[TheForge] Re: Rope Making List?

[Dann Johnson]

Ries,

My first blacksmith conference  about 10 years ago, felt a little 
like  what you called "an old ball" situation.  A bunch bearded  men, 
mostly aged 40 to  60 years sitting or standing,  but all  of us 
about  freezing in an un-heated County Fairgrounds  Pole Barn in  April, 
in  Bemidji, Mn.  We watched a demonstrator  from Lincoln,  Montana  pound 
out a  steel arrow with steel eagle feathers to hang on the wall.      I 
was hooked  with the magic of moving hot iron.

Since, I have learned that a good share of these men also make their own 
rope.  Dave  Brown even made and sold  rope to  the Green Bay Packers.

Dave Brown and I  demonstrated making rope  for  the "family program" at 
2002 ABANA La Crosse.   Our rope making list includes probably about the 
same spectrum  as this theForge  list.  Some 400 plus members that include 
professional rope makers from England, Norway, Sweden, Holland, the USA,  I 
would guess that we have members from 10 or more countries.  Some 
members  are involved in writing specs, testing, and even for litigation 
for rope, cable,  and hose failures on the ships and off shore oil 
rigs.   Hose that moves fluids  on and off ships is essentially 
hollow  braided  rope.   The rope group also includes boy scout leaders, 
and those of us that  primarily demonstrate  at  antique tractor 
events,  re-enactment  events  like Rendez Vous,  and Renaissance 
Faires.   Like the blacksmiths doing the demonstration,  some of us have 
more depth of experience than others.  At a rope making conference last 
Sept in Des Moines, we had rope makers come in from Texas, Wyoming, New 
Jersey, Vermont, Iowa, Illinois, South Dakota.   At least 4 of them were 
professional engineers.   Dave Brown missed, but had made the gathering in 
the two prior years.

When I set up making rope,  the norm for me is to give the rope to each 
child or person that cranks the rope machine  / makes the rope, but  they 
work there way  up through the system of  3 positions of rope making, like 
base ball "work up".    The last few years,  I have just used a donation 
can to help pay for the twine cost.   I usually make  a "real rope" about 
a  15 foot finished rope about 1/2 inch diameter.

Dann Johnson

At 02:37 PM 3/25/2004 -0800, you wrote:


>On Thursday, March 25, 2004, at 02:27 PM, Dave Brown wrote:
>
>>At 03:30 PM 3/25/04 -0600, you wrote:
>>
>>>Dave,
>>>Just wonder how it works with the yahoo rope making list.  I know Mike 
>>>Speranza uses AOL.  There have to be a thousands  of subscription email 
>>>interest groups that will have members canceling out of AOL if they 
>>>don't get their bulk filter fixed.
>>>Dann
>>
>
>Is there really an AOL rope making list? Is rope making a hobby? Or a 
>profitable home business?
>Maybe growing your own vines in the backyard, then making the rope in your 
>garage?
>
>I have visited the rope making sheds in Barcelona Spain, where they 
>twisted rope for ships in rooms 400 feet long. I would love to see modern 
>ropemaking workshops.
>
>I am working on a project for my wife, where she is having 100% stainless 
>steel rope made, from specially softened stainless fibers. The company 
>that is making it for her, Baekert, is Belgian conglomerate with over a 
>hundred factories around the world. It is taking the collaboration of 3 of 
>their factories to make this rope, the final twisting being done  on 
>machines that normally make wire rope for the "belts" on steel belted 
>radial tires.
>
>Or were you just joking about how many internet special interest groups 
>there were, and used rope making as an example of how oddball they can get?
>
>ries
>
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