quick nettle cordage question?

[dump of the stig]

alright chaps, id like to make some nettle cordage but with the drying time and then putting together the tiny hair like
fibers once dried I find a bit too labour intensive, is there any chance of making the cord fresh and then drying it out?
or will it just fall too bits?
any help will be great and save me a wasted exercise if its a no go.
Cheers

 

[johnboe522]

You can do it fresh, but it will not be as strong and when it does dry it will shrink and you may have issues.

 

[Toddy]

+1 to what johnboe522 has said.

However, if you make it up anyway, and let it dry, and the twist what you have made again (depends on the length, but I hook one end onto the back gate and walk away with the cordage down the side path, knot a loop in the loose end and put a bit of stick through it and use that to overtwist the two ply cordage) and then fold it in half and allow it to ply itself up, it will make a very strong four ply string.
How thick it turns out is dependant on how finely you made the original cord.
It's not really twice as much work, but it's less than half the length when you're finished; very strong though.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Clouston98]

I find nettle cordage quite difficult. I have only made it twice and both times the string has had a very scraggy and un-neat look to it. It is bees strong and still useful but does not have the actual look of good cord to it. I have followed good tutorials on this so it is probably me or it is supposed to be like that?

Here is a picture of a bracelet I made and you can see what I mean.

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I'm quite sure it's something to do with my wrapping technique as all the other steps have turned out pretty much as they should.

 

[Toddy]

You're wrapping that and not twisting and plying.
It's strong, but it could be a lot stronger, iimmc.

Practice and a kind of balance in your tension while you work.
If you're working from the full skins, either strip them down finer and join in carefully, or when you crack the stems and pull the skins off in a sheet, try to keep the strips you make as even width as you can. It means that you end up discarding a lot that with a little more practice you would use, but it will help give you neater cordage.

Cordage is one of those skills that eventually just flows and then you find yourself making the stuff from anything that you can get a twist into

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Clouston98]

Oh right that makes sense and I have been using a lot of varied widths which as you say may cause problems. Thanks for the help I shallowly and have another go before the nettles die off.

 

[Stringmaker]

As my user name suggests, I should have an interest in this subject, but don't be fooled!

I am very much a beginner, but given time I can turn out what I think is fairly tidy cordage but I am soooooooo slow. I have to use the manual two-ply twist as I cannot for the life of me master leg rolling. For ages I have been meaning to come up with a quicker and more efficient way of crushing the stems once harvested; I had a Eureka moment last weekend and bought a cheap rolling pin!

I must get out and grab a bunch of stems and have a bash.

 

[Toddy]

Pict posted a link to his youtube channel a little while back; he showed the fingertwisting technique very clearly indeed.
Thigh rolling or spindle twisting are very good, but they both do rather need a lot of prior prep to make more than a couple of feet at a time.

cheers,
Toddy