paracord bracelet so I've got a bit of catching up to do by the looks.

 

[m.durston]

that is quality work. it would take pride of place in any politicians dungeon lol
i saw a cat o nine tails on HMS Victory in portsmouth, the petty officer doing the tour mentioned that the sailor would receive extra lashes if it was deemed his cat o nine tails was of shoddy workmanship!!!

 

[K.NYPH]

Yes , you are absolutly correct they did .
The sayings :- Has the cat got your tonge , so small you couldn't swing a cat all originate from the cat o'nine tails.
:why:​

 

[w00dsmoke]

As someone who is continually learning new knots this just blows my own attempts into insignificance. Awesome. I must say though, you must have the patience of the gods.

Awesome, thanks for showing

WS

 

[K.NYPH]

Cheers w00dsmoke,
There is a fine line between Genius & Madness , Patience & Obsession ,Euphoria & Depression I'm affraid I fall on the wrong side of all of these.

 

[Carbuncle]

As someone who is continually learning new knots this just blows my own attempts into insignificance.
WS

I was thinking that, I feel a tad smug cos I can tie an evenk knot, then I read this!

By the way, before you framed it, did you give it a go? Not in the pervy sense (necessarily), but if I had made one of them (not that I could) I'd have asked my missus or the kids to give me a quick lash just to see if it was as bad as I imagined. Or is that just me?

 

[Wayland]

Yarr......That be much better than mine.............

Ye seems like a tar that knows the ropes...

 

[K.NYPH]

Wayland , You may be interested in this guy ,also a Viking.http://www.wielandforge.co.uk/index.php/site/historical/ and a good mate of mine

 

[K.NYPH]

NO I didn't Carbuncle.
But I have experienced the effect of another one,lets put it this way ,I would not have disobeyed orders on board ship.:tapedshut

 

[mayobushcraft]

NO I didn't Carbuncle.
But I have experienced the effect of another one,lets put it this way ,I would not have disobeyed orders on board ship.:tapedshut

My mom had one made of leather. All she had to do was show it to me after the first she used it. I hated that thing. But I think yours is a work of art. Wonderfull job there.

 

[John Fenna]

That is some piece of work there!
I hope never to find out how effective such a tool is......