Net making projects

[Eric_Methven]

Right then, now that the net making kit group buy is well underway, who fancies making what?

For a first project I think I'll make a nice little tight weave net hammock about two feet long by about a foot wide so I can sling it under the ridge line when I'm in my proper hammock. I'll use it to keep my torch, pee bottle and pipe and baccy in while I'm in my pit. I'm also going to make a couple of net shopping bags. Just a long rectangle folded in half and stitched up the sides with a couple of handles, so I can use them to collect firewood and carry other incidental stuff. I'll maybe make a landing net. One of the type where you slip it over a Y shaped branch to land fishes. There's tons of other stuff as well. What do you fancy making?

Eric

 

[leon-b]

I fancy making a small fishing net and a hammock to hang my kit in
leon

 

[JohnC]

I'm having a go at a hammock store net.. Trying the edging just now.

 

[Toadflax]

I definitely want to do a hammock - a little one sounds good as a start and then scale up to a full size one. Would it be feasible to make a full size one from something like paracord that would pack up small enough to take into the woods? I don't know how bulky it would end up. Then it would save buying a hammock and it would be something that I had made.


Geoff

 

[Eric_Methven]

I definitely want to do a hammock - a little one sounds good as a start and then scale up to a full size one. Would it be feasible to make a full size one from something like paracord that would pack up small enough to take into the woods? I don't know how bulky it would end up. Then it would save buying a hammock and it would be something that I had made.


Geoff

Perfectly feasible. Although having slept in a net hammock before I got the parasilk ones, I know from experience that they are not the most comfortable things to sleep in. They are fine for lounging in though. No need to use paracord, that's overkill. Thin braided nylon cord will do nicely, and it'll pack up smaller and be lighter. I'm waiting for my contact to give me a price on large rolls of net repairing cord. It's the stuff deep sea trawlermen use to repair their nets. It'll be perfect for hammocks and other large projects. I'll put up a post when I find out how useful the stuff is and maybe we can do another group buy on long lengths of that.

Eric

 

[Silverback]

The small kit hammock is something I have been wanting to try ever since seeing Wayland's at the Spring moot so that's the one I am particularly interested in

 

[gorilla]

i'm thinking hammocks!

 

[Toddy]

I want to make three or four net slings with comfy handles for carrying back foliage bundles. Nettles, Dockens, Bracken, seaweed and the like.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Matt Weir]

As I said in the original thread I want to make fowl catching net akin to what I've seen Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall use to catch his chucks. My guinea fowl can run like Billy-o but they need their wings clipping now and then as they are very flighty.

I will probably let the kids have a bash at something which is why I bought 3 sets.

 

[Eric_Methven]

I'm also going to make a net bag for my boots for when I'm in my hammock. It'll keep them off the ground at night and I can suspend the net from the end of the hammock ring. The boots will go in upside down so any rain will run off the sole and down the sides and not get inside.

Eric

 

[gregorach]

I've always fancied making a cast-net, but that might not be the first project...

 

[Eric_Methven]

I've always fancied making a cast-net, but that might not be the first project...

Are cast net's legal? I suspect one would be ok in coastal waters, but what about lochs and the like?

Eric

 

[gregorach]

No, I don't think they are legal in the UK, except possibly in coastal waters. I'd need to check on that. However, it is an interesting project, using most of the important netting techniques, plus a couple of little other bushcrafty bits like making the hoop and the swivel.

I don't even like fish that much...

 

[Toadflax]

Did anyone get anywhere with their net making projects?

I've finally got round to having a go with the net making set I bought off Eric last year and I've so far made a piece of netting about 1ft square. I'm going to lengthen it a bit and then turn it into a small bag, just to practice the technique of joining netting. I started working with the white cord that came with the set, but found this a bit too slippery, so I'm now using jute garden twine.

The smaller net making set still makes net with quite a large weave, I'd quite like to make some fine netting, e.g. to keep my collection of cramp balls tidy and dry in the greenhouse, so an antler netting needle might be a good project for one of the bits of antler I got at Christmas.

I like Toddy's idea of net slings for bringing back stuff from foraging, and Eric's one for a bag for bits and pieces when out under a tarp. I don't have Guinea Fowl to catch, and I'm not sure my cats would appreciate being netted!


Geoff

 

[Eric_Methven]

For fine nets, try using a wooden ice lolly stick with a notch cut out at either end. If you use nylon fishing line, you can load quite a lot on one of these.

Eric

 

[asemery]

check out the "Nets and Net Making" forum at
http://knotical-arts.com/pineapple/viewforum.php?f=17
for ideas and instructions for projects. Those who are already net makers try the "increase your net making speed/tatting method' thread. It really works. Tony

 

[Toadflax]

Finally, my first net, using one of Eric Methven's sets from last year's group buy. A little net bag, handled with some of the leather thonging that Pignut was giving away recently.

May not be very exciting, but it was good practice in basic knotting, together with joining the net together to make the bag.

One thing I realised whilst making this is the incredible value of a good supply of cordage. I bought 100m of jute garden twine from the local hardware shop for about £1 on the way home from work (i.e. effectively no cost and no effort for me), but imagine making that by hand from, say, nettles. And then when you've finished the cordage and made, say, a fishing net consider the immense value of that net to your quality of life. Quite a humbling thought.


Geoff

 

[Eric_Methven]

In today's throwaway society it so easy to take stuff for granted. It's very labour intensive making cordage, so a hand made net would be incredibly valuable to it's owner.

Spinners and weavers know how precious a hand made woven coat or blanket is. Imagine, you have a warp weighted loom, a couple of drop spindles, a pair of wool combs and half a dozen raw fleeces. Maybe you're lucky and have a couple of small kids you've taught to spin. These kids will be combing out the wool and spinning non stop from morning till night to keep you in wool for weaving the blanket that's going to keep them warm. It takes miles of the stuff for both the warp and the weft. It also takes a very long time. It's no wonder then that such an item would be treasured and handed down through the family for many years.

Nowadays you go into a charity shop, buy an old blanket for 50p, and when you find a better one, you bin the old one.

Same for scrap metal. Can you imagine the look on a blacksmith's face from a couple of hundred years ago if you took him into a scrap yard and told him this lot had been thrown away?

Anyway, an excellent and practical net you've made. When the apples are eaten, that net will make a good water carrier to support a plastic bag full of water.

Eric

 

[Toadflax]

Next thing to learn was increasing /decreasing, so I made a conical net and turned it into a rather crude fish trap.

If this was for real, I'd probably be looking to use a smaller mesh size and /or a bigger net, I'd replace the twig hoops with something a bit more substantial, and I'd probably need a conical 'gate' at the entrance (though if a fish went a long way in, it may well catch its gills in the netting).

Not that I'm going to use one, but does anyone know if fish traps would normally be baited, or just put in a place where fish are likely to run into them?


Geoff

 

[asemery]

This fyke net is a replica of nets once used in the Pennsylvania Dutch area of Eastern Pa. where I live. It was used in early Spring for the migration of suckers:
http://www.fish.state.pa.us/pafish/fishhtms/chap12.htm
It was placed facing down stream and not baited. Inward sloping funels prevent the escape of the fish. Tony