Firstever turkshead knot

[Indoorsout]

Well here you go - I finally managed to get my head around a turkshead. They ain't for the faint of heart are they? This one is a 7x5, as seen on this page - http://www.taylortel.net/~stwood/lesson2.html

It was a struggle, about 3 times I reached the end to find one 'over' hould've been an 'under', but I got there in the end Talking of ends, what do you do to get rid of the ends on a turkshead, it didn't say that on the lesson pages lol.

It's made with some lace I cut from an old scrap of suede I had in th back room, didn't bother trying to bevel it though as it was just to try it.

Oh, one last thing - is there any easy way of tightening these things up, it took me ages and I am sure it could have been done so much better!

 

[Seagull]

Congrats!.

Learning something like this, is always quicker when done " hands on" with a coach...so you've done well.

There is no easy way to "work" tight, complex single-strand knots, just do it a little at a time and work this small bit right through the whole structure...and then start again, with a little more...

You've done this knot around a core and so its relatively easy to work tight. Just be careful when making a free-standing TH, as in napkin ring or woggle. These are easy to distort. during the tightening process.

What you have here, is just the first cycle and if you now take one of the working ends and follow the lead once more, through the whole knot and wether you double above or below the lead, it dosn't matter..just stay on the same side of the lead all the time. And then it will look even smarter. Naturally, it will take you much longer to work it tight.

The ends are usually finished by tucking both working ends under the same standing bight and then cut them off very close..... just where you do this, will become obvious if you double it.

Happy Knotting.

Ceeg

 

[Draven]

Good work - these knots scare the bejesus out of me, I'm afraid to even attempt them

 

[gzornenplat]

Well done!

As Seagull says, there's no quick way to tighten them up, but the more you practise, the
easier it gets because you learn how much you can tighten it without distorting the whole
thing.

When you add a second and third parallel weave, you can tighten all three at once, then
the second and third together, then just the third, which saves time.

You can also interweave another colour through the holes to get a 'pineapple knot' - this
link will show you some.

http://images.google.com/images?q="pineapple+knot"

 

[Schwert]

Nice. I too would recommend you follow that all back around for 2 passes. I use a blunt awl to tighten them up....just work all around pulling a bit of slack on each tuck....again and again and again until it is just the way you want it. The tag ends are captured under the whole knot and seem to stay that way.


Also try a simpler version with three passes...those are very nice on tool handles etc.

Here is a simpler one and my blunt awl.

And the final awl sheath with decorative turks heads.

 

[jdlenton]

great stuff well done
the knot looks good to me seagull said it all really doubling it will make it look even better, cutting the ends close to a bite that is in the middle of the not will hide them nicely. As for tightening you just need to pull some slack into a bite in the middle and then work it round to the ends repeat until brain numb and you should have a nice tidy tight piece of work

again Seagull beat me to it but happy knotting all the same

J*

 

[Ben Trout]

Nice work. It looks nicely done to me. An awl or marlinspike would be useful for snugging down further, something like a small knitting needle or straightened and rounded off paper clip should do on something that size.

I like the Awl sheath, Schwert. Quite a piece of work.

I made up this one a couple of weeks ago. Copper wire from the scrap bin at work;

I formed the knot loose, put it over my wrist and worked out the slack. Then ran in the second pass. I had planned to do three passes but was a little over eager cutting down the wire so I had less length flailling about. Only one way this thing is coming off.

An advantage of wire is that the ends are fairly straightforward;

Be warned Turks heads are enormously varied and quite theraputic to tie. They can become something of an obsession.

 

[Indoorsout]

Good work - these knots scare the bejesus out of me, I'm afraid to even attempt them

Have a look at this website, will tell you all you ever wanted to know but daredn't ask! And they have a mandrel which makes the whole thing easy.

http://www.taylortel.net/~stwood/lesson-1.html